Spotlight Article:
Bailey Family Earns Bragging Rights
Our attempt to improve the energy efficiency of our home began in 2008, after the electrical portion of our utility bill soared over $400. We had long been resigned to a steep energy bill, in part because ...
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ANNALS OF ENERGY AUDITING: Suicide in Sendai
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During one of Professor Hiroshi Yoshino's visits, we went out to dinner at Cafe Venezia. The restaurant was crowded but the pasta was tasty (even though I knew that he would have preferred his native Japanese cuisine). As usual, I was talking too much--we were sharing a large carafe of wine--and so the discussion drifted to the subject of being an expert witness at a trial. [continue reading]
Combustion Safety Checks: How Not to Kill Your Clients
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Heating contractors, inspectors, and energy auditors all have different approaches to inspecting combustion appliances. Combustion problems come in various sizes and shapes, and individual tests may not by themselves prove if the house is actually safe. [continue reading]
Where Water-Heating Energy Really Goes
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Water heating--which accounts for about 16% of U.S. residential energy consumption--is one of the most complex end uses to evaluate, both individually and nationally. [continue reading]
Annals of Energy Auditing: The Case of the Refrigerator with Rounded Corners
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My telephone doesn't ring that often. Face it, people just don't need the services of an expert on energy use of refrigerators every day or every week, for that matter. [continue reading]
User-Friendly Pressure Diagnostics
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Using pressure measurements to find and quantify air leakage in houses has been a hot topic over the past two years. Packed sessions at recent conferences are testimony to the intense interest these techniques are generating in the weatherization community. [continue reading]
Computerized Energy Audits
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Weatherization agencies have complained for years about a U.S. Department of Energy requirement that 40% of Low-Income Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) funds be spent on "materials" rather than labor. [continue reading]
Confessions of an "Addicted" Auditor
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My initial reaction to the prospect of a computerized audit was sarcastic disdain--right, a computer is going to tell me what's wrong with a building! [continue reading]
Blower Door Cruise Control
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The use of pressure differential diagnostics to measure and interpret air leakage is changing the way blower-door users approach buildings. [continue reading]
Doug Garrett
Code Conflict Between 2012 IRC and 2012 IECC
It has come to my attention that there may be a building science-based conflict in the language of the 2012 International ...
Doug Garrett
Home Performance and HVAC Contractors: Recent Legislative Initiative In Texas
As energy auditors and raters went about their business of testing homes, performing energy audits and HVAC system inspections, they ...
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