WUFI Without Worries: Doing More Good than Harm with Hygrothermal Modeling
Managing moisture as intensely as we manage energy is key to building durability and indoor air quality (IAQ)
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4 Insider Tips for Choosing Flashing Tapes, from a Real-Life Engineer
A research engineer at Pella Windows finally offers some adult supervision for our benchtop tape tests.
by Peter Yost
This is part of an ongoing series. Read all the Sticky Business posts here.
When the Wingnut Test Facility (WTF) took its tape testing protocols on the road, as I reported in my last post, a stranger stepped forward to politely offer some “adult supervision.”
A Heat Pump Using Carbon Dioxide as the Refrigerant
A new generation of CO2-based heat pumps could avoid the high global warming potential of standard refrigerants and generate much higher temperatures
by Alex Wilson
Editor’s note: We updated this 2013 blog post on April 15, 2024, to reflect more recent advancements in CO2-based heat-pump water heaters. To learn more about another such product, see the April 2024 article by Brent Ehrlich “On-demand Water Heat Goes All Electric with Heat Pumps, CO₂.”
Does LEED v4 Ban PVC?
Does LEED v4 ban PVC? Let's look at the details of the new rating system.
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The vinyl industry has been vocally opposed to the new LEED v4 MR credits, even going so far as to characterize MRc4 Option 2 as a ban on PVC. The Vinyl Insitute, which represents PVC polymer makers, warned BuildingGreen (publishers of LEEDuser) in an email that LEED v4 “can actually lead architects and designers to make bad decisions in order to secure credits so they can market their buildings.”
Access Ceilings: Replace Fixtures Without Cutting Into Drywall and Insulation
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Paying attention to the various layers in a building envelope is critically important for ensuring air tightness and moisture management—and can be attractive, too.
Ducting for our HRV, electrical wiring, recessed lights, and plumbing fit into this access ceiling. Click to enlarge.Photo Credit: Alex Wilson
It Takes a Village to Be Resilient
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Surveying residents to assess resilience in the town of Dummerston, Vermont
The solar-electric system on our restored barn will contribute to community resilience in our part of Dummerston, Vermont.Photo Credit: Alex Wilson
The Dummerston Energy Committee, on which I serve in my home town, is conducting an energy survey.
Complete LEED-EBOM Gold Project Documents on LEEDuser
LEEDuser continues to add sample documentation to our credit-by-credit, rating system by rating system Documentation Toolkits, now with a LEED Gold office building in Denver.
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The latest addition is complete LEED Online documentation for a LEED-EBOM v2009 Gold project in Denver, Colorado. The LEED for Existing Buildings project prefers to be anonymous, but it's a large multi-tenant downtown building that achieved LEED certification with a dynamic team.
Attack of the Mountain Pine Beetle! (And How Green Buildings Can Make the Best of It)
Getting to Know Spider Insulation
Spray-applied fiberglass insulation offers huge benefits over fiberglass batts and even has some advantages over cellulose
by Alex Wilson
We’ve just completed the installation of a relatively new and (at least in New England) little-known insulation material called Spider. As a reminder, the house we are renovating (really re-building) in Dummerston, Vermont has provided an opportunity to try out dozens of innovative products and materials that I’ve long researched and written about in Environmental Building News.