With LEED v4 having been released in November 2013, and the transition away from LEED 2009 underway, the U.S. Green Building Council has announced several key dates and requirements as it shifts LEED professional credentials to LEED v4.
This is part of an ongoing series. Read all the Sticky Business posts here.
Just when you thought it was safe to enjoy this blog over a cup of coffee here’s an article on…urine?
Really?
Let me explain.
Urine is a largely sterile, nutrient-rich resource that can be used in fertilizing plants. In fact, according to the Rich Earth Institute, the urine from one adult in a year can provide the fertilizer for over 300 pounds of wheat—enough for nearly a loaf of bread per day.
We chose a heat pump water heater for our new house, and as I've recently discussed here, there are a lot of reasons why you might be doing the same.
Using an air-source heat pump, heat pump water heaters (HPWHs) extract heat out of the air where they are located to heat the water.
As we build more energy-efficient houses, particularly when we go to extremes with insulation and air tightness, as with Passive House projects, water heating becomes a larger and larger share of overall energy consumption (see Solar Thermal Hot Water, Heating, and Cooling). In fact, with some of these ultra-efficient homes, annual energy use for water heating now exceeds that for space heating—even in cold climates.
This blog post first appeared on GreenBuildingAdvisor.com.
We are always trying to avoid unintended consequences of our best efforts to improve home performance. A good example of this is radon gas and air tightness levels in homes during energy retrofits. How are the two levels related, and what can we do about it?
There is a lot of interest in just how much (and at how low a price point) window coverings can improve building thermal performance.
Balanced ventilation requires two fans: one bringing fresh air into the house and one exhausting indoor air (see 6 Ways to Ventilate Your Home).
One of the features in our new house that I’m most excited about barely raises an eyebrow with some of our visitors: the ventilation system. I believe we have the highest-efficiency heat-recovery ventilator (HRV) on the market—or at least it’s right up there near the top.
Why ventilate?
For centuries homes weren’t ventilated, and they did all right, didn’t they? Why do we need to go to all this effort (and often considerable expense) to ventilate houses today?
