Postretrofit News and Analysis

Our house was built in 1951, but Michele and I have been living there since 2007. I’ve met the two previous owners. One was careful about keeping the house comfortable and efficient—the other ...

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Efficient, Comfortable Homes Make Satisfied Buyers

Author: Colby Swanson

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March 10, 2007

Rising energy prices, coupled with increased public awareness, have fueled demand for more energy-efficient homes. Many builders have responded by qualifying their new homes for the Energy Star label. Others have gone beyond Energy Star ... [continue reading]

Making It a Point to Go Green

Author: Elka Karl

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March 10, 2007

The San Francisco Bay Area is notorious for its high housing prices, and many families find themselves priced out of homeownership. Since 1988, East Bay Habitat for Humanity (EBHFH) has worked to reverse this trend by ... [continue reading]

Design, Construction, and Performance in Ohio

Author: Allen Zimmerman

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January 01, 2007

Designing and building a house enabled me to put into practice many of the building science and engineering concepts and principles that I cover in my courses. [continue reading]

Roadblocks to Zero-Energy Homes

Author: Danny Parker and Rich Brown

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January 01, 2007

In order to reach zero energy, a new home will require at least $20,000 worth of PV capacity just to offset the consumption of miscellaneous devices! [continue reading]

Building Urban, Building Green

Author: Juli Kaufmann

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January 01, 2007

The advantages of building a green home in a compact city center overrule the headaches of remediating a brownfield site for this Milwaukee family. [continue reading]

New Urbanism Village Goes Green

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January 01, 2007

Sonoma Mountain Village, a new infill mixed-use development, will showcase green building and New Urbanist principles, which promote planning and architecture that create human-scale, walkable communities and cities. Located in Rohnert Park, a small city ... [continue reading]

Boulder Home Pushes for Zero

Author: Elka Karl

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November 01, 2006

The Solar Harvest home, built by Boulder-based Ecofutures Building, Incorporated, has been gaining a lot of recognition lately--and for good reason. By achieving 97.7 out of 100 points in an Energy Star audit, it stands as the ... [continue reading]

A Productive Marriage

Author: Dianne Griffiths

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November 01, 2006

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) found that PV systems on Energy Star homes make an impressive combination. [continue reading]