Blog

Bonus Points for Blended Learning

Shawna HendersonMarch 23, 2015

There's a lot of times when face-to-face training is the only thing that will do. Especially in the home performance industry: hands-on is the only way you can really learn to identify and diagnose energy-sucking and moisture-growing situations in a house. But to understand what you need to identify and...

OK, so who should take Building Science Basics?

Shawna HendersonMarch 10, 2015

If you work in home construction and renovation, you know about energy efficiency measures. But do you really know it? If you’re trying to figure out if you need this course or not, take a shot at answering these questions: What happens to the neutral pressure plane when you air...

Training Partners Program Takes Off

Shawna HendersonMarch 09, 2015

We’re very excited about the interest in our Training Partner program that we launched in January 2015! We’re now supplying online training in building science to two very different organizations: a non-profit green building certification organization in Michigan and a home performance training center in California. We’re also talking with...

Proper installation technique for proper batt insulation

Shawna HendersonFebruary 20, 2015

Oh, how I yearn for RESNET Grade I installations...here's how to get 'em.

Drainwater Heat Recovery Units & Water Efficiency

Shawna HendersonFebruary 16, 2015

Hot water distribution efficiency is now included in HERS ratings, under an amendment to ANSI/RESNET Standard 301-2014. This is a Good Thing. To date, all of our efforts to represent, and then minimize, hot water usage have been skewed by distribution systems (ie, by the vagaries of plumbing). According to...

BHE online training as prep to classroom training!

Shawna HendersonFebruary 16, 2015

We're so very pleased to announce our partnership with Building Performance Center Inc, in Folsom, CA. Our online training is the preparatory course for classroom training for Building Analyst training (BPI Certification). BPCi has a fantastic facility, the Field Training and Test House -- trainees are guaranteed lots of hands-on...

Blown-in vs. Batt: what are the realities?

Shawna HendersonFebruary 15, 2015

From the newsletter of Northwest Energy Star (Q32014): Bibs vs. batts: Who ya got? Recently, some blown fiberglass products were shown to offer the same resistance to airflow when blown to a density of 2.3lbs/cubic foot as cellulose does at 4lbs/cubic foot. Energy Trust of Oregon was intrigued by these...

Introducing our new partner: Green Home Institute

Shawna HendersonJanuary 23, 2015

Our news of the week: we've partnered with GreenHome Institute (GHI) out of Grand Rapids, MI, to offer Building Science Basics to more folks in the industry. Through GHI, Building Science Basics is eligible for more continuing education credits:10 CE hours for AIA-HSW10 CE hours for USGBC4.5 CEUs for BPIGHI...

The Path to Net Zero/Zero Net Energy (Ready)

Shawna HendersonJanuary 19, 2015

Here's a presentation based on our work with Natural Resources Canada on The Path to Net Zero Energy housing. The study challenge was to look at incremental reductions in energy use and flag where the envelope improvements ended and the mechanical system design started. There was a lot of number...

Question: How to stop pressure-driven water leakage at windows

Shawna HendersonJanuary 19, 2015

This happens in specific conditions, on specific faces of houses in Nova Scotia: wind storms carrying a whole lot of rain come ripping of the North Atlantic and drive rain horizontally. And only when the wind is out of a certain quadrant does the window leak. The pressure on the...

Reblog: What's Reasonable vs. What's Heroic

Shawna HendersonJanuary 19, 2015

Ann Edminster, M.Arch, LEED AP (a long time colleague) is a recognized international expert on green-home design and a principal developer of the LEED for Homes rating system. Here’s a story about Ann’s house in Pacifica, California, in interview format with Jim Gunshinian from Home Energy Magazine. This Q&A originally...

Our Training just got more affordable

Shawna HendersonJanuary 13, 2015

Hey 2015! Here at Blue House Energy, we've a big thanks to everyone who took our Building Science Basics online course in 2014. We've been praised us to the skies <blush> for the quality of our work. We want to give more folks access to affordable, on-demand training. So, our...

Valuing the role of the appraiser in home performance

Shawna HendersonJanuary 12, 20158 comments

Here's something near and dear to the heart of anyone involved in the home performance industry: how to make energy efficiency sexy, appealing, and properly valued. When you're up to your eyebrows in insulation and you know that you are adding significant value to a house, it's sometimes hard to...

QUICK PRIMER: Air Barrier v. Vapour Barrier

Shawna HendersonJanuary 05, 2015

An air barrier stops air from moving in or out of the conditioned space, effectively blocking the air pressure differences that drive the stack and wind effects. Air barriers can be in place anywhere in the building envelope, and there can be more than one air barrier. Air barriers can...

The satisfaction of saving a basement from itself...

Shawna HendersonDecember 30, 2014

The original basement: rubble, damaged, water issues at the slab, scrabble, rock and broken thin slab floor, insulation stuffed in window wells with cracked glazing in the frames, daylight visible between window/wall, cellar door/wall, joists/top of wall, and even peeking through between some of the rubble. Two monster oil-fired boilers...

QUICK PRIMER: Drainscreens vs. Rainscreens

Shawna HendersonDecember 22, 2014

A drainscreen is a self-draining material (often a proprietary mesh or netting) between between stucco or cement cladding and the drainage plane/waterproof layer, especially common with insulation finish system (EIFS) wall assembly (which is often also the exterior air barrier in EIFS assemblies). Drainage paths allow the water to get...