Monday, February 28, 2022

     Hope for Homes legislation needs your help. Contact your senators and Representatives to help pass Hope for Homes bills. This legislation will aid the weatherization of our built environment, making houses more efficient and healthier.

Friday, February 25, 2022

 Get a blower door test if you want to improve your home's efficiency and health. Most homes built before2018 code requirements leak like a sieve. A home cannot be too tight so long as you provide makeup air. Get an energy audit today.

Thursday, February 17, 2022

 Hope for Homes is US Gov't legislation designed to help home owners to improve their quality of life. Please contact your House and Senate representatives to approve this legislation.

Sunday, February 13, 2022

 There seems to be no end to the misinformation about the correlation between air quality and envelope tightness. To be clear, a home CANNOT be too tight. Once air tightness is accomplished the effectiveness and necessity for ventilation becomes paramount. You are pissing in the wind trying to control IAQ without a tight home. Air tightness allows for good continuous ventilation and adds quality of life for the occupants by providing filtered fresh air.

Thursday, February 10, 2022

 A recent disappointment in Sevierville:

 Over the past 2 years I have been testing new construction for 2018 Code Compliance, specifically Duct and Blowerdoor pressure testing. This year the code officials decided to abandon 2018 and adopt state level 2012 IRC . The state does not require pressure tests, stating they are "Voluntary" so, of course, no one does. A step backwards for those of us who support sustainable healthy homes. 

Sunday, February 6, 2022

 Blower Door tests are the best way to assess a home's efficiency and health, the baseline. Without this test knowing how effective work done has changed the home is guess work. Home owners have no other way to gauge their home's health and efficiency is hard to prove. If you have questions about your home's ability to support a healthy environment get a blower Door Test.

Wednesday, February 2, 2022

 Our growth based economy is unsustainable. At some point resources and space will run out. Before that happens, durable housing that can be reused is imperative.

 So many thoughts recently about relentless development and how to create sensible, healthy home growth. Energy efficient homes are, by design, durable. Homes built to be healthy and long lasting is somewhat in the face of our planned obsolete mentality. Are we building homes designed to fail to increase recycling do to failure? I fear we have less interest in durability than sales.