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Written by Dr. Heet
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Saturday, 22 December 2007 |
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More coverage in the news, frequent public statements by politicians of all ranks and colors, and personal observations of small and more drastic changes in our backyards have made it clear to all but a few that our world is changing and that we will all have to adjust to new circumstances. The first thing that will require adjustment is how we produce and consume energy.
 The world has seen energy crises before and weathered them just fine. This time, though, it seems that Global Warming will compound the impact of any energy shortages. Oil prices will not come down again to levels where they were 10 or 20 years ago. Yes, oil supplies will last another 20, 50, or maybe even 100 years. But oil will become increasingly difficult to get to, and it will become increasingly expensive, and so will other forms of fossil energy.
Dr. Heet believes that the way homes are designed and built in the United States will have to change radically as a direct result of this development. Consequently, homes will become more expensive as better technologies replace inferior practices.
Stick-built, framed homes have a very low thermal mass and are difficult to heat efficiently. Fearing for its profit margins, the home building industry will lobby against any improvements with all its might, though. Home owners cannot and should not wait until energy efficiency is mandated by legislature and building codes, which will take decades. There are things that can be done today, and this site wants to be a forum and a platform for exchanging ideas about improving the energy-efficiency of the American home. |
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 20 January 2008 )
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Massachusetts proposes law requiring home energy audits |
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Written by Dr. Heet
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Sunday, 13 January 2008 |
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The Boston Globe reported on 1/11/2008 about a provision that was passed by the State Senate and, if enacted, will require a standardized rating system for home energy efficiency. As initial comments to the Globe's articles point out, accurately measuring a home's energy efficiency is not an easy task, because it depends on many parameters. An audit of past and current energy bills will reflect the home owner's heating habits and more than the actual energy performance of the home, and can be misleading. Dr. Heet believes that the only way of capturing a home's energy score with some accuracy, and enabling comparative analyses between homes of different sizes, in different locations, with different heating systems, is by capturing actual temperature series outside and inside, and by recording heating system activity over time. This is exactly what Dr. Heet's HEX - the Home Energy Index - is designed to do. It captures energy performance of a home over time and eliminates factors such as home owner behavior, heating system technology, location, weather, and other factors that make a comparison difficult. The data can be acquired by deploying a laptop with the VK011 device and software to a home for a period of 7 days or more during the heating period (the data cannot be acquired when the heating system is off). The measuring device does not require supervision while it acquires data and produces the desired results largely automatically with very little user manipulation, therefore such an audit can be done rather cost-effectively. Contact Dr. Heet for more information about the VK011 Interface, the method used to calculate the HEX, and the VK011 software solution that we offer free of charge. |
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 20 January 2008 )
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