The complete source for building, designing, and remodeling green homes
Recent Articles
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How to Install Doors in Thick Walls
In high-performance building envelopes—those with thick walls and other details that allow for extra insulation and air-sealing—installing standard doors poses challenges that builders don’t typically encounter on more conventional builds.…
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Windows in Thick Walls
Thick, highly insulated walls are great for lowering energy bills and creating a more comfortable interior environment for occupants, but they present some unique challenges for builders when it comes…
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Pretty Good House 2.0
You may already know about the Pretty Good House concept, the result of a question that moderator Dan Kolbert asked back in 2011, partly as a joke, at the long-running…
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Thermal and Moisture Control Layers
Editor's note: This post originally was published as part of the ProHOME series at Fine Homebuilding magazine. Michael Maines is a Certified Passive House Consultant and residential designer based in…
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Convincing Clients to Upgrade to Pretty Good (or Better)
How do you convince clients to upgrade from code-minimum (or worse) construction to Pretty Good House, or better, levels of performance? How do you ventilate a commercial-style range in an…
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The Pretty Good House: A Better Building Standard?
The Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) held its annual meeting in Portland, Maine, on September 15th, 2012. After a day of tours of local sustainably designed projects and some pre-meeting…
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The Pretty Good House, Part 2
What is truly important when designing and building a green home? Some of the many existing programs don’t go far enough, some are accused of going too far, and some…
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The Pretty Good House
[no-glossary]Energy Star[/no-glossary]. [no-glossary]LEED[/no-glossary]. [no-glossary]Passivhaus[/no-glossary]. There are many programs with different metrics for determining how green your home is. But what elements of green building are important to you when designing…
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Steve’s Garage
Once a month in Portland, Maine, a group of builders, carpenters, architects, engineers, energy auditors, insulation contractors, and other fans of building science get together for, to quote the invitation,…
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Attic Insulation Upgrades
Two projects my company is currently working on involve a common problem: not enough insulation in the attic. Both homes are old; one dates from 1860, the other from 1705.…
