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On electric cars…
“Once consumers get used to the charge-at-home ritual, the pilgrimage to the gas station will very quickly feel as inconvenient as rewinding the VHS tape and driving it back to Blockbuster.” LINK:...
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low-flow showerheads review
Over at the wirecutter they write in their article about showerheads: “If you go less than 1.5 gpm you’re going to have to spend so much time in the shower rinsing off that you will waste more water...
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NRJ (energy)
We came home to a HOT house after an afternoon out at a picnic. It was probably only a sunny 80F today. Forgot what that felt like after living in superinsulated splendor for 3 years. So that got me...
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“When we do complex roofs in high snow load areas like ski resorts we typically have the roof deck act as the air control layer and provide a high level of thermal resistance at the roof deck (either...
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Book Review: A Pattern Language
Green building people… if you are designing/building or buying a house, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of this book — A Pattern Language (1977, Christopher Alexander et al.). I also recommend...
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Simple Solar PV math
First: assumptions: 1. Price of grid electricity. In MA, it can be kinda expensive. And let’s assume you are doing GREEN UP or NEW ENGLAND WIND FUND to make you 100% renewables. Let’s guesstimate...
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Climate scientists calling for revolution
Is avoiding a 2 degrees C rise “impossible” or is it “difficult but doable” — “…scientists have been dramatically soft-peddling the implications of their research” Naomi Klein in Russell Brand’s New...
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Insulation! 3000 => 1400 CFM50
Insulation by definition does not necessarily tighten up a house (think fiberglass batts) but many types of insulation do: - spray foam - cellulose - foam board (as long as it is sealed at seams with...
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This test shows the cold reduces an EV’s range by more than 50 percent.
http://www.plugincars.com/reduced-ranges-electric-cars-cold-129205.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PluginCars+%28PluginCars.com+RSS+Feed%29Filed under: car,...
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The Problem With Little White Girls (and Boys) (On voluntourism. From a founder of a summer camp in Dominican Republicfor HIV+ children.)...
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our normal house vs our passive house
We built an “almost passive house” a few years back, lived in it for 3 years, but then decided to move. Here are some observations after living in our current “normal 1958 house” for a year. our almost...
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My 2 cents on mini-split Air Source Heat Pumps
My 2 cents on mini-split Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHPs) for heating is: 1) if you calculate the source energy usage, it’s pretty much equiv to using nat gas directly because of the efficiency of power...
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we must also embrace clean coal
“…coal produces more than 40 percent of the world’s electricity, a foundation of modern life. And that percentage is going up.” http://www.wired.com/2014/03/clean-coalFiled under: energy,...
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“All of America’s well-publicized problems, including obesity, depression, pollution, and corruption are what it costs to create and sustain a trillion-dollar economy. For the economy to be “healthy,”...
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Global warming and house design
In upcoming years you will be hearing more and more about how climate change and global weirding changes what kind of houses we build. Issues that come to mind based on my own experience living in...
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20 green “strange thing” gotchas when building a custom green house (or, how...
Most of these can be avoided if one chills out and builds 90% of a green house, or perhaps by working with a very experienced green architect (or ideally I think?) a design-build company that gets both...
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3 years and going, and still our fruits and veggies in MA are often from CA! “If You Think the Water Crisis Can’t Get Worse, Wait Until the Aquifers Are Drained”...
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using employee happiness reviews in choosing one product over another
Let’s say you are on the fence about which product or service to buy. –One consideration is the environmental track record of the company as a whole. –Another is to consider the makeup of the...
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AI is problematic
Artificial intelligence (AI) is problematic. I mean, well, it just builds on the basic problem of computers in general. It allows people to do amazing things. So when someone is clever at using them to...
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Amazon deforestation contributing to drought
Two recent articles about the drought in Brazil. Worst since 1930 made worse (probably much worse) by deforestation. Go humans. “The Amazon works as a giant pump, channeling moisture inland via aerial...
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