zHome: Setting a National Net Zero Energy and Green Building Precedent Almost ten years ago, Built Green, an environmentally-friendly residential building program of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties, began a project to develop the first net energy townhome complex in the United States. The project was created… Continue reading “zHome: Setting a National Net Zero Energy and Green Building Precedent”
Heat Recovery Ventilation Considerations in Zero Net Energy Homes Marc Rosenbaum discusses heat recovery ventilation considerations for zero net energy homes on the Zero Net Energy Homes course discussion board… Exhaust-only ventilation home health concerns Student 1: Do you know of any potential health impacts from living in a depressurized space–… Continue reading “Heat Recovery Ventilation Considerations in Zero Net Energy Homes”
How to Build a 75% Net Zero Community What does it take to build a 75% net zero community and the “largest Emerald-rated community” in the world? Tabitha Crawford explains how her team combined solar, HVAC, and sustainable building practices to build 250 net zero homes while keeping construction… Continue reading “How to Build a 75% Net Zero Community”
Leaders in High Performance Building: The Efficient & Comfortable Spec Home At HeatSpring, we celebrate innovative builders and designers who work to improve the overall quality and performance of public and residential buildings… Our Leaders in High Performance Building Giveaway was created for those who have helped plan, design, construct, and/or operate a high performance building. Entrants… Continue reading “Leaders in High Performance Building: The Efficient & Comfortable Spec Home”
Leaders in High Performance Building: Zero Fossil Fuels & Zero Net Energy At HeatSpring, we celebrate innovative builders and designers who work to improve the overall quality and performance of public and residential buildings… Our Leaders in High Performance Building Giveaway was created for those who have helped plan, design, construct, and/or operate a high performance building. Entrants… Continue reading “Leaders in High Performance Building: Zero Fossil Fuels & Zero Net Energy”
Leaders in High Performance Building: Best Green Energy Efficient Custom Home of 2015 At HeatSpring, we celebrate innovative builders and designers who work to improve the overall quality and performance of public and residential buildings… Our Leaders in High Performance Building Giveaway was created for those who have helped plan, design, construct, and/or operate a high performance building. Entrants… Continue reading “Leaders in High Performance Building: Best Green Energy Efficient Custom Home of 2015”
Leaders in High Performance Building: Foam Insulation for Slab On Grade At HeatSpring, we celebrate innovative builders and designers who work to improve the overall quality and performance of public and residential buildings… Our Leaders in High Performance Building Giveaway was created for those who have helped plan, design, construct, and/or operate a high performance building. Entrants… Continue reading “Leaders in High Performance Building: Foam Insulation for Slab On Grade”
Free Lecture: ‘Real Zero’ Net Energy Homes Enroll in ‘Real Zero‘ today! In this free lecture, Bruce King discusses the faults of our current home construction elements and the industry shift toward “net zero” buildings. During the lecture, King addresses questions that often arise in the green building… Continue reading “Free Lecture: ‘Real Zero’ Net Energy Homes”
Does Source Energy = Site Energy? On the Zero Net Energy Homes discussion board, Marc Rosenbaum clarifies… when it comes to electricity, IS source energy the same as site energy? Student 1: The (course) book says that for electricity, source energy equals site energy… but, there is… Continue reading “Does Source Energy = Site Energy?”
HeatSpring’s Leaders in High Performance Building Giveaway! At HeatSpring, we celebrate innovative builders and designers who work to improve the overall quality and performance of public and residential buildings… Our Leaders in High Performance Building Giveaway was created for those who have helped plan, design, construct, and/or operate a high performance building. Entrants… Continue reading “HeatSpring’s Leaders in High Performance Building Giveaway!”
Get Building Before NESEA’s BuildingEnergy NYC 2015 BuildingEnergy NYC 2015 “BuildingEnergy NYC is a rapidly growing, cross-disciplinary conference that offers practical, hands-on solutions to the financial, environmental, legal, and maintenance challenges facing NYC building owners and practitioners in every neighborhood and borough. Conceived in 2012 and nearly… Continue reading “Get Building Before NESEA’s BuildingEnergy NYC 2015”
Free Tool: Water and Hot Water Usage Estimator Download Andy Shapiro‘s FREE Water and Hot Water Usage Estimator! This tool is used in Building Energy Analytics: Measuring and Understanding Building Energy Use course, approved for 10 AIA LU/HSW Credits , 15 Building Performance Institute (BPI) CEUs , 6 GBCI credits (CE Hours for… Continue reading “Free Tool: Water and Hot Water Usage Estimator”
Principles of Deep Energy Retrofits: Homes & Buildings Principles Underpinning Deep Energy Retrofits (DER) of Both Homes and Non-residential Buildings In this article, Marc Rosenbaum discusses… Examples of both Home and Non-Residential Building retrofits Upgrades to energy and mechanical systems in older buildings Heating cost and air quality… Continue reading “Principles of Deep Energy Retrofits: Homes & Buildings”
“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: “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”
Interview: How to Create a Holistic Built Environment – Transportation, Solar, and More We reached out to Ryan C.C. Chin, Ph.D., the Managing Director and Research Scientist of MIT Media Lab’s Changing Places group, to learn about the initiatives his group is working on to reshape cities into more holistic systems and how the HeatSpring community of contractors,… Continue reading “Interview: How to Create a Holistic Built Environment – Transportation, Solar, and More”
3+ Ways to Replace Spray Foam Insulation in Your Basement Here’s a discussion feed from one of our best-selling courses, Zero Net Energy Homes. In the discussion, one of our students asks Marc Rosenbaum for foam-free ways to retrofit her New England basement. Here are the alternatives to spray foam… Continue reading “3+ Ways to Replace Spray Foam Insulation in Your Basement”
John Siegenthaler Reviews Heat Pumps In the article below, John Siegenthaler, Principal of Appropriate Designs, explains how air-to-water heat pumps offer new opportunities for hydronic pros. At the end of the article, John runs the numbers to answer the question: “How does the performance of… Continue reading “John Siegenthaler Reviews Heat Pumps”
Win a $10,000 Zero Net Energy Building Award! Think your house is the best Zero Net Energy building in the Northeast? You could win $10,000! The Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA), a membership organization with a mission to advance the adoption of sustainable energy practices in the Built Environment,… Continue reading “Win a $10,000 Zero Net Energy Building Award!”
Calculate Heat Loss to the Ground with Marc Rosenbaum Marc Rosenbaum, Director of Engineering, South Mountain Company and one of HeatSpring’s expert instructors, taught a free live lecture to more than 200 architects and builders last week. His focus: demonstrate how buildings interact thermally with the ground and teach… Continue reading “Calculate Heat Loss to the Ground with Marc Rosenbaum”