Homemade fabric mask from my crafty spouse. As green building consultants and verifiers, we are intimately involved in single family and multifamily projects through the entire construction cycle. Fortunately for us, and much of the industry, construction has not been hit as hard (yet) as other industries, many of which came to a sudden dead stop in the last few weeks. Being able to work, however, does not keep us from being concerned about our employee’s health and well being when they are on job site. We are currently not working in any occupied buildings and are establishing policies on…

Insulation National Policy Conference Cancelled | 2020-04-08 | Walls & CeilingsWalls & Ceilings logoWalls & Ceilings logo This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more. This Website Uses CookiesBy closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Learn More This…

There can be a lot of negative pressure at the return plenum of the furnace or air handler which can easily cause backdrafting of an atmospherically-vented water heater installed nearby. John Straube, one of my favorite building science comedians, describes atmospherically-vented water heaters as “faith-based ventilation,” a description I use regularly in my presentations, always with appropriate credit given. While an amusing description, it is also quite accurate, particularly when these appliances are installed in homes with well-sealed building envelopes. Since atmospherically-vented water heaters rely on convection from hot air rising in the flue to remove all the combustion gases…