Blogs

Charlie Brown, Director of the Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory, succinctly writes about the design synergies that promote both human pleasure, and high performance buildings. Check out his extremely potent and well-written article in this recent issue of Harvard Design Magazine.
http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/research/publications/hdm/current/30.Brown.html

In 2003, the Building Research Laboratory at the University of Oregon instituted a challenge: design a classroom that incorporates all the known benefits of natural daylight, that cuts energy use by 85%, and that costs no more than an average classroom. The result was a cutting edge classroom for the Mt. Angel Abbey School in Eugene.

Solar heating is an inexpensive and efficient way to supply all of your hot water needs. Two popular systems that are commercially available through multiple suppliers are the evacuated tube solar collectors and flat panel solar collectors.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu today announced a new $450 million program designed to catalyze a nationwide energy upgrade that experts estimate could save $100 million annually in utility bills for households and businesses.

The merging of economy and environmentalism is an ambition realized by Catalonia in northeastern Spain. Here 17.9% of the population is unemployed; the highest rate in Europe, but as an alternative to polluting the environment in the name of industry and occupation, they’ve opted for an aggressive plan to create jobs in sustainable industry.

Mike Hatten and Gary Christensen gave a Tuesday lunch presentation for the September edition of BSUG, a deviation from BSUG's typical meeting time on the second Wednesday of every month.

Net Zero in your Home By 2015

If you haven't heard of what "The Wedg" is then check out this article:
http://www.idahostatesman.com/newsupdates/story/872949.html

After dozens of trades and sub-contractors have contributed to a building, there is no guarantee that the building envelope functions according to its original design; building envelope commissioning can help to co-ordinate this multitude of design influences.

A new program in the pending climate bill passed by the house highlights a classic conflict between new, environmental friendly policy and old, economically rationalized mindsets. The new program would create a label for all buildings that would contain information about their energy performance.