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 […]

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 […]

Resistance is futile – Conversion Factors

While no one can say those in the “Green” / Energy Efficiency fields march in lock step like the Borg, I couldn’t resist using that line from Star Trek. The reason, well it appears that a big part of the collective is moving towards using kBtu/SF for measuring usage. For more on this aspect & […]

The Home Builders Energy Efficient Tax Credit – an FAQ

UPDATED: The Federal Energy Policy Act of 2005 (aka EPAct) established a $2000 tax credit for eligible contractors / builders for every new home sold that is certified to meet certain “energy efficiency” standards. While this was initially scheduled to expire at the end of 2007, the tax credit has been extended several times, and […]

BS4D: The truth behind a watched pot never…

While “a watched pot never boils” has been proven to be incorrect, did you know there is an interesting phenomenon that makes that perception feel like reality?  How about water can be at 32° F and still not be frozen? Well lets introduce you to two interesting terms; latent & sensible heat and see how […]

Industry Standards 101

When reading over a contract or talking to almost any contractor there are three items you will generally hear or see; your project will be built to code, we will follow accepted industry standards, and it will of course pass inspection. Shoot, that all sounds pretty good so no worries right? Well let’s take a […]

Energy Savings & Efficiency 101

I love salesmen, the ultimate bringers of truth, justice, and the American way. Oops… I’m sorry about that & yes you can wipe the coffee off your monitor – I promise no more bad jokes. In all seriousness, while there are many well intentioned companies, individuals, and programs that love to talk about “home performance” […]

Common Sense Building: Making Sense of Radiant Heat (FAQ)

We originally started this series on Radiant Heat with an article entitled “Don’t just jump on the bandwagon” & followed it up by a guest post from Todd Vendituoli on his installation of an under the slab system & the benefits of a Radiant Hydronic System. As promised we are into our third article on […]