Macie Melendez is Home Energy's Assistant Editor.
Money Well Spent: A Look at the Recovery Act's WAP Milestones
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From the beginning, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)’s Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) was all about the numbers: $5 billion doled out to 50 states, the U.S. territories, and Indian tribes for three ... [continue reading]
The XX Factor
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Q&A with Ann Atkinson and a look into ACI's Women in Home Performance initiative. [continue reading]
Women Undervaluing Themselves
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In the course of researching a future article on women in home performance, I sent out a request via e-mail and social media asking women this question: What’s the biggest obstacle you’... [continue reading]
Let's Talk Gender: What Women Bring to Home Performance
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It’s no secret that home performance is a male-dominated industry. Attend any industry conference and you’ll quickly see that women are vastly outnumbered. That being said, there are still women in ... [continue reading]
Thirty Under 30
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This issue officially marks Home Energy's 30th year in print, which gives us the opportunity to both reflect upon where we've been and look forward to where we're going. [continue reading]
How Solar Decathletes Communicate and What We Can Learn from Them
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DOE’s Solar Decathlon is a challenge posed to collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy efficient, and attractive. The 2015 competition took place October 8–18 at the Orange ... [continue reading]
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Adventures in Blower Door Testing
Macie Melendez
When Steve Mann (of Home Energy Services) asks you to come along for the first blower door testing in a LEED for Homes, DOE Challenge Home, Passive House, net-zero energy aspiring home, you say yes. Lucky for me, I was asked this very question just a few weeks ago, and was able to take a first-hand look at something that I often only read about. [continue reading]
Passive Proponent—Q&A with Brandon Weiss
Macie Melendez
President and founder of Chicago-based Weiss Building & Development, Brandon Weiss is a third-generation builder who credits time spent in Europe to his sustainable approach to life. [continue reading]
A Need for Healthy Senior Housing—Q&A with Eric Paine
Macie Melendez
The National Council on Aging reports that there are more than 23 million Americans aged 60+ that are economically insecure (living at or below 250% of the federal poverty level). For housing developers in the southwest, this number is of particular concern. A recent study by the Arizona Housing Alliance showed that more than 200,000 residents are paying upwards of 78% of their income in rent. [continue reading]
Multifamily Job Task Analyses Validation Study
Macie Melendez
Professional Testing, Inc. and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory invite you to participate in a nationwide research study, validating the practices, characteristics, and activities of the four multifamily building job categories listed below. This is your opportunity to directly contribute to the development of the multifamily home energy upgrade workforce. [continue reading]
The #HomePerformance Hashtag: Use It
Macie Melendez
If you’re anything like me, you thought at one point that you could completely ignore hashtags (any word or phrase preceded by the # symbol). When they were introduced to Twitter in 2010, I remember thinking, Those aren’t going to catch on. That’s so confusing! [continue reading]
Home Energy Joins New DOE Residential Network
Macie Melendez
Home Energy has become a new member of the new U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Residential Network, which connects energy efficiency programs and partners to share best practices and learn from each other to dramatically increase the number of American homes that are energy efficient. [continue reading]
Better Buildings: Better Business Conference Update
Macie Melendez
Just before the Energy Center of Wisconsin expanded their Better Buildings: Better Business Conference to include the state of Illinois in 2012, we spoke with John Viner of the Energy Center about the conference. His then-new position as the Interim Education Director had him less involved in conference content development, but now, as the Senior Project Manager, he’s “back enjoying more time applied to designing educational events.” [continue reading]
Rating on a Passive House Scale
Macie Melendez
I’m going to throw a pretty wild idea out there: What if Passive House was a scaled rating? As it stands now, a home is either a Passive House or it’s not. It’s black and white. You have to meet the Passive House standards (an airtight building shell ≤ 0.6 ACH @50 Pa, an annual heat requirement ≤ 4.75 kBtu/sf/yr, and primary energy use ≤ 38.1 kBtu/sf/yr), or the ... [continue reading]
