Building & Powering an Award-Winning Net Zero Energy Home Can a home be beautiful, powered entirely by solar energy, use sustainable heating and cooling systems and save it’s owners roughly $3,500 a year? Why, yes it can. Just ask Joanne Coons, who built her award winning, single-family, Net Zero Energy… Continue reading “Building & Powering an Award-Winning Net Zero Energy Home”
UW Greek Community Perpetuating College Sustainability Movement Officially launched in November 2015, the Green Greek Representative Program (GGRP) is a student-run program at the University of Washington working to make the Greek Community a more sustainable place. Working through UW EcoReps and supported by the UW Sustainability office,… Continue reading “UW Greek Community Perpetuating College Sustainability Movement”
Amassing & Analyzing Zero Energy Building Data Many believe that the future of net-zero energy is already here. At the forefront, the Net-Zero Energy Coalition is not only leading the movement, but also creating what their team refers to as “The Hub,” a place where all-things-Zero-Energy (ZNE) can… Continue reading “Amassing & Analyzing Zero Energy Building Data”
Building Automation Systems and Open Building Systems: Design Specs Building Automation Systems (BAS) specifications are a required piece of any building construction, upgrade or retrofit project. Learn about Building Automation Systems and Design Specifications for Open Building Systems in Ron Bernstein‘s latest course. Typically developed by a consulting engineer,… Continue reading “Building Automation Systems and Open Building Systems: Design Specs”
Energy Models: Design Tools & Energy Use Simulators “What is an Energy Model?” In this brand new free course, P.E. and LEED Fellow Chris Schaffner explains. Chris describes a variety of methods for modeling building energy consumption. He starts with simple energy estimating tools of increasing complexity and… Continue reading “Energy Models: Design Tools & Energy Use Simulators”
Best Practices in Green Roof Policy Implementation Curious about best policy implementation practices in the Green Roof revolution? When populations grow, how can a city expand with existing infrastructure? Do green roofs work for all communities? How do we manage stormwater? What role does federal funding play?… Continue reading “Best Practices in Green Roof Policy Implementation”
What Does Zero Energy Capable Mean? What does ‘Zero Energy Capable’ mean? A Zero Energy Capable designation means a project was designed, built and tested to be zero energy over the course of a year. There is a lot of confusion on the market as to… Continue reading “What Does Zero Energy Capable Mean?”
FREE Lecture: Passive House – Less Energy and More Comfort Enroll in ‘Passive House: Less Energy and More Comfort‘ today! In this free lecture, James Bill cites several examples of Passive Houses and the comfort and efficiency these structures provide. Bill discusses the “FRAM” by Fridtjof Nansen (this first crew spent… Continue reading “FREE Lecture: Passive House – Less Energy and More Comfort”
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”
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”
Earning Sustainable Building Continuing Education Credits with HeatSpring In addition to gaining applicable experience, completing projects, and learning from expert instructors, taking a HeatSpring course can also provide you with the opportunity to earn Continuing Education Credits. Many of our courses are approved by professional sustainable building organizations for continuing education… Continue reading “Earning Sustainable Building Continuing Education Credits with HeatSpring”
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”
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: 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”