By: Muna wa Wanjiru
If your home is freezing cold in the winter and blistering hot in the summer, then you need an effective insulation system for your home. Many homes have old insulation system or no insulation at all. Old insulation system looses some or complete effectiveness with passing years. There are many different types of insulation systems are available, cocoon insulation is one them.
Heat enters in or out of your home walls through cracks and crevices around electrical sockets, windows, light fixtures and cracks at wall –ceiling junction. …

By: Robin Green
If your windows are ancient and aren’t doing a passable job of keeping heat inside your home in winter (or keeping it out in warm weather), maybe it is time to consider having new, energy saving windows put in. But new windows, especially good quality energy efficient ones, can be prohibitively expensive. This means that it can take a long time for them to pay for themselves in energy savings. For the amount of cash you would pay to replace the windows in a single big room, you …

LEED Green Associate (GA) Certification Process: Basic Questions Answered
There are some common questions asked by people having an interest in or prepared to take the LEED GA examination. Here is some basic information about the examination process that addresses many FAQs.
Becoming able to Take the LEED GA Examination
Before taking the examination there are a few necessities that must first be met. An application must be submitted that will get checked.
The Green Building Certification Institute ( GBCI ) audits five to seven percent of all applications.
Candidates who are selected for an …

Right now your home could be losing a lot of energy. We’re not just talking about a few pennies either.
We could be talking hundreds of dollars per year. And that’s really just the average home.
The first step is to find where your home uses energy. That is where an energy audit comes in. An energy audit is really the examination of your home’s energy usage and loss. It could be loss from waste, inefficiencies, bad conservation, aging appliances, faulty insulation or building materials, wear/age of the home, etc.
When done correctly, …

If there’s one thing I’ve learned doing home energy audits, repairs, and consultations its this: you always need to have the right tools for the job. Its true in any profession, any contracting gig, or even any job. You need the tools.  Tools help you develop your skills. The two, I’m convinced, go hand in hand.
So, do you have a home energy toolbox? It doesn’t have to be an actual toolbox, it could be a bag, cardboard box, or just an abstract idea and collection of tools.
Every homeowner needs an …

Which is better or most effective? Vote at the Solar Power vs Wind Power throwdown, then come back here and give me your opinion!

Summer is winding down, and the seasons aren’t the only thing in transition. Your energy bills are about to change too. For those of us with cold winters, the nights will get chilly and soon the leaves will be falling. For those in warmer climates, well, you’ll be experiencing a more pleasant transformation, where you’ll see your air conditioner usage decline and your energy bills go down somewhat dramatically.
No matter where you live, a change in season means a change in your energy usage. Since the biggest change right now …

As the weather continues to heat up, most folks are turning on their air conditioners. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing per se, athough it will surely force electric bills to creep higher (and possibly spiral out of control). I think most of us would rather get a similar cooling effect without taking the huge hit on our energy bills. Considering that wall or window units can consume 500 watts of power easily (for a small unit), its only wise to consider at least some alternatives to air conditioning.
Note: Please …

Fixing your window air conditioner instead of replacing it saves you money, hundreds possibly. Chances are, a rattling or noisy air conditioner unit is due to faulty installation, a loose part, loose or worn window frame, loose window panes, loose filter (or wrong filter size), fan obstruction, loose front or side panels, or the condenser coil hitting any moving part (such as the fan).
The good news is you can repair all these.
Faulty Installation
We’re all human, and in the course of “being” human, we’re going to mess up installing something. I’ve …

Well without seeing the unit, there’s a small handful of things that could go wrong with the window unit air conditioner.
Is it dirty?
Believe it or not the number one cause of window unit air conditioner malfunction is dirty or grimey coils or condensers. The symptoms range from the unit smelling musty or blowing dirty air to the condenser not turning on at all even when the a/c unti is supposed to turn on (request for cooling was sent by the thermostat.) The fix is simple: clean the coils. Take a …