The HTRC

The Homeowners & Trades Resource Center

BS4D: Ventilation Strategies

Let me start off with one quick key point to keep in mind, ventilation is not about energy savings; rather it is about the building occupant’s health, safety, & comfort. Yes, the choices one makes can play a factor on energy costs & savings but that should not be ones primary focus when choosing a […]

Wacky Weds: Be Firewise not ignorant

Below are some quotes from a recent newsletter I get. One reason why I get this newsletter is the gentleman in question has some really great pieces & information that he does provide. Unfortunately in this case, whether it was because of , his never experiencing one, or his just plain not knowing any better […]

A big win for Builders & Remodelers: ENERGY STAR’s latest update

If there is anything that will throw a contractor in a tizzy, it is delays or additional costs. Nowhere is this time factor more of an issue than with production builders. Not only can that delay throw a monkey wrench into that one house’s schedule, but others as well. Well ENERGY STAR ® (ES3) did […]

Wacky Weds: Not such a good idea

Yeah, yeah, I have got SkillsUSA on my mind… 2 years ago I posted this goodie with a plea not to do this: I know who in their right mind would have taught them that this was okay to do… Well would you believe it was in the “Presentation” video & shown under appearance? Oops […]

My take: Soft Skills or are you always Selling

Wow has this year flown by – it’s hard to believe that in just two weeks I will be back at SkillsUSA for the TeamWorks event. I know. What in the world does that have to do with selling? Well one of the key components of this competition has nothing to do with the actual […]

Getting the details right: Fully Aligned Air Barrier

Don’t you just love engineers & others that use terms like fully aligned air barriers, or in code speak require that insulation be in “substantial contact and continuous alignment with building envelope air barrier…”? I think the term many are thinking of is, clearer than mud. This is one reason why we end up with […]

#KBTribeChat: Can’t we all just get along?

This next Wednesday at 2 PM EST, I invite you to join me & a host of other Kitchen & Bath Designers, architects, manufacturers & contractors as we dig into that age old problem; now why can’t we all just get along? For many of us, we know the joys of a well run project […]

A Wednesday What Is It?

This week we have an interesting one that you probably won’t see in the States… This picture comes to us from across the pond from Ireland & is courtesy of Darren O’Gorman of the Target Zero Group. This is from a house that they were performing a Passiv Haus Certification on. Ah yes, what is […]

BS4D: Air Barrier’s

An Air Barrier is technically defined as an item that has been tested to only allow for a certain amount of air to pass or permeate through it. The official standard is that an item should have an air permeance level of less than 0.02 L/(s•m2) @ 75 Pa (0.004 cfm/ft2 @ 1.57 lb/ft2.) In […]