My Career Leap Three months ago I sent a resignation letter to my HeatSpring colleagues. That sounds like a seriously negative move, but it was the complete opposite of that. I wrote the letter to celebrate the things we’ve accomplished and share my… Continue reading “My Career Leap”
Gabrielle Rossetti Promoted to “Director of Product Development & Marketing” I’m excited to announce Gabrielle Rossetti’s promotion to ‘Director of Product Development & Marketing’. You’ve gotten to know her as our “Community Builder” over the past eighteen months. Gabby is one of those special people destined for big things, and… Continue reading “Gabrielle Rossetti Promoted to “Director of Product Development & Marketing””
Ready to Teach on HeatSpring? Starting today, anyone can build a course on HeatSpring. Yes, you could do this right now. Check it out by clicking this image: Here’s why you might consider teaching: 40,000 HeatSpring readers will see it. If you’ve got something important… Continue reading “Ready to Teach on HeatSpring?”
New Free Lecture: “The Art of Placemaking” With David Bainbridge Ever heard of David Bainbridge? He’s a prolific writer and thinker within sustainable building and agriculture. He founded the Passive Solar Institute and published dozens of papers and books on topics ranging from irrigation to ‘true cost’ accounting. David’s thirty… Continue reading “New Free Lecture: “The Art of Placemaking” With David Bainbridge”
HeatSpring Integrates With LinkedIn Want to see where energy and sustainability education is headed? Here’s a cool little innovation that says a lot about the role we’d like to play in the energy and sustainability industry: LinkedIn recently released a feature that allows us to… Continue reading “HeatSpring Integrates With LinkedIn”
Free “Data Center Cost Calculator” from Stanford’s Jonathan Koomey Jonathan Koomey created a simple Excel model for determining true total cost of ownership for data centers that you can customize and use for your company projects. Dr. Koomey was recently featured in the Wall Street Journal article titled, “Zombie… Continue reading “Free “Data Center Cost Calculator” from Stanford’s Jonathan Koomey”
Free Hydronics Design Software from John Siegenthaler The Hydronics Design Studio Professional version is a set of powerful software tools to assist heating professional in designing high performance hydronic heating systems. It represents the state-of-the-art in computer-assisted design for modern hydronic heating systems. Powerful engineering simulation and… Continue reading “Free Hydronics Design Software from John Siegenthaler”
What’s On the NABCEP Solar PV Technical Sales Exam? If you click in the image it will take you to the NABCEP PV Technical Sales Resource Guide. It’s a 28-page document that is definitely worth an hour for any solar salesperson. That’s how IREC and NABCEP define your role… Continue reading “What’s On the NABCEP Solar PV Technical Sales Exam?”
“Deep Energy Retrofits” with Marc Rosenbaum Right now, sitting in his office on Martha’s Vineyard, Marc Rosenbaum is building “Deep Energy Retrofits”, the newest Building Energy Masters Series offering. Here’s a recent update from Marc: I’m happy to report that the ten weeks of presentation powerpoints are… Continue reading ““Deep Energy Retrofits” with Marc Rosenbaum”
Free Lecture: “Economic Optimization of Hybrid Renewable Microgrids” with HOMER Energy There’s no such thing as a cookie-cutter microgrid design. The number of inputs and design choices can be staggering. HOMER Software is the best recognized tool on the planet for microgrid design, and this free lecture will get you up… Continue reading “Free Lecture: “Economic Optimization of Hybrid Renewable Microgrids” with HOMER Energy”
Free Lecture: “NASA-Funded Economic Analysis of Establishing a Moon Base” with Charles Miller It’s been decades since humanity walked on the moon, but a new report says a partnership between NASA and private space companies could get us back. One of the authors of this report is Charles Miller. In this free lecture, Charles… Continue reading “Free Lecture: “NASA-Funded Economic Analysis of Establishing a Moon Base” with Charles Miller”
Free Lecture: “The History of Solar Thermal in the United States” with Bob Ramlow This is a fun 40-minute lecture that provides historical context for where solar hot water – solar thermal – is today. Bob also shares some insights about which types of customers are the best fit for solar hot water, and… Continue reading “Free Lecture: “The History of Solar Thermal in the United States” with Bob Ramlow”
What Does “Data-Driven Farming” Mean? Data-Driven Farming is the thoughtful use of big data to supplement on-farm precision agriculture. It means having the right farm data, at the right time, to make better decisions that improve long-term profitability. “Big data” is a big buzzword. Everyone… Continue reading “What Does “Data-Driven Farming” Mean?”
Free Microgrid Excel Model 2024 update: This excel model is no longer available because it was getting pretty old. We hope to replace it some day! Designing a microgrid is an incredibly complex task – there’s no such thing as a standard microgrid. This… Continue reading “Free Microgrid Excel Model”
Solar + Storage: Commercial v. Utility v. Residential The best solar + storage opportunities for most companies are on large commercial projects. That was my takeaway from a June 2nd call with Wes Kennedy, Joe Schwartz and David Brearley from SolarPro. The utility storage market is hot and happening… Continue reading “Solar + Storage: Commercial v. Utility v. Residential”
Peek at HeatSpring’s New Online Learning Platform Today we released a major update to our classroom environment that will make HeatSpring courses better. After eight years of experimenting with our own software and trying every LMS under the sun, I can confidently say it’s a game changer.… Continue reading “Peek at HeatSpring’s New Online Learning Platform”
Free Lecture: “Electrical Loads in High Performance Buildings” with Chris Calwell Accurately predicting electrical loads is the biggest source of error in the design of battery-based solar pv systems and zero net energy homes. In this free lecture, Chris Calwell outlines best practices for predicting and measuring electrical loads in high… Continue reading “Free Lecture: “Electrical Loads in High Performance Buildings” with Chris Calwell”
New Free Lecture: “Integrative Design Process” With Bill Reed Ever met Bill Reed? He’s a bit of a celebrity in the world of sustainable design. In this free lecture Bill demonstrates the integrative design process through a series of case studies. Register at this link for complimentary access to… Continue reading “New Free Lecture: “Integrative Design Process” With Bill Reed”
New Free Lecture: Commercial Geothermal Design In this two hour free lecture, Dr. Charles Remund, author of the IGSHPA Design Manual, walks you through the calculations for designing the ground heat exchanger for a commercial geothermal system. To download a copy of the slides, discuss the… Continue reading “New Free Lecture: Commercial Geothermal Design”
LoopLink PRO Now Included with IGSHPA Geothermal Design Course Top designers of commercial geothermal systems at some point become IGSHPA Certified GeoExchange Designers (CGD). The CGD course has always included video instruction and support from the author of the IGSHPA design manual, tools, exercises, and exam fees. Starting in… Continue reading “LoopLink PRO Now Included with IGSHPA Geothermal Design Course”