environment & sustainability Archives - Energy Vanguard https://www.energyvanguard.com/tag/environment-sustainability/ Building science knowledge, HVAC design, & fun Wed, 16 Oct 2024 09:56:58 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 An Improved System for Even Faster Hot Water https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/an-improved-system-for-even-faster-hot-water/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/an-improved-system-for-even-faster-hot-water/#view_comments Thu, 10 Oct 2024 22:04:56 +0000 https://www.energyvanguard.com/?p=9235 I missed an opportunity.  You may recall the retrofit I did in 2022 to get faster hot water at three of my fixtures.  It made a huge improvement, but it could have been even better.  But before I go there,…

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]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/an-improved-system-for-even-faster-hot-water/feed/ 22 The Achilles’ Heel of Heat Pumps https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-achilles-heel-of-heat-pumps/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-achilles-heel-of-heat-pumps/#view_comments Tue, 21 May 2024 11:11:19 +0000 https://www.energyvanguard.com/?p=9052 Air source heat pumps are a great way to keep a home comfortable.  On the cooling side, they’re exactly the same as an air conditioner.  In heating mode, though, they have a limitation that other types of heating equipment don’t…

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]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-achilles-heel-of-heat-pumps/feed/ 57 Are We Decarbonizing Yet? https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/are-we-decarbonizing-yet/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/are-we-decarbonizing-yet/#view_comments Thu, 30 Nov 2023 23:05:18 +0000 https://www.energyvanguard.com/?p=8697 The latest US energy consumption chart from the Lawrence Livermore National Lab (LLNL) is out.  That’s it above.  (Click here to download a high resolution version.)  As always, it’s full of interesting data.  You can learn a lot about how…

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]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/are-we-decarbonizing-yet/feed/ 56 The Meaning of Rejected Energy https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-meaning-of-rejected-energy/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-meaning-of-rejected-energy/#view_comments Wed, 20 Jul 2022 14:21:02 +0000 https://www.energyvanguard.com/?p=7596 I love the US energy flow charts published by the Lawrence Livermore National Lab each year.  The chart for 2021 came out in April, and you can see it in its full glory above.  (Right click to download the full…

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]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-meaning-of-rejected-energy/feed/ 20 Lloyd Alter Is Living the 1.5 Degree Lifestyle https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/lloyd-alter-explores-living-the-15-degree-lifestyle/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/lloyd-alter-explores-living-the-15-degree-lifestyle/#view_comments Tue, 07 Dec 2021 15:44:56 +0000 https://www.energyvanguard.com/?p=6882 Lloyd Alter, architect and prolific blogger at Treehugger, has a new book.  Titled Living the 1.5 Degree Lifestyle,* the book is an exploration of what it takes to live within a pretty strict carbon budget. That means tracking the carbon…

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]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/lloyd-alter-explores-living-the-15-degree-lifestyle/feed/ 17 Is a Heat Pump More Efficient Than a Furnace? https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/is-a-heat-pump-more-efficient-than-a-furnace/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/is-a-heat-pump-more-efficient-than-a-furnace/#view_comments Fri, 12 Nov 2021 15:12:06 +0000 https://www.energyvanguard.com/?p=6735 The two primary ways you can heat your house are by burning a fuel (e.g., fossil gas, fuel oil, wood) or using electricity.  Furnaces and boilers distribute the heat from combustion to heat a house.  Electric resistance heat makes sense…

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]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/is-a-heat-pump-more-efficient-than-a-furnace/feed/ 113 How’s the New Home Electrification Movement Going? https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/how-is-the-new-home-electrification-movement-going/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/how-is-the-new-home-electrification-movement-going/#view_comments Thu, 22 Jul 2021 11:22:37 +0000 https://www.energyvanguard.com/?p=6219 On the new home electrification front, the Home Innovation Research Labs released some interesting data this month.  You may have noticed that going all-electric with buildings and transportation has become a thing in the past few years.  Climate change is…

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]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/how-is-the-new-home-electrification-movement-going/feed/ 38 How to Spot Deceptive Heating Efficiency Claims https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/how-spot-deceptive-heating-efficiency-claims/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/how-spot-deceptive-heating-efficiency-claims/#view_comments Wed, 10 Feb 2021 07:00:56 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?p=5110 Sometimes companies that make products stretch the truth, embellish features, or rely on their potential customers’ ignorance of how things work.  Shocking, I know.  The world of electric heating has such companies.  But if you’re looking for a device that…

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]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/how-spot-deceptive-heating-efficiency-claims/feed/ 23 The #1 Reason to Have an All-Electric Home https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/1-reason-have-all-electric-home/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/1-reason-have-all-electric-home/#view_comments Tue, 01 Oct 2019 11:30:09 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=the-1-reason-to-have-an-all-electric-home Maybe you’ve heard the rumblings coming out of the environmental and building science crowd.  Maybe not.  But it’s getting louder lately.  The rumbling I’m alluding to is the move to switch from natural gas to electricity as the energy carrier…

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]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/1-reason-have-all-electric-home/feed/ 97 The 3 Main Sources of Home Heating https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/3-main-sources-home-heating/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/3-main-sources-home-heating/#view_comments Mon, 28 Jan 2019 13:58:29 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=the-3-main-sources-of-home-heating It’s wintertime in the Northern hemisphere and that means we’re heating our homes.  The new year started off a bit on the warm side, with the temperature at nearly 70° F (21° C) here in the Atlanta area.  In terms…

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