The complete source for building, designing, and remodeling green homes
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Do UV Lights Really Make Indoor Air Quality Better?
I used to be a smart-ass who would say things I thought were clever but really were just annoying to most people. When I learned the basics of quantum physics,…
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The BS* + Beer Show: Concrete-Free Slabs
There are lots of reasons for builders to love concrete. It is a strong, durable, and affordable building material with uses everywhere from the foundation to the finished surfaces. There's…
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The BS* + Beer Show: Making High-Performance Affordable
We're all still getting used to using Zoom for meeting and webinars and group discussions, so it took us a few minutes to get the show rolling this week (we…
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Using HVAC Filters in Coronavirus Masks
Back in 2018 I wrote a series of articles on indoor air quality and filtration. One of those articles, The Unintended Consequences of High-MERV Filters, has seen a flurry of…
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Introducing the BS* + Beer Show
Update: The next episode of The BS + Beer Show: Making High Performance Affordable will be live Thursday, April 9 at 6pm. Here's how to join the conversation: Zoom links (no…
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Coronavirus, Building Science, and Cancer
Well, there's nothing like a little pandemic to completely upend our daily lives as well as our short and long-term outlooks for the future. I've spent far too much time…
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Building Science and the Novel Coronavirus
During a presentation on moisture management at the Better Buildings: Better Business conference this past week in Wisconsin Dells, WI, a builder asked this question: “Given the Relative Humidity Optimum…
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A Perfect Example of Radiant Heat Transfer
On Saturday morning as I was heading out for a run at the Chattahoochee River, I found my car in the condition you see in the photo above. Let's ignore…
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Pete’s Puzzle: Greater Air Leakage After Spray Foam
Here's a funky, but cool little timber-frame house, built in 1987: Being a full cathedral timber frame, the roof deck provides both structure and interior finish with all the rigid…
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17 Steps to Better Duct Systems
If a 12-step program is good for helping deal with problems like addictive behaviors, then a 17-step program ought to better, right? Or maybe it's just a random number that…
