After kind of a slow start last fall, the SMUD Home performance program part of the Energy Upgrade California program has been going in full swing for a few months now. I thought it would be interesting to share some results of the program by profiling a recent project I completed in Fair Oaks. In [...]
Archive for category Green Building
This October we finally began work on our Multi-Family green retrofit project. If you haven’t read previous articles on it, this is a project we have spent nearly a year putting together and getting the go ahead from HUD. The project is on a 78 unit senior apartment complex constructed in the late 1970′s. The [...]
Here’s a good article and graphic from Fine Homebuilding by Martin Holladay, Senior Editor of GreenBuildingAdvisor.com. It outlines a 10 step program that’s guaranteed to reduce your utility costs. It’s along the lines of the page found on this site, but includes a pyramid shaped graphic that’s kinda cool. As always the first step is a [...]
In a response to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s latest instructions to their lenders, Placer County has suspended their mPower PACE program indefinitely. On Tusday of this week, the Federal Housing Finance Administration adjusted their underwriting criteria in communities that have PACE programs to reflect increased loan-to-value ratios and debt-to-income ratios on all properties regardless of [...]
Retrofitting Suburbia
Jul 7
A regular reader of my blog sent me this video of a January 2010 TED Talk by Georgia based architect Ellen Dunham-Jones. Dunham-Jones is widely recognized as a leader in finding solutions for aging suburbs. She is the co-author of Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Solutions for Redesigning Suburbs. As you drive around the largely suburban Sacramento [...]
Catherine Mohr is a self admitted geek. An organic food eating, carbon footprint minimilizing, robotic surgery geek. She also wants to build her house green but is supicious of all the well meaning but ultimately materials focused “go green” articles in the media. I don’t claim to agree with everything she says, but I love the presentation [...]
First lets look at some ways a remodel can affect your whole house. You might be planning to do a simple kitchen or bath remodel. You would never think that it could affect the other areas of the your home that aren’t included in the remodel scope of work. Many of the neighborhoods I [...]
Water Friendly Landscaping
May 10
Traditional landscape practice emphasizes the use of large expanses of lush, green lawns together with planting areas of non-native ornamental plants, shrubs and trees. While these techniques result in landscapes that are pleasing to the eye and perhaps evoke memories of tropical vacations, they also require large amounts of water, fertilizers and labor to maintain.
Infrared Thermal Imaging
May 3
Originally developed by the U.S. military as an advanced weapon sighting technology FLIR or Forward Looking Infra Red thermal imagers were eventually adapted by firefighters to aid in identifying hidden fires in walls and looking for victims in low-visibility smoke environments. Unlike x-ray technology infrared does not see through a material but graphically measures subtle [...]
In an assembly where components have different R-values, thermal bridging occurs when the component with the lower R-value spans from the inside surface to the outside. A wood framed wall is a perfect example of this. The studs have an R of 1.0 per inch of thickness, compared to fiberglass batt insulation at 3.5 R [...]
The federal government’s stimulus package provides tax credits for an assortment of energy efficient home improvements. These range from building envelope improvements like air sealing and insulation through windows, heating and cooling equipment all the way to renewable energy projects like PV solar.
It’s a given that a green home should provide its occupants with superior indoor air quality, but the reality is all homes need good ventilation to exchange indoor air often containing moisture, odors and pollutants with fresh outdoor air. Thanks to environmental programs such as the Clean Air Act and other regulation our outdoor air [...]
California First is a statewide program adopted earlier this year in Sacramento allowing property owners to participate in the state’s AB811 program, providing financing for energy efficiency and renewable energy upgrade to their properties. California First is an example of a Property Assessed Clean Energy or PACE program. Here are some of the basics of how [...]
What comes to mind when you think of energy efficiency?
It’s also important to keep in mind that energy efficiency isn’t about giving up things like comfort and convenience. It’s about getting more out of the resources we already use. We can enjoy a comfortable, well-lit home while being energy efficient and saving money too.
