Energy Efficiency & Maintenance
Sustainable Resolutions Fit Your Home Wondering what you can do to minimize your carbon footprint at your home? Solar panels are great, but they aren’t a good fit for everyone. If your house is in a shaded area, or your shingles are older but not quite ready for replacement, solar electric may not be practical […]
A Good Fit for New Leaf
At New Leaf, I’ve been working with several people on new home designs, in addition to my usual renovation projects. So I thought I’d share my thoughts about new home design, and what makes a new home project a good fit for New Leaf. When I tell people about what I do, they often seem […]
Get Ready for Winter
Now that it’s almost November, you’ve probably spent some time getting your yard ready for winter by raking leaves, putting the gardens to bed, and maybe putting away some outdoor furniture. But before you get too comfy with that cup of hot chocolate, you’ll want to make sure your house is ready for winter. And […]
Home Energy Renovations- when you can’t go down to the studs
A couple of months ago I met with a client who wanted to make significant energy improvements to an older house. But because the house was occupied, it wasn’t possible to go down to the studs to do the kind of deep energy retrofit Project Rebuild is doing in Canton. (If you missed that story […]
The Energy Audit Saga Continues
In my last newsletter, I wrote about the two energy audits I had done recently: one through Dominion East Ohio’s GoodCents program, the other through a company specializing in audits. If you missed that article and would like to read a comparison of the two audits, just click below: Battle of the Energy Audits. Well, after […]
Battle of the Energy Audits
I recently had not one, but two energy audits done on my house. I’ve mentioned before that Dominion East Ohio is offering audits through their Good Cents program for just $50. Then at the Home & Flower Show, I learned that Dr. Energy Saver will do an audit for free. I had wondered before how […]
Zero Energy Ready
If you have been following the buzz on sustainable homes, you may have heard the term “Net Zero Home”. The idea of Net Zero is to create a home that generates as much energy as it uses. Since energy usage affects both the operating costs and the environmental impact of a house long after construction […]