Q: What is the Living Building Challenge and how does it differ from the LEED certification program? Both Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and the Living Building Challenge (LBC) were created with the same goal in mind: to encourage more sustainability and resource conservation in architecture, design, construction and building operations. LEED, a [...]
It is late 2012 and many companies, as well as homeowners, are examining the use of and investment in home energy management technology. A few years ago home energy management systems and technology was forecasted to grow at an exciting rate, but today the growth is not as rapid as we once thought. Some research [...]
Q: How energy efficient is radiant floor heating? Underfloor radiant heating involves under laying the floor with a hot element or tubing that transfers heat into the room via infrared radiation and convection, obviating the need for forced or blowing air. According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Savers website, radiant heating has a [...]
Q: Has an eco-friendly air conditioner been invented that is significantly cheaper and/or that uses significantly less energy than traditional air conditioning? Unfortunately the modern day air conditioner, with its constantly cycling, energy-hogging compressor and environmentally unfriendly chemical coolant, still reigns supreme throughout the world—and increasingly so in rapidly developing countries like India and China [...]
Guest post by Steve Apfelbaum A little over a week ago, my wife and I had occasion to take a road trip across our home state of Wisconsin. We were struck by the barren main streets. It seemed entire towns were deserted. No people walked the sidewalks. No cars were staging for parking spaces or [...]
Air leaks in your home can drastically increase energy consumption. Sealing air leaks is therefore one of the first things you should think of if you want to lower the carbon footprint of your home. A professional energy audit is the gold standard when it comes to dealing with air leaks, but by following this [...]
