Spotlight Article:
State-Level Energy Efficiency Potential in the U.S. Single-Family Housing Stock
A homeowner needs to replace an HVAC system. What replacement equipment best meets the multiple goals of affordability, energy efficiency, and comfort? Is the upfront cost of a highly efficient variable-speed heat pump in the ...
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State-Level Energy Efficiency Potential in the U.S. Single-Family Housing Stock
A homeowner needs to replace an HVAC system. What replacement equipment best meets the multiple goals of affordability, energy efficiency, and comfort? Is the upfront cost of a highly efficient variable-speed heat pump in the ... [continue reading]
Get Started Using BEopt
WEB ONLY
Download BEopt and EnergyPlus or DOE-2. Once they are installed, start BEopt and select either New Construction or Retrofit mode. Geometry screen. Click and drag to draw your building floor plan. Options screen. Select building ... [continue reading]
Using BEopt to Optimize Home Energy Performance
The story of BEopt starts in October 2000, when a seminal two-day workshop was held at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to explore the then-novel concept of zero net energy (ZNE) buildings. Representatives from the ... [continue reading]
Multifamily Blower Door Testing
With the recent increase in multifamily housing construction, combined with some builders’ desire to seek green certifications, establishing a user-friendly blower door test protocol that achieves repeatable results would allow multifamily buildings to achieve ... [continue reading]
Calibrating Measurement Tools
To quote the wise Yogi Berra, “You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you are going, because you might not get there.” In terms of ... [continue reading]
Virtual Combustion Testing
As any BPI Building Analyst will tell you, it’s hard to become adept at combustion testing. It takes lots of practice, in real houses, with real mechanical equipment. No amount of classroom training ... [continue reading]
HomeGauge
As a longtime writer about software for Home Energy, I get asked one question more often than any other: What software do you recommend for companies involved in energy auditing, weatherization, or residential retrofitting? The ... [continue reading]
Energy Modeling Versus Reality
Modeling software can be very useful for helping you understand how a building works. As I’ve described in previous articles, you can calculate heating and cooling loads, HVAC air delivery requirements, and duct ... [continue reading]
Building Performance Journal Editors
Our Blog Has Moved
Thanks for your interest in contributing a blog to the Building Performance Journal (formerly Home Energy magazine). We’re ...
Jim Gunshinan
Is Energy Efficiency an American Value?
Energy efficiency is good for the economy, good for families, good for workers, and good for the environment.
