Heart of a Building’s episode on the Sierra Grande PK-12 school in Blanca, CO -airing/streaming beginning in early 2023- references “Passive House” performance standards as the guiding principles for the design and construction of this school building. To learn more about Passive House please check out the following links: Passive House US | Passive House Institute
We were thrilled to kick off June on the Better Buildings Better Society podcast. You can watch and listen here or head to their YouTube channel and see this and other great episodes. Don’t forget to subscribe! Please let us know if you have questions or would like more information about anything you heard here! From the show notes: “Without a question, we need better airtightness and better insulation. That is the best place to spend your dollars,” shares Paul…
Even if a house looks sustainable, you have to ask, “Can it pass the blower door test?” Watch our host and founder conduct a simple blower door test on his new home to test the home’s energy efficiency. This test could tell you a lot about air leaks, where ice dams may form and give you a clue about why your energy bills are higher.
If you are building a new home or looking to make your home more energy-efficient, you may be thinking about windows. Up to 30% of household energy is lost through windows, and depending on age and maintenance, losses can amount to much more. Energy-efficient windows can be a costly investment, so understanding which windows are suitable for your home is essential and not relatively as easy as one, two, three. Here’s the rundown on energy-efficient window basics. Getting to know…
With Earth Day fast approaching, many are looking for ways to lower their carbon footprint and save money. Fortunately, no matter the age of your home or office, there are lots of small changes that will yield significant results when it comes to being kind to the planet and your wallet at the same time. Changing anything about your existing home or office takes money and/or “sweat-equity,” so understanding that investing a little bit of your time, efforts and/or money…
My Net Zero Home Got Me Through a Wisconsin Winter — Here’s What I Learned By Amber Westerman Is it really possible to get through a Wisconsin winter on solar electricity alone? We had a 10-day cold snap last February and it got down to minus 17 degrees F. My air-source heat pump (mini-split) was working hard — and consuming lots of power. When I set out to build a net-zero house (and afford it), I knew my design had to…
Heart of a Building founder and host, Paul Kriescher spoke with Russell Pope for Panasonic’s Tech Talk about what you can do to boost sustainability, energy efficiency in your home! We are thrilled to be working with Panasonic and their team as we highlight more and more homes and buildings in our videos!
While we like to make a big deal out of building projects on the leading edge of environmentally sound techniques, we also want to make a big deal about the little things. It is those little things that can end up making a big difference. We’ve compiled a list of 10 Easy Things You Can Do to Increase Your Home’s Energy-Efficiency you can take to make your home more environmentally sound
Thrive Vitality Homes, Denver, Colorado | Each Vitality home features luxurious architecture combined with Thrive’s trademark Zero Energy construction, LEED certification, and a focus on cleaner indoor air. Vitality Thrive Homes are production built, single-family homes, which deliver zero-energy and zero-emission housing available to hundreds of home buyers every year in the Denver Metro area. Thrive’s decades-long vision was to optimize the health of the buyer. They did this by enhancing indoor air quality, comfort, and eliminating the home’s carbon…
Nantes Public Library, Gilcrest, Colorado | Nantes Public Library is a near passive house-compliant public building. The building design brought outstanding daylighting and comfort for occupants while delivering low utility bills [for the taxpayers of the district]. It has become the gem of the High Plains Library District. The project has merged people who had both conservative and progressive viewpoints to work together to create a building that is an example of being in ever greater harmony with Nature. Project…
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