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”
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?”
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”
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”
Build your own ACCA Manual J load calculations and energy models Back in the 80’s ACCA created Manual J as a process to do load calcs. It was hundreds of pages of calculations, formulas, factors etc. Then in 1985 the first software was developed following Manual J to speed up the… Continue reading “Build your own ACCA Manual J load calculations and energy models”
The Ultimate Guide to Getting Your BPI Building Science Principles Certificate The Building Science Principles (BSP) Certificate is your gateway to understanding energy-efficient home performance. It introduces key industry terminology and demonstrates how a home’s components interact to influence its overall efficiency. By exploring the relationships between the building envelope, HVAC… Continue reading “The Ultimate Guide to Getting Your BPI Building Science Principles Certificate”
How to get your BPI Building Science Principles (BSP) Certificate Our “Building Science Principles (BSP) Certificate Prep” course is launching August 5th. If you sign up before the launch, you get a 10% pre-launch discount. The Building Science Principles (BSP) Certificate is the first BPI credential you get on your… Continue reading “How to get your BPI Building Science Principles (BSP) Certificate”
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”
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”
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”
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”
David J. Goldstein Awarded Genius Grant for Multifamily HVAC Solution Please join us in congratulating David J. Goldstein, the first Genius Grant award recipient for 2021. David is an engineer and an entrepreneur. He has self-funded the development of a new HVAC solution that has potential to make multifamily housing… Continue reading “David J. Goldstein Awarded Genius Grant for Multifamily HVAC Solution”
Storing Embodied Carbon in Buildings to Address Climate Change More and more, green builders and architects are looking to reduce embodied carbon, and when possible, store it in buildings, says Marc Rosenbaum, instructor of HeatSpring’s Zero Net Energy Buildings course. “We’re changing our view from net zero energy buildings… Continue reading “Storing Embodied Carbon in Buildings to Address Climate Change”
Comfortable, Resilient Net-Zero Buildings Aren’t Just Residential Hampshire College’s R.W. Kern Center achieved zero net energy building status due to its passive solar orientation, high levels of insulation, airtight envelope and triple glazed windows. The building also includes air source heat pumps, and a 118-kW rooftop solar… Continue reading “Comfortable, Resilient Net-Zero Buildings Aren’t Just Residential”
Zero Net Energy Buildings with Marc Rosenbaum is Back! I am so excited to announce that renowned Zero Net Energy (ZNE) expert Marc Rosenbaum is back with a newly updated version of his best selling Zero Net Energy Buildings course. It has been a long hiatus since our last… Continue reading “Zero Net Energy Buildings with Marc Rosenbaum is Back!”
Energy Modeling with the Latest Update to ASHRAE’s Standards The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has implemented a new update that will ultimately make energy modeling simpler, says Chris Schaffner, instructor for HeatSpring’s Energy Modeling in eQUEST course. ASHRAE’s standard 90.1, which covers energy codes,… Continue reading “Energy Modeling with the Latest Update to ASHRAE’s Standards”
More Cities and Towns Calling for Energy Modeling to Address Climate Change With the federal government’s lack of movement on climate change, more cities and towns are stepping up and focusing on ways to address climate change, says Chris Schaffner, instructor for HeatSpring’s Energy Modeling in eQUEST course. That means that the… Continue reading “More Cities and Towns Calling for Energy Modeling to Address Climate Change”