This blog post first appeared on GreenBuildingAdvisor.com.

We are always trying to avoid unintended consequences of our best efforts to improve home performance. A good example of this is radon gas and air tightness levels in homes during energy retrofits. How are the two levels related, and what can we do about it?

Airtightness... Read more

Two studies indicate some benefits to using insulated vinyl siding, but more data is needed to win over this skeptic. Setting aside the overall environmental profile of the oft-demonized PVC (check our coverage in this month’s EBN feature “The PVC Debate: A Fresh Look”), I’ve been getting a lot of questions about insulated vinyl siding—the vinyl... Read more

To function properly, any ducted HRV has to be balanced after installation Barry Stephens measuring the airflow through a ceiling register of our HRV.Photo Credit: Alex Wilson

 

After choosing and installing our state-of-the-art heat-recovery ventilator (HRV), we completed a critical step in the installation of any... Read more

Predicting performance and rationally selecting window coverings—from awnings to films to cellular shades—is incredibly challenging, but real help is on the way.

There is a lot of interest in just how much (and at how low a price point) window coverings can improve building thermal performance.

Both the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)... Read more

Balanced ventilation requires two fans: one bringing fresh air into the house and one exhausting indoor air (see 6 Ways to Ventilate Your Home). By balancing these two fans and the airflow through their respective ducts, the house is maintained at a neutral pressure—which is important for avoiding moisture problems or pulling in radon and... Read more

One of the features in our new house that I’m most excited about barely raises an eyebrow with some of our visitors: the ventilation system. I believe we have the highest-efficiency heat-recovery ventilator (HRV) on the market—or at least it’s right up there near the top.

Why ventilate?

... Read more

Many previous winners of AIA Institute Honor Awards have featured green attributes, but energy and water use data are now required submission criteria. After decades of effort within the American Institute of Architects (AIA), sustainability metrics have now become required submission criteria for what many consider to be one of the highest... Read more

Precedent-setting regulations in Southern California now limit VOCs in colorants and toughen the requirements for certain specialty coatings. Tighter emissions restrictions on colorants and specialty coatings have taken effect in Southern California. The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), which sets policy in Los Angeles, Orange... Read more

The Healthy Building Network (HBN) is urging building product design and selection to account for asthmagens, but some question whether its precautionary approach is premature. The Healthy Building Network (HBN) has released a report that calls for new asthma prevention strategies after finding many chemicals associated with asthma are present in... Read more

The new regulations will slash particulate emissions from woodstoves, wood hydronic heaters, pellet stoves, and masonry heaters. For the first time in decades, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed updated emissions standards for new wood heaters. The new rules would reduce particulate emissions from wood heaters an estimated... Read more

Exciting new doors and windows featuring cork, composites, and low U-factors have come to U.S. markets. For evidence of the growing influence of the Passive House standard, look no further than the North American market for efficient windows and doors, where new and innovative products engineered to meet the standard seem to appear all the time.... Read more

The 2013 version of ASHRAE’s Standard 55 allows designers to reduce energy use by incorporating adaptive thermal comfort strategies. ASHRAE has published its latest update to Standard 55, Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy, with some major revisions that make room for adaptive thermal comfort principles.

Especially notable are... Read more

A large number of people are still exposed to unhealthy levels of lead through their jobs—most in construction and manufacturing. Workers in construction trades continue to account for a large percentage of those exposed to dangerous levels of lead, according to a federal report.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that... Read more

Hoping to accelerate chemical assessments, the Environmental Protection Agency calls on the public to help decode new screening data on hundreds of chemicals.

The chemicals were screened as a part of the Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century (Tox21) program—a federal collaboration between EPA, the National Institutes of Environmental Health... Read more

Timber Treatment Technologies and its innovative non-toxic treated decking product are in the news again—this time over durability and performance in post-Katrina homes. Rotting TimberSIL at the high-profile “Make It Right” green building projects in New Orleans—along with other consumer complaints—have Timber Treatment Technologies (TTT), the... Read more

Standard 169-2013 expands its dataset globally and adds a new zone for extremely hot climates.

“With this major revision, Standard 169 now includes climate zone maps for the entire world, as opposed to the 2006 standard, which only included a U.S. climate zone map,” according to Dru Crawley, chair of the committee that wrote the standard. “... Read more

A two-year halt on spending for LEED Gold and Platinum was called off in the 2014 federal defense authorization act. Congress has lifted its restriction on LEED spending by the U.S. military.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) signed by President Obama on December 26, 2013, does not renew a two-year prohibition on use of Department of... Read more

Plasticizers known to be highly toxic decreased in a nine-year study, but tests showed elevated levels of less-scrutinized substitutes. People in the U.S. can rest a little easier about three toxic phthalates being phased out of consumer goods, reports Lindsey Konkel of Environmental Health News—but levels of other phthalates have gone up, in some... Read more

A report funded by the asphalt industry warns there could be consequences from solar radiation bounced off reflective pavements. A white paper funded by The National Asphalt Pavement Association and the State Asphalt Pavement Associations recently drew attention by asserting that reflective pavements, which are promoted in programs like LEED for... Read more

Common antibacterial chemicals, including triclosan, are the target of a proposed FDA rule.

Biocides used in antibacterial soaps and incorporated into many building materials and consumer products probably do more harm than good, says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The agency has released a new rule demanding that companies using... Read more