Don Fugler is a researcher at Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation managing projects on low-rise energy use, moisture problems, indoor air quality, and other issues.
Air Flow Measurements in the Bag
Many people in the building performance field know about a certain, easy-to-perform air flow test that involves common household items. If you are not among them, read on. If ... [continue reading]
Foil Bubble Pack: Subslab Insulation?
This spring,my neighbor poured a slab for an addition over “R-10” bubble pack. He was taken aback when I told him that the claimed insulating value ... [continue reading]
Preventing Particle Penetration
With residents' health increasingly dependent on a home's indoor air quality, ventilation strategies become more important than ever. [continue reading]
Dry Notes from the Underground
Research shows that homeowners invite mold growth and serious health risks with a finished basement that has moisture problems. [continue reading]
How to Get Furnace Sizing Right
Canada has developed a furnace sizing protocol that uses actual gas meter readings to size replacement furnaces. [continue reading]
Reducing Greenhouse Gases from Middle-Class Homes
In 1998 the Canadian federal government signed on to the Kyoto Protocol with a stated goal of reducing national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 6% below 1990 levels by 2012. This is a difficult level to achieve, and every ... [continue reading]
Looking into the Future
How are we going to get there from here? One of the liabilities of growing older is the loss of perpetual optimism: You never see Pollyanna depicted with gray hair. When I was asked to ... [continue reading]
Houses Survive the Freeze
In the middle of Canada's greatest natural disaster, building scientists were called upon to offer advice. Five days of relentless freezing rain brought down millions of trees and 230 high-voltage electric transmission towers. [continue reading]
