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Solatubes have traditionally been added to bathrooms without windows. This narrow approach to the cost effective solatube application can cost your customers thousands of dollars over time and the good feeling of natural light. Hallways and bedrooms along an end wall are perfect examples of places that can be daylighted by this device that pays for itself in as short as threeyears.Kitchens would be a close second to good areas to install. These lights come with covers so that late sleepers can protect their eyes. Ihave three of themin my house and will add two more next time I renovate.Give th...
For the purpose of simplyfying future discussions, I would like to share my definitions of energy efficiency and energy conservation. First, energy efficiency consists of the measures currently installed or that can be installed in a property to retain thermal mass at the lowest rate of consumtion. It includes the framing, insulation, lighting, air seal/barrier and mechanical systems, among others. Energy conservation refers to our behavior toward energy consumption. It is the lowest cost but sometimes the hardest to change. Obvious examples include frequent changes in the temperature settings...
The most recognized energy standard in residential construction is the ENERGY STAR Rating. Fees from Raters run from $350 to over $2000 depending on the level of service (ie Manual J& D completion). Additional costs to achieve the lowestlevel (you know what they call people who finish last in their medical school class?) range from 0 to 3% of total costs. The bottom line is that it comes down to holding the people who complete the work responsible for doing it right. Most of the work is standard for most good builders. 1. Do a good job on the the insulation, no voids, gaps or compressions ...
I recently had the opportunity to visit, in a small group setting, with Dr. Steve Chu, the nation's energy czar andSecretary of Energy. Hespoke to many issues that I willdiscuss in later blogs. But the main point that I took away and have always known,is that energy efficient buildings are more valuable than others. It stands to reason that operating costs of an efficientbuidling of any size will be smaller than thosewithout energy conservation measures and thus the total value of the energy efficient building will be greater. It makes simple economic sense. Dr. Chu said that FHA will soon req...