Have been booked for another talk later this month. This time to passive house builders. #BuildingScience

My colleague has just published her first paper. All my #academicChatter people know how huge this is! Let's get some clicks on her paper!!! It's about energy efficiency and mould risk in residential buildings - go have a read 😍 #writingCommunity #BuildingScience
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/11/2843

Fellow #BuildingScience nerds: any recommendations for a Kill-a-Watt or Emporia-Vue-like power meters? Assume I know nothing. Are electric box meters better? Point-of-use? Would love any insights you want to share. Main goal is understanding how much power different devices use / adjusting behavior.

Okay, I recently learned how bricks work, and WHAT THE HELL MAN.

So, the brick acts like a sponge, soaking up water when it rains. The reason the water doesn't just end up inside is that the brick...just kinds of holds onto it.

In other words, old brick buildings are like giant sponges, and you basically hope they sponge longer than it rains, or else you get wet. If you live somewhere rainy, you just add (you guessed it) MORE BRICK.

🤯 🤯 🤯 #buildingscience #physics #water #house #history

The effect of air infiltration on CO2 in the home. Normal level is 1240 ppm for our family of four with windows closed. Home has no principal ventilaton fan. Now with wind steady 42 km/h, gusts to 70, we are getting 941ppm: unintentional ventilaton. #buildingscience #covidCO2

Moisture from the sweat and breath of 400 people makes up half the fog droplets in this arena. Low ventilation rate allowed moisture and CO₂ to steadily accumulate. After 1 hour CO₂ was 2000 ppm, indicating 4% rebreathed air; 1 in 25 breaths from others. #BuildingScience

I've made some progress improving the building envelope by closing off openings to the outside. I'll eventually be using an insulation system to try to bring the house into 21st century energy efficiency range. Water management in buildings has been a topic I've sought a lot of education on. I am worried I am going to do it wrong.

#diy #HouseRestoration #homerenovation #centuryhomes #buildingScience #bldgWaterManagement #insulation

Ideal house features, including design

If I could build a house from scratch: rammed earth walls, metal roof, proper sitting and site design to catch warm sunshine. You could do a lot to both stay warm and stay cool using only passive elements, without needing any power. Doesn't that sound handy right about now?

I am greatly inspired by Ben Falk and WrathOfGnon with their discussions of traditional building techniques and passive resilience.

Here is Part 2 on my list of ideal home elements - https://brownfoxff.substack.com/p/ideal-house-do-overs-with-better

I especially like Energy Vanguard's description of the "hot water rectangle" - https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/efficient-hot-water-delivery-with-a-simple-tool/
How often have you run the tap waiting for hot water? No more.

#house #BuildingScience #resilience #PatternLanguage

House Improvements you can make without changing the design

Hey home experts - if you won the lottery and could make any improvements to your house, what would you do?

I'm first going through a list of changes that don't require breaking any walls.
A metal roof? Hot water heat recovery? I'd love to hear your list. What am I missing?

https://brownfoxff.substack.com/p/ideal-house-do-overs-without-changing

#resilience #BuildingScience #house #renovation #diy

Air leak detection system visualizes building drafts with the click of a camera

Hey #buildingscience friends! Check this out. Pretty cool and can help with #blowerdoor testing. #AirLeakage #ACH
#EnergyAudit #Energy #energyefficiency

A Corsi-Rosenthal box! For you #DIY people, it's a way to improve your #airquality. @cleanaircrew@mstdn.ca #buildingscience #indoorairquality #IAQ #buildingsci

RE: https://petrous.vislae.town/users/Binder/statuses/110957852832032895

Construction Physics/Brian Potter continues to be excellent.

#building #buildingscience #indoorair #co2

https://www.construction-physics.com/p/we-need-more-research-on-how-co2

Keep Your Home Cool without power or air conditioning - A thread 🧵

With increased #ExtremeWeather events and more #ClimateChaos , how do you stay cool without using power or air conditioning?

A 🧵 , working from outside to in -

1. 🌳 Plant trees. Trees create shade and reduce the ambient temperature around your home. Plant trees in appropriate spots where they won't dig into your foundation. This may take some forethought and planning but also helps the planet. Chat with a local arborist about the best types for your region. #PlantMoreTrees

#BuildingScience #PassiveHouse #PassiveDesign #StayCool #cooling #HelpThePlanet #climate #ClimateChange #ClimateChaos #resilience #trees #heatwave

#BuildingScience #BookReview "Pretty Good House", by Kolbert, Mottram, Maines, and Briley. A thorough overview of the best modern building practices - how to create houses that last a long time and perform well.

The authors are builders, designers, and architects with decades of experience. They include case studies to explain construction and renovations.

The photos are beautiful.
They say: Use simple shapes, a simple roof, and good site design. The authors wanted to explain and inspire to _drag_ modern house design into a more sustainable direction.

Official website: https://www.prettygoodhouse.org/

More detailed review: https://brownfoxff.substack.com/p/book-review-pretty-good-house

#houses #housing #HouseDesign #GoodUrbanism

#introduction Hello! I am a Zone 3 gardener who loves #permaculture , planting trees, and trying to grow food forests. I love #BuildingScience and learning how to fix or improve my house. Lately I have been getting into passive house design, insulation, and #resilience - reducing our house energy use, conserving water with rain barrels, etc.

I'm a fan of #Homesteading but also #GoodUrbanism - constructing buildings with local materials and traditional techniques so they can be cheaper, last longer, be more resilient, and better for the planet. For example #RammedEarth walls and thatch roofs. I write book reviews and longer notes on https://brownfoxff.substack.com/

Watching UCL conference again tonight, it has just kicked off with a keynote about thermal insulation, climate change and mould growth risk within timber framed walls #BuildingScience

I was in the paper yesterday. Its really sad that so many people in my state suffer with cold homes 😭😢 #BuildingScience

At the Northeast Building Science Symposium in Stratford, CT. In the very very unlikely event that any of you are here, lemme know! #BuildingScience #BS_and_Beer

Thermal energy left by pressing my hand for two seconds on a plywood panel. I am so nerdy 😬 #ThermalCamera #BuildingScience

I'll be staring at this screen for days now until this lot of simulations are done. I stagger them so I can access search instance of the software whenever I need to check progress. These are for concrete block masonry walls that adhere to a 7 Star energy efficiency rating Deadline is ASAP, or maybe it was sometime last week 🤷‍♀️ 😂#work #BuildingScience