Trees and infill building
Infill building often involves a lot of tree removal. The lots we have found to build on in town have usually been vacant for many years and have had some […]
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Seeing the light: myths about light bulbs
One of the most surprising and frustrating aspects of working in the “energy efficiency industry” is the sheer number and prevalence of myths about light bulbs. Buying a light bulb
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Size Matters
Building a small house is almost always worth some points in a green building Program. Energy Star homes has a complex formula to calculate the size adjustment factor,SFA. (
Hyper-mile your house
If people can get 80 mpg in a car that’s EPA-rated to get 45, then it seems like it should be possible to get better than average performance out of
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End of Year Energy Accounting
This year we implemented several changes to reduce our consumption. I posted how we analyzed out energy use and targeted those heavy users for change. That was in Revenge of
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Celebrating the solstice with passive solar
I often say that I wish everyone could live in my house for a week. The winter solstice seems like the perfect time to talk about why. I’ll give you
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Why you don’t need a humidifier
Last Friday, our company performed its tightest blower door test ever: 0.28 ACH50. That’s not a typo – this house was twice as tight as the Passive House requirement. I’ve
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Infill Building
We (Cady and Guyton Construction) have now built several homes inside the city limits of Asheville. I like being part of the city scene and supporting the efficiency factors that
War on coal? Really?
Am I blogging about the election if I write about an issue no one’s willing to talk about? I like and respect people who root for a variety of political
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Let the Elephant in the room …
As a builder/environmentalist, the presidential debate was depressing. I don’t say this because Obama lacked luster or because Romney appeared energetic, though that didn’t help. There was not even one
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