A Cold Climate Construction and Energy Blog
Foster Lyons Building Science: What building science can learn from a self-cleaning leaf Editor’s note: I recently received several blog posts from building scientist and writer Foster Lyons. These were originally intended to be republished on the Green Building Advisor website, but circumstances prevented that from happening. The pieces are far too interesting to go Continue reading "What is the…
Buying or building a home isn’t just about walls, a roof, and the finishes. It’s also about systems: the heating and cooling equipment that keeps you comfortable, the ventilation that maintains a healthy indoor environment, the plumbing and electrical networks that we ve all come to rely on. Yet many homeowners — new and those who ve Continue reading "Homeowner Education: The Missing Key to…
This post originally appeared on the Green Building Advisor website. I’m pretty much a nerd; I own four different indoor air quality monitors plus a radon monitor and portable CO2 monitor. I have the EPA AirNow app downloaded on my phone, and I’m considering purchasing my own outdoor IAQ monitor, just to finish off the Continue reading "Health and Wildfire Smoke-How to Improve Your IAQ" The post…
On Friday, January 31, 2025, I excepted an interim position of editor at Green Building Advisor. This job offer came out of the blue, and was something I could not pass up. For now, it is a temporary position with the possibility of becoming permanent. The current editor, Kiley Jacques is on a leave of Continue reading "I ve Accepted a New Job" The post I’ve Accepted a New Job first appeared on…
If you’ve been studying the concepts of building science, you’ve probably heard of the four control layers, water, air, vapor, and thermal. Thinking about each of these building envelope control layers individually, and how they interact together helps in the planning and execution of building a better home. This concept of separating a home’s assemblies Continue reading "Do You Know About the…
Back in the early 1990’s, before I joined the construction industry, I was in college taking business classes. I remember learning how to assess a business by using something called SWOT. The SWOT acronym stands for strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. I’ve been developing this idea for assessing existing homes that are looking to undergo Continue reading "Using S.W.O.T. to Help…
As I m writing this blog post, a very cold air mass typically found at the North Pole has begun to move southward, into more temperate climates. This latest polar vortex is forecast to affect much of the continental US with below average temperatures. Here s a question, what effect does that very cold air have on Continue reading "What Happens to Your Home in Extreme Cold?" The post What Happens…
The first time I used a self-adhered water resistive barrier was in 2019, on my own home. I had recently purchased a 1950’s vintage Cape Cod design fixer upper that was built using board sheathing covered by 15 lb. asphalt impregnated felt. I knew I wanted to improve the water management and air tightness of Continue reading "How to install a Window When Using a Self-Adhered WRB" The post How to…
Missing a detail when working through an unfamiliar assembly can be easy to do. Getting your head around the movement of water, air, and the thermal boundary with all of the parts and pieces that are required to make the structure often requires more information than can be shown in a simple plan or elevation. Continue reading "How to Utilize Modeling Software and Mock-ups When Designing…
Testing the air barrier or air control layer of a home has traditionally been done using artificial pressure created by a fan, commonly referred to as a blower door test. Why You Need Blower Door Testing Northern Built The advantage of using an air pressure differential testing is twofold, we can quantify the Continue reading "A New Tool to Find Air Leaks in Buildings Using Sound" The post A New…