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!”
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”
Building Codes, Efficiency & Passive House Principles On Existing Homes On the Passive House in the Real World (with Mike Duclos) discussion board… Takeaways: Homeowners looking to incorporate Passive House principles in existing buildings should consider getting a home energy audit. Still, after a home is built, serious energy reductions (say 50% to 90%) become very expensive.… Continue reading “Building Codes, Efficiency & Passive House Principles On Existing Homes”
FREE Lecture: High Performance Building Assemblies Take Peter Yost’s Free High Performance Building Assemblies Lecture today. Spend an hour learning about building assemblies with Peter Yost of BuildingGreen. Heat dries them out, so the more we manage energy flows through our building assemblies, the more we need… Continue reading “FREE Lecture: High Performance Building Assemblies”
FREE Lecture: Low Carbon Building Take Bruce King‘s Free Low Carbon Building Lecture today. What good is a “Net-Zero” building if just the act of making it dumps a huge load of CO2 into the air? The urgency of climate disruption demands that we… Continue reading “FREE Lecture: Low Carbon Building”
FREE Lecture: Life-Centered Design Take Carol Venolia‘s FREE Life-Centered Design Lecture a today! There’s more to ecological building than doing less harm. In Carol’s free lecture, you’ll learn the ten things we human organisms crave from our surroundings so that you can create built environments that… Continue reading “FREE Lecture: Life-Centered Design”
Free Lecture: Integrative Design Process Join expert instructor Bill Reed for his Integrative Design Process Free Lecture, presented with partner Sustainable Building Advisor (SBA). An integrative process consistently produces cost-effective solutions, higher performance, healthier living systems, elegant design, reduced time to market, and is a heck… Continue reading “Free Lecture: Integrative Design Process”
Free Lecture: Net Zero Water For Building and Sites Through a combination of rainfall harvesting, aggressive conservation, and water recycling, our buildings and sites can achieve self-sufficiency and reduce or eliminate their reliance on municipal water infrastructure. This free lecture, taught by architectural and landscape expert Jeffrey Bruce (FASLA, LEED,… Continue reading “Free Lecture: Net Zero Water For Building and Sites”
Maximizing Effectiveness in Sustainable Building Projects The following piece was written by HeatSpring Instructor Ann V. Edminster, M.Arch., LEED AP. Ann will be teaching HeatSpring’s Sustainable Building Advisor (SBA) course in October. Takeaways: While working on zero energy homes, a highly efficient, airtight building enclosure is a must and… Continue reading “Maximizing Effectiveness in Sustainable Building Projects”
Free Lecture: Introduction to LEED v4 Resources Still relying on pdf or hardcopies of LEED reference guides? This free lecture will introduce you to the powerful, interactive LEED v4 resources and tools available on the USGBC website, including the Green Building Information Gateway and the LEED Credit… Continue reading “Free Lecture: Introduction to LEED v4 Resources”
Finding Success in Sustainable Building: A Case Study In this case study, we discuss a sustainable building project, the importance of learning national and state energy codes/green building requirements and an overview of large scale initiatives currently taking place with alum Paul Correa. Paul A. Correa is the Principal/Founder of California’s CPG Consultants, and has the… Continue reading “Finding Success in Sustainable Building: A Case Study”
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”
LEED Version 4 Details and Delay Consequences In this article, Brenda Martens, LEED Fellow and Founder of aedify, outlines LEED Version 4. She discusses how v4 differs from v3 and the consequences of the delayed release of v4. Plagued with difficulties and delays, v4 has been the most controversial… Continue reading “LEED Version 4 Details and Delay Consequences”
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”
Free Lecture: Award-Winning Green Roof and Wall Projects: Design and Implementation In this free lecture, Stephen Peck, Founder & President of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, showcases and profiles Green Roof and Wall Awards of Excellence winners from the fall 2014 CitiesAlive conference, including inspiring, high-profile work that pushes the envelope… Continue reading “Free Lecture: Award-Winning Green Roof and Wall Projects: Design and Implementation”
Why the World Needs LEED v4 Project Managers “LEED v4 Project Management” is our first LEED course ever. We sat out the first wave of LEED education because there were a lot of great courses out there already. So why get into LEED now? A: Because LEED v4 project… Continue reading “Why the World Needs LEED v4 Project Managers”
Moisture Matters in Mastering Building Science The following is a conversation between 4 students and Allison A. Bailes III, Ph.D. from our Mastering Building Science course. Dr. Bailes is the founder and owner of Energy Vanguard in Decatur, Georgia. His academic credentials in physics (BS, MS,… Continue reading “Moisture Matters in Mastering Building Science”
3 Reasons to Rethink Crawlspaces in Passive House Design On NESEA’S BuildingEnergy course Passive House Design course discussion board… Takeaways: Typically, Passive Houses do not feature crawlspaces (a foundation that is five feet or less, and fully enclosed — or, not vented to outside) because: If the thermal boundary is at the… Continue reading “3 Reasons to Rethink Crawlspaces in Passive House Design”
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 Reasons Your PV System Load Profile is Overinflated and How to Fix It The article below is a discussion from our course, Batteries in Solar PV Systems, led by Christopher LaForge. Christopher LaForge is the CEO of Great Northern Solar and a NABCEP certified photovoltaic installer. He has been designing, specifying, and installing systems… Continue reading “3 Reasons Your PV System Load Profile is Overinflated and How to Fix It”