What is Combustion Safety Testing? When building performance professionals seal air leaks and improve insulation, they’re fundamentally changing how air moves through a building. This can have serious consequences for fuel-burning appliances like furnaces, water heaters, and gas stoves. That’s where combustion safety testing plays… Continue reading “What is Combustion Safety Testing?”
3 Ways to Get Cleaner Indoor Air With Filtration So you want to have better indoor air quality at home but you aren’t sure what to do. If you follow my articles, you know you shouldn’t buy an electronic air cleaner. Instead you should stick with the tried-and-true methods of source… Continue reading “3 Ways to Get Cleaner Indoor Air With Filtration”
The 3 Rules of Air Sealing It’s not that hard really, at least in principle. You want to reduce the air leakage in your home so you keep the conditioned air inside and the cold air outside this winter. What’s the advice of all those stories… Continue reading “The 3 Rules of Air Sealing”
Understanding BPI Certifications | Insights from Industry Expert Brynn Cooksey Building Performance Institute (BPI) certifications are essential credentials for building science professionals across the country. To guide you through the BPI certification journey, we turned to Brynn Cooksey, HeatSpring’s lead BPI certification prep instructor and owner of Air Doctors Heating… Continue reading “Understanding BPI Certifications | Insights from Industry Expert Brynn Cooksey”
Building Performance + HVAC Conferences Happening in 2026 The work of making buildings more efficient, comfortable, and resilient doesn’t happen in isolation. In-person events and conferences remain the most direct way to see what’s actually working in the field – new equipment innovations that solve old problems, code… Continue reading “Building Performance + HVAC Conferences Happening in 2026”
Why Do Electrical Panels Often Have More Loads Than Supply? Have you ever added up all the breakers in an electrical panel and realized the total capacity of all those breakers exceeds what the main service can actually supply? If you’re like most people, this raises the question: why would… Continue reading “Why Do Electrical Panels Often Have More Loads Than Supply?”
What Are the Components of a Main Service Panel? When you’re scoping a solar project, a battery system, or a whole-home electrification retrofit, one of the first considerations will be main service panel capacity. Panel capacity is affected by its components: the service conductors, meter, busbar rating, and main… Continue reading “What Are the Components of a Main Service Panel?”
Prep for Two Industry Credentials with HeatSpring PRO If you’re a solar professional looking to future-proof your career, there’s never been a better time to expand your skillset. The residential solar market is evolving quickly, and the professionals who thrive will be those who can offer more than… Continue reading “Prep for Two Industry Credentials with HeatSpring PRO”
How Airtight Can You Make an Older House? One of the best things you can do to improve your home is to make it more airtight. Yeah, it’s good for energy efficiency, but that shouldn’t be your main motivation. It’s good for indoor air quality. A good air… Continue reading “How Airtight Can You Make an Older House?”
Why Avoid Upsizing the Main Panel? When homeowners consider electrification upgrades – adding heat pumps, EV chargers, heat pump water heaters, other electric appliances, or solar and storage systems – they’re sometimes told they need a main panel upgrade. What many people don’t realize is that… Continue reading “Why Avoid Upsizing the Main Panel?”
Here’s How the New HeatSpring PRO Works [Video] We recently launched HeatSpring PRO, a new subscription service for solar professionals navigating an evolving industry. Solar professionals are being asked to do more than ever – energy storage, service and maintenance, building electrification, and consultative sales. HeatSpring PRO gives… Continue reading “Here’s How the New HeatSpring PRO Works [Video]”
How BPI Certification Opens Doors – A Chat with BPI CEO Amanada Hatherly Sometimes the most compelling endorsements come from unexpected sources. When asked about success stories of professionals whose careers were transformed by BPI certification, Amanda Hatherly, CEO of the Building Performance Institute, didn’t hesitate to share her own journey. What started… Continue reading “How BPI Certification Opens Doors – A Chat with BPI CEO Amanada Hatherly”
The 6 Worst Indoor Air Pollutants Consider the multitude of air pollutants you could inhale. You’re probably inhaling some of them right now. Which of them, though, should you worry about the most? Well, IAQ researchers have begun addressing that question. The early work is showing… Continue reading “The 6 Worst Indoor Air Pollutants”
New Course: 7 Steps to Good Indoor Air Quality When you change the filter in your heating and air conditioning system and see all that dirt and debris collected there, it’s a eye-opening reminder: that stuff was floating around in your home. While you might not be able to… Continue reading “New Course: 7 Steps to Good Indoor Air Quality”
Boost Your Building Science & Heat Pump Knowledge with the Building Systems PRO Badge Heat pumps are replacing furnaces and air conditioners across the US. For professionals in solar, HVAC, construction, and energy efficiency, one of the next waves of opportunity lies in comprehensive building systems – heat pumps, building science, and load calculations… Continue reading “Boost Your Building Science & Heat Pump Knowledge with the Building Systems PRO Badge”
New Course Announcement: Avoiding Main Panel Upgrades Home electrification is accelerating rapidly, but there’s a bottleneck that’s been frustrating homeowners and professionals alike: the dreaded main panel upgrade. If you’ve worked on the residential side, you know the story all too well. A homeowner wants to install… Continue reading “New Course Announcement: Avoiding Main Panel Upgrades”
Announcing HeatSpring PRO: Career Insurance for Solar Professionals To HeatSpring’s community of 100,000+ solar professionals, this is for you. The solar industry just changed. We created HeatSpring PRO so you can start offering energy storage, solar service contracts, energy audits, heat pumps, and consultative sales on more creative… Continue reading “Announcing HeatSpring PRO: Career Insurance for Solar Professionals”
What Are the Biggest Misconceptions About Building Performance Work? When most people think about building performance work, they immediately picture energy audits, blower door tests, and monthly utility savings. But according to Amanda Hatherly, CEO of the Building Performance Institute, this narrow focus on energy efficiency misses the most… Continue reading “What Are the Biggest Misconceptions About Building Performance Work?”
New Course Announcement: Construction Math for Clean Energy: An Overview Math shows up constantly in construction work – measuring solar panel layouts, calculating concrete for equipment pads, figuring out material quantities. And while most people can get by with the basics, having a solid understanding of the key formulas and… Continue reading “New Course Announcement: Construction Math for Clean Energy: An Overview”
The Four Major Indoor Environmental Contaminants Every home contains potential health hazards that most homeowners never see coming. Understanding the four major categories of indoor contaminants – lead, asbestos, mold, and carbon monoxide – is essential for anyone serious about protecting family health and safety. These… Continue reading “The Four Major Indoor Environmental Contaminants”