The complete source for building, designing, and remodeling green homes
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Building Strategies in a Hot, Humid Climate
AlbertoArriaga33 is wrestling with plans for a new home in a tropical location. He doesn't say exactly where, but conditions are certainly challenging: high heat and high humidity, with nighttime…
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Rainscreen Details for a Board-and-Batten Retrofit
One thing on Drew Goldsack's spring cleaning punch list this year is removing the vinyl siding from his Alberta home and replacing it with cedar board-and-batten siding. As he explains…
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Hedging Bets on a Heating and Cooling System
Brenton is building a new house in southern Maine (Climate Zone 6) that he currently plans to insulate with a combination of open- and closed-cell spray foam plus a continuous…
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Energy Upgrades on a Budget
Andrew Bennett is giving his 1991 home in eastern Tennessee an efficiency upgrade, as time and budget permits. He has a long list of improvements he'd like to make—new windows, sealing…
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What Happened In This Roof?
James Fugate's intent was to insulate the roof of his Rochester, New York, home and make the attic part of the conditioned space. What he got instead was a mysterious…
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Hiding a Ductless Minisplit Head
Ductless minisplits have become the standard for heating and cooling in many high-performance houses. These air-source heat pumps have many advantages over more conventional HVAC equipment, and also what some…
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Can a Range Hood and an ERV Get Along?
Roger is building a two-story, 3500-square-foot house that will have an energy-recovery ventilator (ERV) and a kitchen range hood. His question is about how this ventilation system will affect the…
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When It’s Better to Demolish an Old House than to Patch It Up
GBA readers get a steady diet of advice on how to improve the energy efficiency and comfort of old houses. The list almost always includes basics like air sealing and…
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Wanted: Windows for a Northern Retrofit
Brooklynite is considering the purchase of a home in New York City that comes with a second story full of single-pane windows. If the deal goes through, one of his…
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Details for Insulating a Slab Perimeter
In New Hampshire, Chris Roche is pulling together plans for a new energy-efficient home. The slab-on-grade design calls for double-stud walls insulated with dense-packed cellulose, what Roche believes is the…
