LeedUser

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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WUFI doesn’t kill buildings. Poor design, specification, and workmanship kill buildings.

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A three-unit condominium project under construction in Brooklyn is one of many Passive House projects that are springing up in the Borough

The unit on the right, constructed of ICFs, is expected to achieve Passive House certificationPhoto Credit: Alex Wilson

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With EarthCraft certification being a requirement, energy performance of homes in Serenbe is relatively good; transit options being planned will also help save energy.

The net-zero-energy Bosch Demonstration Home at Serenbe.Photo Credit: Alex Wilson

Webcast

Introduction to High-Performance Building Assemblies

In a one-hour on-demand webcast, acclaimed teacher and consultant Peter Yost will give you the building science knowledge and practical guida...

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.”

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Developer Steve Nygren is putting New Urbanist principles into practice at the Serenbe Community outside Atlanta

A wide range of architectural styles are represented at Serenbe. Click to enlarge.Photo Credit: Alex Wilson

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The pending closure of Vermont’s only nuclear plant will hurt the local economy, but it could catalyze sustainable economic development

The Entergy Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant will be shut down in late 2014. Click to enlarge.Photo Credit: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

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.”

Webcast

Energy Modeling for Early Design Decisions

Thanks in part to green building programs and codes, whole-building energy simulation has become more common over the last two decades — but ...

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