The HTRC

The Homeowners & Trades Resource Center

Energy Auditing Services Update – BPI Certification

As we mentioned back in our Updates & Happenings at SLS Construction, we were pursuing Certification from both BPI & RESNET for Energy Auditing & Consulting Services that we are adding. Well, on Saturday the 2nd we finally received one of the two certifications from BPI that we are currently pursuing. For a recap of the BPI Building […]

Independence Day Safety – Fireworks

July 4th, 1776 — We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent […]

Basic Water Heater Maintenance – Draining the tank

It’s ok, you can admit it and in fact, I will start – I have not drained my water heater in a few years. Fortunately, for me the water is not that “hard” where I am. “Hard” water is simply sand, minerals, and other solids found in water. Now, if I still happened to live […]

July Mid-Summer Home Maintenance Checklist

July starts out with a bang with the 4th of July, unfortunately, the heat never seems to let up. Across the US of A, this is generally the hottest month of the year, and when most everyone is headed to a beach or the mountains to look for a little respite. On the plus side, […]

Public Comment on EPA RRP Proposed Changes

As we have mentioned in some previous posts that the EPA has requested Public Comments on a Proposed Extension into Public, Commercial & Industrial Buildings & a Clearance Testing Proposal. In both of those articles & on numerous forums, we have encouraged others to leave a comment whether they are for or against it. With that in mind, we […]

25 Conservation Tips & Tricks

In our last article, “Energy Efficiency vs. Conservation – what is the real issue?” we covered plenty of the issues that involve your actual house while it is being worked on. While we have also had several articles on making your house more energy efficient, money saving tips & tricks, air sealing, green cleaning, and […]

EPA RRP: Proposed Extension into Public, Commercial & Industrial Buildings?

As we have mentioned in our recent articles on the EPA RRP updates, the EPA is requesting public comments on numerous items. One item they are considering is should they extend the current RRP policies to include public, commercial, and possibly industrial buildings. While this one issue theoretically does not affect Homeowners directly, it can […]

EPA RRP Proposed Changes: Clearance Testing

Oh boy, here we go again. As a quick history recap – The following “proposed” & open for “public comment” changes to the RRP are due in part to the Sierra Club settlement that the EPA agreed to back on August 26, 2009. In this settlement, the EPA committed to propose (more like implement) several changes […]