Study Finds Benefits of Building Green Outweigh Cost Premium
A landmark international study on the costs and benefits of green buildings finds that energy and water savings alone outweigh the initial cost premium in most green buildings and that green buildings cost, on average, less than 2% more to build than conventional non-green buildings. "The deep downturn in real estate has not reduced the rapid growth in demand for and construction of green buildings," said Greg Kats, the study's lead author and a Managing Director of Good Energies. "This suggests a flight to quality as buyers express a market preference for buildings that are more energy efficient, more comfortable and healthier." Continue...  View Topic

Green Building Techniques Saved Home From Wildfire
Although the Tea Fire surrounded Marlene and David Berry's home, literally burning up to their front door, their house survived with hardly a trace of soot. Sure, they lost most of the plants in their fire-resistant landscaping and there are marks from burning embers that landed on the wooden threshold of a door leading into their garage (the only non-metal threshold in their house). But their home is intact, along with everything in it. Continue...  View Topic

How Geothermal Heat Pumps Could Power the Future
The term "geothermal energy" might bring to mind hot springs and billows of steam rising from the soil, but you can get energy from the ground without moving to Iceland or Yellowstone. You just need a geothermal heat pump. "We call anything below the ground geothermal," said John Lund, director of the Geo-Heat Center at the Oregon Institute of Technology. This includes geothermal heating, in which hot underground water is used to heat a building, and geothermal power, in which steam from very hot underground rock (more than 300 degrees Fahrenheit) is used to drive an electric generator. However, these hydrothermal resources are only available in select areas. A geothermal heat pump (sometimes called a ground source heat pump) can work anywhere. "They are the fastest growing geothermal use in the world," Lund told LiveScience, with about 20 percent annual growth. Continue...  View Topic

ICF Forum
Owner/builder: Got land (Colorado), how pick supplier and engineer?
How to deal with void under window buck?
Attaching Bracing to the Floor?

SIP Forum
HRV in my SIP house is making it colder
Solatube Skylights and SIPS
Siding Options for OSB SIPS

Radiant Heating Forum
Are programmable thermostats good for radiant heat?
Floor tubing runs
Hardwood over radiant heat?

Geothermal Heat Pump Forum
Desuperheater Tranquility 27 Question?
Waterfurnace Envision 049 4 Ton 
Ductwork: insulate or not?

Solar and Wind
PV Panels and snow
Record 31.77 cents per kWh charged in NYC! 
Hybrid solar/DHW panels

Windows/Doors and Interior/Exterior Finish
Roll on hurricane window film???
Comparing Windows (Cost and Benefits)
Exterior mounted garage doors

Appliances, Lighting and Kitchen/Bath Fixtures
DC LED Kitchen Task Lighting
Compact Fluorescent Bulbs
Green security lighting

General Forum
Do it Yourself Spray Foam Insulation?
Hot Water Pressure with PEX Manifold
Spray Foam verses Radiant Barrier