MakeHeat

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the release of the third installment in a series of four 50% Advanced Energy Design Guides (AEDGs). This latest guide will help architects, engineers, and contractors design and build highly efficient retail buildings, helping to save energy and cut store operational costs. The 50% AEDG series provides a practical approach for designers and builders of retail stores, and other major commercial building types, to achieve 50% energy savings compared to the building energy code used in many parts of the nation. These commercial building guides support President Obama’s goal to reduce energy use in commercial buildings 20% by 2020. The Advanced Energy Design Guide for 50% energy savings in retail buildings is now available for download.

Beyond helping builders achieve efficiency exceeding the current energy code, the AEDGs also provide climate-specific recommendations to incorporate today’s off-the-shelf energy efficient building products. These recommendations help designers and builders choose advanced building assemblies, highly efficient heating and cooling systems, and incorporate other energy-saving measures such as daylighting and associated control systems. Additionally, efficiency measures found in the guides can be used in the development of future commercial building energy codes.

The 50% Advanced Energy Design Guide series is being developed through a partnership with the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), American Institute of Architects (AIA), U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA). The Retail Buildings guide is the third installment in the 50% series, and follows the guides for small and medium office buildings and K-12 schools released in 2011. The final 50% savings guide for major commercial building types—large hospitals—is also in progress.

DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) invests in clean energy technologies that strengthen the economy, protect the environment, and reduce dependence on foreign oil. Learn more about EERE’s support of building technologies. Additional information on DOE’s efforts to support the development and adoption of building energy codes can be found on the Energy Codes website.

Heard this on Andy McCaskey’s SDRNews podcast.  Glad to see it trickling down to the home market.  Cabots has both granulated (like blown insulation) as well as blanket available, while Aspen Aerogels has just blankets(spaceloft).  For new home construction, you should also see thermablock.com: this company makes a stick-on insulation for the structural parts of a home (the 2×4′s or 2×6′s) that’s supposed to increase the total R value by about 40%.

Superinsulating Aerogels Arrive on Home Insulation Market At Last | Popular Science.

Making heat is only part of the battle.  If I had a screen house with a solar air heater, it wouldn’t be keeping me warm: you have to keep the heat you make.  There are several products out on the market that allow you to put foam into your pre-existing walls to insulate and seal cracks.  This is the first one I found, and plan to follow with more.

Foam It Green Polyurethane Spray Foam Kits – Cart.

1. First, close all exterior doors, windows, and fireplace flues.
2. Turn off all combustion appliances such as gas burning furnaces and water heaters.
3. Then turn on all exhaust fans (generally located in the kitchen and bathrooms) or use a large window fan to suck the air out of the rooms. 

This test increases infiltration through cracks and leaks, making them easier to detect. You can use incense sticks or your damp hand to locate these leaks. If you use incense sticks, moving air will cause the smoke to waver, and if you use your damp hand, any drafts will feel cool to your hand.

HealthNewsDigest.com.

TX, USA – I always thought in terms of fluid dynamics when it came to heat – a fancy way of saying I wasn’t thinking clearly.  Here’s a great article, and what I learned today (you should learn at least one new thing every day, and relearn three). …”In simple terms, heat travels in three ways: convection, conduction and radiation,” Reed said. “The radiant barrier blocks the radiant spectrum; additional insulation slows conduction of heat into the house, and we put in another 20 eave vents and replaced our passive spinning turbines on the roof with solar-powered vents. That solves the convection problem.” …

via Dollar Wise: With radiant barriers, high expectations for lower bills | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Texas Regional News .