BuildingGreen Bulletin: Durable Floor Sealants — GreenSpec News Updates
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Twice each month, BuildingGreen publishes an email news bulletin with current news and product information briefs. Sign up here — it's free. We will never share or sell your email address, and you may unsubscribe at any time.
Read the current bulletinShould I Replace My Windows?
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If your existing single-glazed windows are in reasonable condition and replacing the sash isn't an option, installing storm windows often makes sense.
I get this question a lot from homeowners wanting to reign in their energy costs. Windows usually account for about a quarter of the heat loss in a typical house. State-of-the-art, triple-glazed windows (with two low-e coatings and krypton gas fill) will dramatically reduce that heat loss, so it would seem that replacing your windows would be one of the most sensible things we could do in buttoning up our homes--right?
U.S. Wind Power Increases by 81.6 Percent Since Last Year
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Sort of. The executive summary of the September 2008 Electric Power Monthly, released a few days ago by the Energy Information Administration — a statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Energy — states that "Wind-powered generation [in June 2008] was 81.6 percent higher than it was in June 2007."
Holy cow!
However, it goes on, "Even with this significant increase, the contribution of wind-powered generation to the national total was only 1.2 percent in June 2008."
Does it constitute a baby step in the right direction nonetheless? Maybe.
Elevated Freeways: The Low Road?
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The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) promotes neighborhood-based development as an alternative to sprawl.
Living Future 08 'Unconference' Proceedings Online
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Back on May 6, Jennifer Atlee posted here on this blog:
"If I could adopt a conference, it would be the USGBC Cascadia chapter's Living Future 'Unconference'.
Outlawing Toilet Seats
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The current issue of The New Yorker has a sprawling piece about the illegal logging market, titled "The Stolen Forests", which cuts a global swath and at times reads like a spy novel.
They've also posted a couple related treats on their website: an audio interview with the article's author and a nice litt
Advances in Windows
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Windows have a huge impact on the energy use of our homes. Fortunately, there have been dramatic advances in window technology over the past thirty years. This column will take a look at factors that affect the energy performance of windows.
Preventing Moisture Problems
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Mold in a vented attic.
What's moisture have to with energy? Quite a bit, actually. When we tighten up or insulate a house, there's the potential of causing moisture problems that could harm your health by allowing mold to grow or affect the life of materials your house is built from. And any time you work on a house, especially when you do things that affect the exterior envelope (walls, roof, foundation), you're provided with an opportunity to fix problems that may already exist.
Rosie the Riveter Does Prefab
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I spent a few days last week at the University of Massachusetts–Amherst, attending the 2008 Wood Structures Symposium. Like many smaller conferences, it was pretty invigorating, with conversations from sessions spilling into the hallway coffee breaks. The theme this year was prefabricated architecture, a particular interest of mine, and there were lots of new ideas floating around.
One of the overriding ideas of the symposium was the notion of mass customization.