BuildingGreen Report

Blog Post

Spray-applied fiberglass insulation offers huge benefits over fiberglass batts and even has some advantages over cellulose

July 22, 2013

We’ve just completed the installation of a relatively new and (at least in New England) little-known insulation material called Spider. As a reminder, the house we are renovating (really re-building) in Dummerston, Vermont has provided an opportunity to try out dozens of innovative products and materials that I’ve long... Read more

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July 10, 2013
Some suggest that we should base decisions about insulation levels on the cost of supplying the necessary heating or cooling with solar electricity Photovoltaic (PV) system being installed on our barn roof.Photo Credit: Alex Wilson

There’s an age-old question of how much insulation to install in our homes. In the... Read more

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June 25, 2013
We’ve come a long way from the early Tyvek housewrap; our experience with the German Pro Clima Solitex weather-resistive barrier Pro Clima Solitex weather-resistive barrier installed on our home. Click to enlarge.Photo Credit: Alex Wilson

I remember years ago—I hate to remember how many; it must have been around 1982... Read more

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June 18, 2013
If buildings lose power or heating fuel, how hot is too hot and how cold is too cold? An elderly woman in New York City trying to keep cool without air conditioning—though with an electric fan.

Photo Credit: David Goodman - from the Buildings Resiliency Task Force Report

Over the past five months, the New York City... Read more

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June 12, 2013
The 18-kW photovoltaic array on our barn roof is nearing completion The first PV panels being installed on our barn roof. Click to enlarge.Photo Credit: Alex Wilson

When we started planning the rebuild of our house and the rest of the farm in West Dummerston, Vermont my wife and I knew that we wanted to produce all of... Read more

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June 7, 2013
The latest version of Green Globes for New Construction focuses on novel ways to measure energy performance, but details are hard to come by.

There seems to be a lot to like about the new Green Globes for New Construction, which was apparently launched earlier this week.

I say “seems to” and “apparently” because, despite repeated... Read more

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June 4, 2013
This week’s Slow Living Summit celebrates local food, local economies, sustainability, and resilience. The Slow Living Summit is happening June 5-7 in Brattleboro.Image Credit: Strolling of the Heifers

For the past three years the Slow Living Summit has been an important ancillary event to the Strolling of the Heifers... Read more

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May 29, 2013
If we include building-related portions of industrial and transportation sectors, buildings account for a lot more energy than most people claim The generally accepted split between different primary energy end-uses. Click to enlarge.Photo Credit: U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration

I’ve long... Read more

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The Bullitt Center in Seattle is showing that a six-story, 52,000 square-foot building can meet the net-zero-energy, net-zero-water Living Building Challenge

May 21, 2013

I’m just back from a week in Seattle, where I attended the Living Future Conference, which this year had a theme of resilience and regeneration—a major focus of mine with the Resilient Design Institute. While there I visited what is almost certainly the greenest office building in America if not the world.

The Living... Read more

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May 15, 2013
Roxul ComfortBoard IS has some important environmental and performance advantages over XPS and polyisocyanurate insulation ComfortBoard IS, Roxul's exterior insulation board, is being distributed nationwide in the U.S. at thickensses up to 3".Photo Credit: Roxul

Readers of this Energy Solutions blog may be aware that I’ve... Read more

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May 15, 2013
Poison pill pushed by illegal lobbyists, or exciting, bipartisan energy bill that could change everything? It could be up to you.

We’ve been keeping an eye on the sweeping Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act (PDF), introduced by Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D–NH) and Rob Portman (R–Ohio).

The common-sense bill, likely to come... Read more

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May 14, 2013

Turning waste into a unique architectural product, Coldspring and Jason F. McLennan have teamed up on a new dimensional stone product.

As the founder and CEO of the International Living Future Institute and its influential Living Building Challenge, Declare product database, and Living Future unConference, Jason F. McLennan has been busy... Read more

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May 8, 2013
Few others are thinking about energy audits and weatherization, but now’s a good time. Weatherization should target the biggest air leakage sites.Image Credit: U.S. Department of Energy

Wait a second. Spring has barely sprung, and you’re saying we need to start thinking about energy audits already? What’s up with that... Read more

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May 7, 2013
Cool your super-efficient jets, green building world. We still have no idea what GSA is going to do about LEED. As GSA goes, so goes the federal government? Maybe...maybe not.Photo Credit: Shalom Baranes Associates

It’s been a long and confusing year for people who track federal green building policies.

Between the military’s LEED... Read more

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Think you understand pressure-sensitive adhesives? Think. Again. (EDITOR’S NOTE: Do not try this at home.)

May 2, 2013

This is part of an ongoing series. Read all the Sticky Business posts here.

WTF at BuildingEnergy 13! Children, do not try this at home. Photo: Peter Yost

My last post in this series on adhesives, sealants, and tapes ended with this line:

“We hope to follow up this baseline ideal... Read more

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May 1, 2013
Panelized construction, meticulous attention to energy detailing, and a sophisticated computer design system put Unity Homes at the cutting edge of home buiding. A Unity Homes wall section at the company's Walpole, NH factory. Click to enlarge.Photo Credit: Alex Wilson

In my blog last week, I provided a little... Read more

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April 26, 2013
Whole-building LCA is about to get really big in LEED and elsewhere. It's a great tool, as long as you understand its limitations. As part of its "Journey to Deep Green," international construction firm Skanska is tracking embodied carbon of the core-and-shell projects it builds for its real estate development arm. Rather than relying only on... Read more

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April 24, 2013
Tedd Benson's latest initiative to reinvent home building—with lower-cost panelized construction Wall panels being fabricated at Unity Homes' Walpole, New Hampshire factory. Click to enlarge.Photo Credit: Alex Wilson

 

A few weeks ago I spent a half day with my good friend Tedd Benson learning about his new company... Read more

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April 16, 2013
Knauf Insulation's EcoSeal can provide significant air-sealing prior to installing cavity-fill insulation Installing Knauf EcoSeal at our farmhouse. Click to enlarge.Photo Credit: Alex Wilson

Getting back to our Dummerston, Vermont farmhouse this week, I’m reporting on our use of a relatively new product for air-... Read more

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April 10, 2013
Växjö, Sweden embraced the U.N's Agenda 21 and is now a model of sustainability Växjö Energi AB's wood-chip-fired CHP plant. My host is standing in front of a large steam turbine. Click to enlarge.Photo Credit: Alex Wilson

My blog last week about Kansas and efforts to outlaw any mention or promotion of sustainability... Read more