Blog
How has Covid-19 impacted the health of your building?
You should ask yourself if Covid-19 has impacted the health of your building, here is why. It’s pretty obvious that too many people in a building can be a problem - occupancy limits are often posted for fire safety reasons. But under-occupied buildings can also create...
Special Thanks to the Building Science Community. Continuing Series, II.
Next up: Andre Desjarlais and Achillies Karagiozis. "What happens at a WUFI seminar..." Andre Desjarlais is the Program Manager for the Building Envelope Systems Research Program at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. His proficiency in building envelope systems and...
Special Thanks to the Building Science Community. Continuing Series, I.
Better Building Works would not be where we are today if not for the research and technological developments made by experts in the building science community. We greatly appreciate those individuals who strive to make the world a better place, and want to publicly...
CSI: Building Edition
Forensics: "scientific tests or techniques used in connection with the detection of crime." If Ted Danson and his rowdy crew of crime scene investigators have taught us anything, it is that a good forensics team can save the day. Forensics plays an important role in...
Fire Safety Hits Home
As homeowners we go the extra mile to avoid letting danger into our homes, but what about the dangers that are already inside? In 2017 the U.S. Fire Administration recorded over 370,000 residential fires, stating that almost 10% were caused by appliance and electrical...
Extraordinary Public Health Benefits of Energy Efficiency and Renewables
People need to be healthy. Whole empires have been brought down by sickness. Disease and illness undermine other efforts of society — sapping our resources, shortening our lives, impeding our children’s development, lowering the productivity of our workforce, and...
Electricity Demand Spikes in Summer Heatwave
We’ve all been feeling the heat. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that the July heatwave led to higher nationwide peak demand than last year – 704 gigawatts at 6:00 pm on July 19 – about 20% more than a typical summer day. In the mid-Atlantic, peak...
Buildings Have The Most Impact
It’s natural to assume that tailpipes and smokestacks are the main source of greenhouse gases. Transportation and manufacturing do account for 35% of our carbon emissions. But, we start to question our “tailpipe intuitions” when we learn that agriculture weighs in at...
Radon
When was the last time you checked your house for Radon? Did you do a short term or long term test? New studies are showing that the short term 48 hour tests are not accurate enough to properly determine if radon is an issue in your home. Radon levels are highly...