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Blower Door Testing a Living Building
My company recently had the privilege of being hired to provide envelope leakage testing for a new Living Building Challenge project at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, built by Skanska USA,…
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Architects’ Group Reports Progress on Carbon-Cutting Goals
Architects participating in a global campaign to transition to carbon-neutral buildings by 2030 are making progress, but efforts so far are falling well short of current targets. That's the word…
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A Pretty Good House in the Sierra Nevada
Though he landed his first job in architecture while still in high school, architect Jeff Adams's path to designing high-performance homes wasn’t a straight line. When his father encouraged him…
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Can Middle America Afford Climate Change Solutions?
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), we have 12 years before irreversible climate change occurs. That means that if the United States wants to avoid this situation,…
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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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Buyer Interest in a Net-Zero Home Sags in Survey of Architects
A quarterly survey by The American Institute of Architects shows rising interest in solar panels and docking stations for electric vehicles but declining interest over time in the number of…
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What’s the Best Way to Insulate a Basement Slab?
Dave Feldman is building a new house near Boston, Massachusetts, that will have a walkout basement with a tile floor. His goal is to have the floor comfortably warm in…
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Filling Rafter Bays With Fluffy Insulation
For years, building scientists have investigated whether fiberglass insulation or cellulose insulation can be used to insulate an unvented cathedral ceiling. In general, the answer has always been no, because…
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Wingnut Testing of Soffit-to-Ridge Venting, Round 3
In the first two rounds of soffit-to-ridge vent Wingnut testing (see Round 1 and Round 2 ), I used a simple and small easel test rig to simulate what happens…
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How to Look at a House like a Building Scientist (Part 2: Heat)
This article is the second in a series on various building diagnostic tools used to sleuth out problems in buildings. If you missed it, you may want to read Part…
