The Greenest of the Green: Earth Advantage’s Top 5 Certified Homes’ Series- #4

Earth Advantage's Top 5 Certified Homes' Series rolls on with the 4th highest-scoring home. This home, built by WA Hughes Construction and designed by Andre DeBar, is the result of half a decade of planning. Dubbed 'Nishiki Gardens' by the homeowners. the rooftop solar features are the only hint to vistors that there might be something more to this house other than the beautiful Japanese details.

3rd Party Evaluation Ranks Earth Advantage’s Energy Modeling Tool #1

Last week, the Energy Trust of Oregon released a thoroughly researched and well-documented report summarizing their efforts to establish an “asset-based” energy performance metric for existing homes. The study tested and compared the most highly regarded modeling tools from around the country, including Earth Advantage’s. (Spoiler alert: Earth Advantage’s modeling system was ranked first overall.)

Build It Tight, Ventilate It Right: Part 1

What is the difference between air tightness, air infiltration, & air leakage? People often make the mistake of thinking that an airtight building is a ‘stuffy’ building. This is not necessarily the case nor is it the intent of creating air tight structures.  Airtightness is NOT the measurement of the amount of fresh air available to the occupants, but rather is the measurement of how much air will leak into and out of the home through undesirable locations, such as small cracks and holes in the building shell. 

It’s About Practice, Not Product

Spray foam is a great air sealing and insulating product. However, it is not the cure-all for builders looking for a tight, well-insulated home. The prevailing thought is that “if I use spray foam, I don’t have to air seal.”

The Man Who Powers Energy Efficiency Work in Washington State

One of my favorite presentations at our 2011 Green Day Forum was from John Davies, Director of the Opportunity Council’s Building Performance Center in Bellingham, Washington. His presentation, “The Weatherization Industry Grows Up,” left me fascinated with the work that our northern colleague is engaged in.

Affordable Green Home Plans from a Certified EA Professional

Recently an Earth Advantage Institute certified Sustainable Homes Professional, Bruce Butler, wrote to us to let us know how our training paid off for him. Bruce has developed sustainable house plans for stock plan purchase.

I'd like to add that the pay-off is really for all of us. These aren't your ordinary stock plans! As we move toward more sustainable building, we need designers like Bruce to make house plans available to builders and consumers.

Lack of Home Branding Requires Energy Scoring to Capture Value

Home builders often don't have to pay to fix the home performance problems they leave behind.

Think about one industry that creates a product for sale, has no interest in branding the product, and thus no consequential accountability to the ultimate owner of their product. Imagine if the automakers churned out cars, never branded them, and had no concern over the performance issues the car suffered during service. Unthinkable and unconscionable, right? Homebuilding is one such industry.  

Jim Chapman, President and General Manager of Legend Homes stands in front of Edgewater a Legend Homes development.

There are exceptions of course…..Legend Homes, Renaissance Homes, KB, and Meritage Homes. These building companies are not only seeing the value of establishing a clear brand value but also offering up energy performance labels to transparently reflect their energy efficiency chops to the market. I have always been amazed that the homebuilding industry that caters to families and generations has not taken the opportunity to clearly brand its products so that generations of kids seek out that brand when it comes to their turn to become a homeowner. Isn't that the American way
?

Give It To Me Straight, Doc!

In their better natures, I truly believe people really do like to help. Whether it's holding a door for the elderly or giving unsolicited advice to a friend, people are often taking action for the "benefit" of others. Often times this "help" is not perceived as such, rather its viewed as interference or suspiciously regarded as a play for a favor in return.  The older man takes it as an affront to his fitness ("Don't hold the door for me sonny!") or "mind your own business" from the friend who didn't ask for advice. It seems to me that oftentimes people over think a situation, rather than communicating in a straightforward way. 

What’s the Energy Performance of Your Home?

With the downturn in the housing market that has resulted in a new economic environment in the building industry, many builders and developers are looking for creative solutions to weather the storm.  This has resulted in builders using a number of different strategies, including focusing on the remodel market, building at the lowest cost possible, building green or high-performance homes, or just getting out of the industry all together.  

SFO Mandates Energy Disclosure for Commercial Buildings

On February 9, 2011, the City of San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed the Existing Commercial Building Energy Performance Ordinance, signed into law by Mayor Lee on February 18^th. The ordinance requires that owners of commercial buildings of 10,000 square feet or more determine how much energy their building consumes on an annual basis, and make this information publicly available. In addition, building owners will be required to conduct an energy audit of these commercial properties every five years.