The complete source for building, designing, and remodeling green homes
Product Guide
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Is Using Closed-Cell Spray Foam Worth the Trade-Offs?
Closed-cell polyurethane spray foam is amazing stuff. It’s a great insulator, with a higher R-value per inch than almost any other commonly available material. (Polyisocyanurate foam can be equivalent, but…
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Choices for Roof Underlayment Continue to Expand
Builders once had one choice when it came to roofing underlayment: asphalt-saturated felt. OK, two choices—#15 asphalt felt and #30 asphalt felt. These days, there are dozens of brands of…
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A Case for Composite Wood Siding
Wood is one of the most environmentally benign building products. Not only does it extract carbon during tree growth and then sequester it as lumber, it provides us with a…
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Choosing Among the Most Efficient Water Heaters
A long-running ad campaign for Maytag featured an affable but underworked repairman who spent his days snoozing in an office chair because the appliances he sold rarely needed any attention.…
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Going After the Global Warming Potential of Ready-Mixed Concrete
The absolute bad boy of CO2 emissions in the building industry is the approximately 17% dry weight of Portland cement in a standard ready-mix concrete. Somewhere between 5% and 8%…
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Epoxy Repair Kits
Last winter I helped my buddy, Connecticut remodeler and Fine Homebuilding author Chris Green, build and install a kitchen. We used biscuits to align the face frames on the cabinet…
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The Hidden World of Solar Hardware
Roughly 2400 megawatts of new residential solar was deployed last year, the equivalent of 7.5 million 320-watt modules. That's a big investment. Ever wonder what prevents all those panels from…
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What’s the Most Durable Grout?
Back when I was a full-time remodeler (1983 – 1991), one of my older brothers, Izzy, taught me how to lay ceramic tile. I really liked the combination of physical…
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How to Choose a Metal Roof
Metal roofing has a long history in the U.S. but until 20 years ago it was a bit player in residential construction with just a 3.6% share of the reroofing…
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USG EcoSmart Gypsum Wallboard
To understand how USG Sheetrock® Brand EcoSmart gypsum wallboard (GWB) has a better environmental footprint than many alternative wall coverings, it helps to know how it is made. The key is two…
