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Department of Energy Proposes Changes in Efficiency Rulemaking
Federal rules for setting energy efficiency standards will be revised under a plan announced by the Department of Energy, prompting complaints that the changes would make it harder to update…
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Wingnut Testing: Soffit-to-Ridge Roof Venting
So far, I have performed wingnut testing on PSA tapes and on basement waterproofing products. Very recently, I started working on wingnut testing of roof venting, using an easel made…
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Saving Sustainably: Completing the Dry-In
Editor’s note: This is one in a series of blogs detailing the construction of a net-zero energy house in Point Roberts, Washington, by an owner-builder with relatively little building experience.…
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Integrating an ERV with an Air Handler
Everyone pretty much gets that continuous (or very frequent) ventilation is necessary in high-performance homes. And -- at least in theory -- most people get why balanced, heat-recovery ventilation is…
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Canadian Pays for Fire in Two Ways
Last October, an investment property that Woytek Stachowki owned in Edmonton, Alberta, was gutted by fire. That was bad enough, but a month later the other shoe dropped: He received…
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Insulating a Flat Roof
Tom Jordan is a painting contractor in northern New Jersey who's at his wit's end as he tries to figure out a remodeling job at his own home. It seems…
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Sliding Insulation Between Rafters From Above
It’s harder to weatherize an old Cape Cod house than it is to weatherize other types of houses. The second floor of a Cape Cod house has sloped ceilings, typically…
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Solar Jobs Declined for a Second Straight Year in 2018
Solar jobs in the U.S. dropped by 7,900 last year, a 3.2% decline, but prospects for growth this year are good, the Solar Foundation said in its annual snapshot of…
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Regulators Plan Rollback of Light Bulb Efficiency Rules
The Department of Energy has decided that certain light bulbs won't have to show improved energy efficiency after all. The department last week announced it intends to scrap plans for…
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Blockchain Has Come to the U.S. Real Estate Market
Late last year, a precedent-setting property sale in Vermont became the first real estate transaction in the United States to use blockchain, portending a new era in the sale of…