Researchers at Purdue University this week announced the creation of a patent-pending Internet of Things (IoT) software program called MySmartE that incentives people to use energy efficiency programs offered by the government and industry. Why does that matter? The lack of residential engagement with energy efficiency programs to measurably...

One of the dirty little secrets of modern home building is that some high-performance building programs allow home sampling or assigning all homes within a development the same performance characteristics or scoring as a reference home. The implementation of sampling was always challenging to monitor and assess. The implied promise for each home...

Jacksonville area home builder Providence Homes was recently awarded the ENERGY STAR partner of the Year Sustained Excellence Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for the seventh time.

A newly released study by ICF, an international consulting firm with expertise in the energy and energy efficiency sectors, shows that upgrading building envelope insulation and air sealing leads to substantial energy savings and carbon emission reductions.

Experts predict that 20-30 percent of the U.S. workforce could be working from home multiple days per week by the end of 2021.[1] With this shift to remote work, a dedicated home office becomes essential, and optimizing that space for functionality and comfort is a top priority.

Eighteen months ago, Insulation Institute spoke with North Carolina Building Performance Association (NCBPA) Founder & CEO, Ryan Miller, about a comprehensive building performance workforce development initiative that could serve as a model for other states and organizations in recruiting workers into the building performance trades. The...

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is the most widely used green building rating system in the world, and the number of LEED-certified buildings in the United States continues to grow. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) recently released the top 10 states for LEED Green building in 2019, a year in which the total number of...

The number of HERS-related homes in the United States continues to expand, according to new data released by Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET). In 2019 a total of 241,909 homes in the United States were HERS-rated compared with 236,116 in 2018. That is an increase of 5,793 homes in one year. To date, 2.7 million homes have been...

Gerardo Macias, an insulation installer with Northern Insulation in Wauconda, IL, is the winner of the 2019 “America’s Best Installer” competition, held Nov. 7-9 in Denver, CO, and won the event’s top prize of $10,000. The annual competition, hosted by Insulate America and Johns Manville, saw Macias compete against contenders for the title in the...

Jeff Bentley is a fifth-generation home builder who’s built more than 4,000 houses and sold more than 2,000 homes in more than 45 years in residential construction. He’s also a HERS rater, LEED Green Builder and REALTOR® whose counsel on energy-efficient home building is highly sought after. Insulation Institute reached out to Bentley to find out...