Jim Gunshinan is Home Energy's editor.
Air Flow Measurements in the Bag
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Many people in the building performance field know about a certain, easy-to-perform air flow test that involves common household items. If you are not among them, read on. If ... [continue reading]
A Rater with Security Clearence
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Lee O’Neal traces his development as a HERS rater back to the time when his company, NSpects Ltd., inspected a home in a Virginia subdivision.This home ... [continue reading]
RESNET Quality Assurance
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According to a former NASA engineer, in the several years prior to the Challenger space shuttle accident, quality assurance—then known as quality control—at NASA had ... [continue reading]
Clean Up Your Ecological Footprin
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Say you are a home performance professional and active in the green building movement. Do you ever wonder if flying to a conference in a distant state, or even ... [continue reading]
In Hot Water
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If you happened to be in the Monterey Peninsula Airport in Monterey, California, between December 2004 and May 2005, you were treated to a very interesting display of water heaters, both ... [continue reading]
The Evolution of Green Building
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LEED for Homes is just around the corner. Will it fulfill its mission to integrate with existing green building programs while helping out in locations where no such program exists? [continue reading]
Oak Ridge In Hot Water
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Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are taking on the second biggest energy user in the home—hot water. One way to minimize water-heating energy is to ... [continue reading]
RESNET Now Offers Insurance Opportunity
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RESNET Now Offers Insurance Opportunity With the attention given in the mass media to mold problems in buildings and the coverage of costly litigation regarding mold and indoor air ... [continue reading]
Horsing Around for the Home Planet
Jim Gunshinan
A friend who is an aficionado of classical music described rock and roll as “a man who got on his horse and rode off in all directions." In my version of the saying, about climate change and our dependence on fossil fuels, I think we all need to get on our horses and ride off in all directions. Gov. Schwartzenegger has pushed a number of initiatives in California and all of them are ... [continue reading]
One Part Perspiration, Five Parts Inspiration
Jim Gunshinan
ACI trains home performance professionals through national and regional conferences and through the Web. Last week I participated in my eighth ACI national conference. The annual conference is where I go to network; learn about all aspects of home performance; recruit authors for Home Energy Magazine; and best of all, be inspired. Here are a few of the people that I ran into last week who inspire me: Don Fugler does research through the Canada ... [continue reading]
A Village Takes On Global Warming
Jim Gunshinan
Each big storm with a high tide and an onshore wind takes a big bite out of Sarichef. Photo by Shishmaref Erosion and Relocation Coalition In an email this week from John Woodward, an Alaska builder and Home Energy author, he wrote, “I put together a working/management group to manage the relocation of the community of Shishmaref sustainably. They live on Sarichef, a barrier island that global warming is wiping out.”Shishmaref ... [continue reading]
Turning Lemons Into Efficient, Affordable Homes
Jim Gunshinan
I'm in Kansas City at the annual national meeting of Affordable Comfort, Incorporated, (ACI), an organization that helps train weatherization technicians, energy auditors, and other home performance contractors. It's an exciting time to be in the field. While new housing is stalled in the United States, there is lots of funding-in the billions of dollars-on the way for weatherization, residential energy efficiency, and renewable energy through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. [continue reading]
National Weatherization Training Conference
Jim Gunshinan
There are 3,200 people here for the conference in Indianapolis! This is more than twice as many as the last time. Heard from Gil Sperling and others at opening plenary. Some buzz about Davis-Bacon prevailing wage legislation. Dept. of Labor created a new category "weatherization worker" and is polling organizations around the country to come up with prevailing wage numbers. Dept. of Labor staff are here to get feedback. [continue reading]
Van Jones Inspires Wx Workers
Jim Gunshinan
Van Jones, White House green jobs czar, spoke to weatherization workers at the National Weatherization Training Conference, "You are the quiet heroes. Your job is to take the inhalers out of little girls' pockets; little boys pockets." [continue reading]
Davis-Bacon and Award Winners at National Weatherization Training Conference
Jim Gunshinan
At the awards lunch today, Gil Sperling, Weatherization Program Manager for the Dept of Energy (DOE), mentioned that the Dept. of Labor (DOL) is making good progress in discussions with local weatherization agencies to determine the prevailing wage for a new classification of worker, the weatherization worker. The Davis-Bacon legislation from a decade ago (?) requires that organizations receiving federal government project money must hire people at the prevailing wage for similar work in the area. ... [continue reading]
The Paper Battery Chase
Jim Gunshinan
by Jim Gunshinan • December 11th, 2009 37.424106, -122.1660756 A carbon nanotube. Image courtesy of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. [continue reading]
