There are two primary types of water heaters: storage and tankless. In this column I’ll try to explain the differences between these two approaches and offer some guidance on choosing between them. (There are also “hybrid” water heaters with features of both that I’ll cover in a future blog post.)
While they have higher efficiency, for most applications tankless water heaters don’t make sense.
While India stands on the brink of modernizing its grid, angry Texans take up the charge against smart meters, citing privacy concerns.
Flashing and air barrier seam tapes get buried deep in our walls where we rely on long-term performance without monitoring them. Are they doing their jobs?
This is part of an ongoing series. Read all the Sticky Business posts here.
Those ubiquitous exit signs use a huge amount of electricity; a little-known alternative to conventional LED products offers surprising savings.
Big wind is getting bigger, but can we save the tax credits that help it grow? Also, how to read palms skylines, and new Passive House partnerships.
An update on getting the global warming potential (GWP) out of insulation materials.
Exterior adhesives and sealants are formulated for performance, but some contain chemicals that pose risks to unprotected workers or the environment.
This is part of an ongoing series. Read all the Sticky Business posts here.
With new oil discoveries and more effective extraction methods, the world is probably many decades away from peak oil.
Compressible gaskets keep air and water barriers continuous without liquid sealants or adhesive tapes. But they don’t all last equally well.
This is part of an ongoing series. Read all the Sticky Business posts here.
In the U.S., we tend to put a lot of faith in caulks, tapes, and wet-applied sealants. But in Europe it’s a different story.
A beautiful map of amazing places, why FSC is still best wood certification, and the scary story of why you should still make your own file backups.
Finally fixing the basement drainage problems that have plagued my house for 30 years
When I bought the house in West Dummerston, Vermont, where my wife and I have lived for the past thirty years, one of the first things I did was fix the drainage problems that were dumping water into our basement….
Or so I thought. Let me explain.
Caulk joint sealants can be a major deciding factor in how long your building envelope lasts. Is there a better way to predict how long the sealants last?
This is part of an ongoing series. Read all the Sticky Business posts here.
Oregon-based Viridian upcycles shipping waste to make stylish flooring, tabletops, veneers, and other products
