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4/23/2016

WELL Building Standard

The WELL Building Standard addresses occupant behaviors, building design, and operations within the building with great consideration to the health and well being of occupants. WELL is a system that was developed to measure, monitor, and certify features of the built environment that impact occupants. WELL standards were developed by studying the connection between different building elements and behavioral factors and the health and wellness of occupants. WELL Building Factors There are seven main factors that are measured and reviewed when evaluating buildings and

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4/11/2016

Deep Energy Retrofits Made Affordable with California’s PACE Program

Most older homes in the United States lack adequate insulation and air sealing, according to ENERGY STAR. Air leaks drive up utility bills and can cause discomfort from drafts and uneven temperatures. With rising energy costs, many California homeowners are air sealing and insulating their homes to keep heating and cooling costs down. Property assessed clean energy (PACE) is a means of finance energy-saving home improvement projects in California through property tax bills, making it affordable to many homeowners. Air sealing a home

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7/2/2015

Proud Green Home in Wildwood, Missouri

Originally posted on motherearthliving.com here The lower Midwest is known for its hot humid summers and frigid cold winters. New homes need both a heating and cooling strategy in this climate. In the summer, it’s common to have one or two areas in a house be uncomfortably warm, requiring the air conditioning system to be boosted to promote comfort. In leaky older homes, air infiltrates through cracks in the building envelope, making it difficult to control the purity of indoor air

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5/23/2015

Zehnder Interview Series: Larry Ponziano, Technical Sales Representative

Interviewer: Could you introduce yourself?   Larry Ponziano: I’m Larry Ponziano, Technical Sales Representative at Zehnder America. My background for the previous 25 years has been residential construction as a general contractor and I also hold an HVAC license. I have designed and built over 300 homes. In the last 5 years, we have begun building super-insulated homes with ultra-efficient HVAC systems. I have built and live in a Net Zero home for one year now, utility bill free. Interviewer: How did you

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5/5/2015

How to Find Allergy Relief During the Spring

Common Seasonal Allergy Triggers In most areas of the United States, seasonal allergy sufferers are in the midst of an ongoing battle with allergy triggers right now. “Allergy season” generally runs from February through early summer, though it may vary slightly depending on how mild or severe the winter is and when plants begin to pollinate. Certain plants that bloom in the fall and summer, such as ragweed and grass, may also trigger seasonal allergy symptoms. Seasonal Allergy Triggers While specific allergy triggers

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3/9/2015

How Energy-Efficient is Your Home?

There is ever an increased focus on making homes more efficient, and for good reason. Energy-efficient homes are less costly to maintain and help to minimize damage to the environment in the communities in which they exist. While new homes are being built with greater consideration for energy efficiency, it can be effective to make changes to existing homes to increase energy efficiency. The first step to understanding the best ways to make a home more energy efficient is to

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1/16/2015

Proud Green Home of St. Louis to Collect Long-Term Energy Usage Data

ProudGreenHome.com  has partnered with Hibbs Homes, Verdatek Solutions, Curtiss W. Byrne Architect, and the High-Performance Buildings Research Center, part of the Midwest Energy Efficiency Research Consortium at the University of Missouri-Columbia, to build a high-performance five-bedroom, 3,700 square-foot, Prairie-style home that will collect long-term energy and water usage data. The Proud Green Home of St. Louis will host an open house with separate events for building professionals and consumers on Feb. 20 and 21, 2015 at the home outside of St.

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12/8/2014

Winter Comfort in a High-Performance Home

I’ve always had a love-hate relationship in the past with the heating systems in my home. As the fall temperatures started to dip, I loathed turning on the furnace each year. If we programmed the thermostat to have lower nighttime temperatures, then we were greeted each morning with a blast of warm air. Even with a humidifier on our forced air furnace, our home would become drier when the furnace was turned on in the winter, and I would cringe

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11/4/2014

11th International Passive House Days

On November 7-9, 2014, the International Passive House Association will host the 11th International Passive House Days. The event is designed to unite the global Passive House knowledge network and promote Passive House standard across the globe. The event will open doors (literally), inviting homeowners, builders, and spectators to take a glimpse inside the Passive Houses of the world. Hundreds of Passive House residents and owners will be showcasing their homes in an effort to share their experiences and show what the standard

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9/29/2014

Proud Green Home St. Louis to Ease Family’s Allergy Issues

Zehnder is proud to be part of the Proud Green Home of St. Louis high-performance home. This project is currently under construction for the Kuentz family, whose son faces environmental allergy issues.  The Proud Green Home will place a special focus on indoor air quality to ensure that the indoor environment is comfortable for all the inhabitants. What Is a Proud Green Home? The Proud Green Home of St. Louis will be a 3,700 square foot home nestled within a St. Louis

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