"Energy"

Energy / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

Exteriors

Top tips for energy efficient swimming pools - reduce pool cleaning & running costs

...ENERGY STAR certified pool pumps specifically as they have been independently tested and certified to save energy and money. In fact, here’s what’s been proven: ENERGY STAR Certified in-ground pool pumps use up to 65% less energy than standard pool pumps and can save more than $450 a year in energy bill costs; and, C...

Wind power

Is this the safest and most powerful small home wind turbine yet?

...energy collected, it would give some idea of what it can actually deliver. That way homeowners would know, in terms of cold hard cash, how much of their energy costs based on local utility rates that could be offset by such a purchase. If it produced enough power to pay for itself in 4-5 years and it had an estimated l...

Renewable energy

What is clean energy?

...Energy Certificates (RECs), and Canadians can purchase green power through Bullfrog Power, a green energy broker. When you purchase what amounts to being 'green energy credits', what you are doing is paying a premium to ensure that an equal amount of renewable energy is fed into the grid to offset the energy consumptio...

Solar photovoltaic

Are Tesla solar roofs worth the money? Are there any competitors? Our take on the future of BIPV

...Energy After a short stint in the market, Dow Chemical Powerhouse shingles folded up their tent, but made a recent comeback under a new license holder; RGS Energy. The Dow Powerhouse design was a thin-film copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS), but the new 3.0 version uses silicon cells instead. The shingles are offe...

Planning and Design

Calculating the carbon footprint of buildings, introducing The EC3 Calculator from Skanska

...energy and operating energy If you consider the useful life of a building, about half of its carbon footprint comes from grey energy – or embodied carbon, and the other half comes from operating energy. The grey energy consumed during the construction phase causes a one-off embodied carbon emission: when the building ...

Wood stove and biomass heat

Wood combustion – How firewood burns & how to get the best heat while being eco-friendly

...energy - which goes against the grain where burning wood for heat goes, so first rule of wood burning in stoves or fireplaces is; Burn Dry Wood! Maximum moisture content should be considered around the 15-20% range, so when choosing firewood, make the humidity a consideration as well as what type of wood. Unlike the m...