Meeting the Demands of the Solar Plus Era: Why Shaw Solar is Launching their Distributed Energy Resources (DER) Electrical Apprenticeship Program Based in Durango, Colorado, Shaw Solar can be described as a big fish in a small pond. Opening their doors back in 2006, they initially worked on residential and small commercial solar thermal and PV and some lead-acid battery storage.… Continue reading “Meeting the Demands of the Solar Plus Era: Why Shaw Solar is Launching their Distributed Energy Resources (DER) Electrical Apprenticeship Program”
What are “the BIG four” in electrification? Oftentimes adding solar PV to a home is just the tip of the spear into whole-home electrification. Once homeowners begin generating their own electricity, they’ll want to maximize their system production by using or storing as much energy onsite as… Continue reading “What are “the BIG four” in electrification?”
Is it time to offer Virtual Service Contracts for your HVAC customers? Dan Dempsey spent years at Carrier developing analytical tools to diagnose HVAC systems, and today he consults with his family’s Ohio-based HVAC business. Dan is sharing the biggest opportunities and threats he sees for HVAC businesses in a two-part series.… Continue reading “Is it time to offer Virtual Service Contracts for your HVAC customers?”
The Basics of Home Electrification In 2020, 26% of U.S. households used electricity as the only source of energy (32.25 million out of 123.53 million homes), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. With new incentives for electrification and renewable energy in the Inflation Reduction… Continue reading “The Basics of Home Electrification”
Heat Pumps 101: How Does a Heat Pump Pull Heat From Cold Outdoor Air? This is the fifth in a series of Heat Pump 101 videos from instructor and author, John Siegenthaler, P.E.. “Natural vs. Artificial Heat Transfer Processes” was the previous lesson in the series. You can enroll in John’s Heat Pump 101… Continue reading “Heat Pumps 101: How Does a Heat Pump Pull Heat From Cold Outdoor Air?”
Heat Pumps 101: Three Modes of Heat Transfer This is the third in a series of Heat Pump 101 videos from instructor and author, John Siegenthaler, P.E.. “Thermodynamic Basics” was the previous lesson in the series. You can enroll in John’s Heat Pump 101 course for free to… Continue reading “Heat Pumps 101: Three Modes of Heat Transfer”
Heat Pumps 101: Thermodynamic Basics This is the second in a series of Heat Pump 101 videos from instructor and author, John Siegenthaler, P.E.. “The Difference Between Energy & Power” was the previous lesson in the series. You can enroll in John’s Heat Pump 101… Continue reading “Heat Pumps 101: Thermodynamic Basics”
New Free Webinar Announcement: Home Assessments for Decarbonization Electrification of existing homes is a hot trend, and rightfully so with all the latest incentives for residences and businesses to transition to electric. Anyone working in the retrofit field is likely – sooner or later – to be asked… Continue reading “New Free Webinar Announcement: Home Assessments for Decarbonization”
Heat Pumps 101: The Difference Between Energy & Power This is the first in a series of Heat Pump 101 videos from instructor and author, John Siegenthaler, P.E.. You can enroll in John’s Heat Pump 101 course for free to learn the very basics of heat pumps in less… Continue reading “Heat Pumps 101: The Difference Between Energy & Power”
New Free Webinar: Unconventional Solar Applications While we know solar can be a great way to reduce energy costs for your residence or business, there are so many ways to apply solar technology to projects outside the standard use cases. If you’ve worked in the solar… Continue reading “New Free Webinar: Unconventional Solar Applications”
IGSHPA Accredited Installer (AI) Training – LIVE from the 2022 IGSHPA Conference For the second year in a row, Ryan Carda is teaching the IGSHPA Accredited Geothermal Installer course live and in-person at this year’s IGSHPA Conference. It’s a hybrid course, with the majority offered in an online learning environment with the… Continue reading “IGSHPA Accredited Installer (AI) Training – LIVE from the 2022 IGSHPA Conference”
eQUEST vs. OpenStudio Is eQUEST or OpenStudio better for running energy models? That was the question from a student this week. Here’s how they framed it: “I’m interested in gaining a qualification in building energy modeling, to perform my firm’s energy rating building… Continue reading “eQUEST vs. OpenStudio”
What the Inflation Reduction Act Could Mean for the HeatSpring Community UPDATE: The Inflation Reduction Act has passed Congress and has signed by President Biden. For many of us working in clean energy and environmental stewardship, hearing that the Inflation Reduction Act passed through the Senate filled us with hope for… Continue reading “What the Inflation Reduction Act Could Mean for the HeatSpring Community”
Resources for the Building Science Generalist Looking for some new books or opportunities to build your knowledge base in zero energy buildings? Marc Rosenbaum, instructor of How to Think About Energy in Buildings course, shares his ideas for expanding your knowledge in the field of building… Continue reading “Resources for the Building Science Generalist”
Advice for Launching a Diverse Building Science Career It’s no accident that HeatSpring instructor Marc Rosenbaum knows quite a bit about virtually all facets of the building science industry. When he began his career nearly 40 years ago, the industry and collective knowledge surrounding it didn’t exist yet.… Continue reading “Advice for Launching a Diverse Building Science Career”
Why the World Needs Building Science Generalists When HeatSpring instructor Marc Rosenbaum began his work in building science over 40 years ago, there wasn’t a whole industry surrounding it. There wasn’t research to reference or frameworks to follow. Marc and his generation of peers essentially invented the… Continue reading “Why the World Needs Building Science Generalists”
New Free Course: Introduction to Greywater Systems For many, water scarcity is a fact of life. In fact, 51% of the United States was in drought as of March 2022. The Southwest is facing a particularly severe drought which began in 2000 and has continued ever since. … Continue reading “New Free Course: Introduction to Greywater Systems”
Meet Greenwork: A New Platform for the Green Workforce We sat down with Greenwork CEO and Co-founder, Sam Steyer, to learn about how his organization is fostering connection and streamlining the green workforce community. Greenwork is a platform that connects the best companies in solar, energy efficiency, electric vehicles,… Continue reading “Meet Greenwork: A New Platform for the Green Workforce”
Live Commissioning (Cx) Class with 8 PDHs Launching March 18th If you’re ready for a deep-dive into Commissioning (Cx), Khaled Yousef is ready to give it to you. He’s teaching a one (full) day commissioning course on March 18th. This course has been evaluated and approved by the Practicing Institute… Continue reading “Live Commissioning (Cx) Class with 8 PDHs Launching March 18th”
We Need an Installation Standard for Ventilation Buildings are getting tighter to save energy while COVID is drawing attention to the importance of proper ventilation. How much ventilation is needed? For residential buildings, there’s a widely accepted standard. ASHRAE 62.2 “Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality in… Continue reading “We Need an Installation Standard for Ventilation”