Guest Post By: Marjorie Isaacson
Does your home need air sealing? Many people are aware of the importance of insulation in making your home more energy efficient, but the technique of air sealing is less well known. Air leakage, or infiltration, occurs when outside air enters a house through cracks and openings. As outside air comes in, the conditioned air inside goes out – this is known as the “stack effect”. Properly air sealing a building can significantly reduce heating and cooling costs, improve building durability, create a healthier indoor environment and increase the occupants’ comfort level.
I know these facts because I work at CNT Energy, a division of the nonprofit organization the Center for Neighborhood Technology. Before I came to CNT, I had rehabbed my house and added some insulation during the process. But I didn’t know about air sealing, and neither did the contractors who were doing the renovation work. When I heard about this concept, I was dubious – how could sealing small cracks have such a big impact? But when the building science was explained to me, I was convinced.
This realization led to an obvious next question – how could I get some of this air sealing for myself? As I noted, the concept is not widely understood, even by those in the building trades. And of course, there was the cost to consider, and the usual concerns about how to find a good contractor, and how to know that the work they did was satisfactory. Faced with all these uncertainties, I did nothing.
This inertia was actually quite embarrassing for someone who is in the energy business – I knew I was wasting energy and if I couldn’t walk the walk… But on the other hand, it’s a good example of how hard it can be for consumers to want to invest in energy efficiency. This particular problem is the subject of public policy discussions in the fields of energy and climate change. In Chicago and nationally, reducing energy use in buildings is a priority for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. And guess what – a program that address this very need is here!
The utility Peoples Gas is offering an air sealing program to residential customers who live in detached single family homes or 2 unit buildings. Because they understand the concept is unfamiliar Continue reading 'Does Your Home Need Air Sealing?'»
Living in a green home can involve a lot more than simply using energy-saving light bulbs. To get an idea of what can go into green living, I visited the Healthy Home tour in Palatine (1223 Lakeside Court, Palatine, IL) that was designed and built to be both friendly to the environment and to one’s health.
Healthy Home 2010, – a project spearheaded by the nonprofit Healthy Child Healthy World organization – was built on a site free of pesticides and chemicals, insulated with mold-resistant denim scraps instead of fiberglass and outfitted with sustainably-harvested white oak floors. Continue reading 'Healthy Home'»
I spent the day last Thursday at the Midwest Energy Forum representing my company, PVPower. We were one of ten finalists in the Clean Energy Trust contest. The contest offered a $100,000 Department of Energy prize for the company that the judges agreed is most promising. The judging panel was made up of various energy industry professionals, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and other financial professionals. There was plenty of excitement about the event and it was attended by both the future mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, and Illinois Governor Pat Quinn.
Unfortunately, we didn’t win the prize money, but a conversation that I’ve been having with VCs for the last few months came to a head during the Q&A section of our presentation. Two VCs from the San Francsico Bay area (Battery Ventures and Nth Power) asked the question: “How can you compete with the solar leasing products being offered by large, consolidated solar integrators like Sungevity, SunRun and SolarCity?” To give you some context, our company is focused on providing small, independent regional and local solar installers with the tools and support they need to be more profitable. Continue reading 'The Future of Solar is Exactly What You’d Expect'»
The Joneses won’t know what hit them.
You have the most interesting house on the block. You’ve taken steps to design and build your home to be smart and efficient. And your bills are lower, your health is better, and suddenly the grass doesn’t look greener on the other side. You’re proud of your home, but do you need green home certification to prove your bragging rights? If so, which one should you be considering?
Further complicating the discussion, homes are some of the most diverse building types around. There are townhouses, walk ups, condos, modulars, lofts, mansions, garden apartments, penthouses and bungalows, to name just a few styles. You’ve already realized some of the different considerations in greening your home depending on your property; you’ll need to summon some further energy to determine which green certification program is applicable for you. But with a little bit of knowledge, the Joneses won’t think you’ve even broken a sweat. Continue reading 'Green Home Certification Series # 1: Be A Green Home LEEDer'»
The ReBuilding Exchange (Chicago’s first building material reuse center), a project of The Delta Institute, invites you to celebrate another great year and help them warm their new house at 2160 N. Ashland, which opened for business March 1! Through a partnership with The ReUse People of America, the ReBuilding Exchange works with customers to maximize reuse opportunities for material.
The event will feature live music with Black Bear Combo, DJ Naomi Walker, food from Sweet Miss Givings and Cafe 28 and refreshments from Bell’s Brewery, Half Acre, and Candid Wines. There will also be a silent auction with items made from reclaimed materials and other original artwork.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
2160 N. Ashland
6:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Get tickets online now until 3/11. Tickets are $32.50 ($40 at the door).http://www.rebuildingexchange.org/rebuild2011.html
I. Introduction to Brownfields
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that there are between 450,000 and 1 million brownfield sites in the United States. These brownfields are usually industrial or commercial facilities owned by private-sector companies, which are abandoned or unused due to contamination. Brownfields pose a special set of problems, both to their owners and to the communities in which they are located. For owners, brownfields often represent an enormous liability with almost no redemptive value, since contamination makes the property difficult to sell. Community members often consider brownfields to be a leech on the neighborhood, since they depress nearby property values, which in turn affects school funding and other public services. Continue reading 'Brightfields'»
The American Dream has long centered around the home, and no one beats America when it comes to dreaming big. Literally.
Since the 1950s, homes have doubled in size, and we’ve continued to fill them with more and more stuff. However, since the recession, people are finally beginning to question if they really need all that extra space. One of our clients, Arlene Brennan, asked herself that question when she lent me The Not So Big House, by Sarah Susanka. We took that idea to heart when designing her home, and created a small-but-charming layout.
In Daniel Pink’s book, A Whole New Mind, he notes the paradox that “while living standards have risen steadily decade after decade, personal, family, and life satisfaction haven’t budged. That’s why more people – liberated by prosperity but not fulfilled by it- are resolving the paradox by searching for meaning.”
That meaning is much easier to find when your family members aren’t nine rooms away watching the flatscreen in their bathroom. Continue reading 'Moving from “Big” to “Big Enough”'»
How you are sustainable or regenerative has a lot to do with the place you are in. Each local ecology has its own set of circumstances, variables and things that are unique to that place. As I think about my personal environmental footprint and my place, I think about it from near to far. In permaculture, they call it zones. So I define my zones in the following way:
- my family and my home (zone 1)
- my block and neighborhood (zone 2)
- my city and region (food shed and watershed) (zone 3)
- my country (zone 4)
- the planet (zone 5)
I have started focusing on zones 1 and 2 by asking myself, “How do I get it so that as much of the needs that my family and community have are sourced locally?” There are a number of benefits to becoming more local and focused on place. Continue reading 'Place'»
Composting, Conservation, Green Building, Lifestyle, Local Food, Primitive Skills, Recycling and Waste, Renewable Energy, Transportation, Urban Agriculture
| 
Local, Permaculture, Place
95% of the energy consumed by a conventional light bulb generates heat as opposed to light. Outside of fire, the incandescent light bulb is arguably the least efficient means of lighting a space. Worse, the heat generated by these bulbs is not only an inefficient waste, but it requires an adjustment to the sizing of HVAC systems to compensate for this excess heat production.
The longevity of the incandescent bulb is a reflection of how we have tended to regard our energy consumption. They are cheap to purchase, don’t last very long but expensive over time; an inversion of our spending priorities whereby the cheapest short term cost is prioritized over long term saving. Since these costs are masked by the broad range of energy consuming devices we maintain and pay for in our homes and offices, we never really see how big of a bite those bulbs have taken out of our wallets over time.
Continue reading 'Lighting the Way'»
We have solar panels on the brain! And, as we just made the down payment, will soon have solar panels on our roof! Everyone has been talking about solar panels lately so I was shocked to find out just how few people, even those in the green movement, actually have them.
With a 30% federal tax incentive, a 30% DCEO state rebate, and manufacturers’ rebates to boot, the paybacks can hit in as little as 5-7 years. (note: you do have to track the state rebate, and wait for it to open. Mid 2011 will likely be the next window.)
Our neighbors, Pete and Lindsey Burgeson decided to move forward with the panels after realizing that after the payback period, every kilowatt produced will be free energy! Plus, they get to feel good about the fact that they will be using clean power instead of coal (cough, cough) or nuclear (toxic waste, anyone?).
We hope that other neighbors will join in as well!
Continue reading 'Solar Panels: Making the Leap'»
Comments (0) 
Themocracy