Spray foam makes houses tighter, right? Maybe. Usually. Having blower-door tested hundreds of homes with every insulation combination you can imagine, I’ve developed some opinions. Spray foam insulations have a reputation for making homes more airtight than fiberglass or cellulose. If you look at a sample of the various insulation...
Category: Amy Musser
Should green building programs be doing more to address climate change?
Amy Musser
According to my neighbor's rain gauge, Asheville has had 16 inches of rain in the past 2 weeks. The 14-day forecast says that 10 days from now we might have a full day without rain. This is excessive even in our temperate rain forest. We expect 45-50 inches of rain...
Celebrating “solar energy month” in NC
Amy Musser
June is solar energy month! This makes a lot of sense because it's one of the most productive months for the solar technologies in our house. It's also time for backyard barbeques and a lot of other fun stuff that reminds this blogger why the summer issues of magazines are...
We should probably all stop picking on solar thermal
Amy Musser
Is solar thermal dead? Should it be? Despite what you may read in popular blogs and hear from people around you, I don't think so. I have it in my own house, I love it, and I feel like it's time to lay out the case in its favor. The...
Life with a rainwater cistern
Amy Musser
“What about the tank?” It was 4 PM the day before we needed the bank to approve the final appraisal for our permanent mortgage. Our contractor was rushing to finish everything that the bank needed and I was on the phone with the guy from the bank. Me: “It’s a...
Hybrid walls anyone?
Amy Musser
Sometimes I blog about things I see that bother me and sometimes I pick topics that people ask me about all the time. Today, it’s both. The use of hybrid foam-fiberglass insulation in walls is something that people ask me a lot. Other people don’t ask and just do things...
Seeing the light: myths about light bulbs
Amy Musser
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 and putting it in a residential light fixture just is not that complicated. (This sounds like the great lead-in for...
Hyper-mile your house
Amy Musser
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 your house. I’ve been experimenting with this idea for a couple of years and trying things with friends and students...
Celebrating the solstice with passive solar
Amy Musser
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 a hint: it’s 74 degrees in my living room right now. Living in a passive solar house is remarkably more...
Why you don’t need a humidifier
Amy Musser
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 tested duct systems (probably also this week) that weren’t as tight as this house. It’s great that we’re making homes...