HVAC

Going Green

Passivhaus Design

It started off as a super-energy-efficient residential design standard in Germany. Passivhaus Design is an extremely tight building standard, minimizing outside air infiltration at every possible opportunity.  Less outside air entering a structure means the […]
Going Green

Caulk the Cracks in Outside Walls

If you can put icing on a cake, you can do a good caulking job.  It’s a piece of cake!  You load a tube of exterior-rated caulk (same color as the siding, or close) into your […]
Going Green

Humidity Sensor

A few years ago I installed a whole-house fan in the ceiling of an upstairs closet of my home, hoping to ventilate the house when it was cool outside.  The property was surrounded by giant […]
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Going Green

Winter Humidity & Comfort

Weather is an important consideration in many energy conservation projects, both in the amount of energy used (e.g. to extract humidity from the air inside a building) and in the final product: comfortable air in […]
Going Green

Geothermal Heat Pumps

Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHP) are a relatively new technology to most people.  Exotic!  And “exotic” means undependable ~ risky!  Clearly, the GSHP industry needs to work harder on its public relations, much harder. GSHPs […]