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3 weeks ago | 
greenbuildingadvisor.com | Brian Pontolilo
You know those heat pumps that seem to be doing their best impression of a jet engine every time they kick on? Or the ones that aggressively blast you with cold air like they’re trying to prove something? Well, the Introverter Heat Pump is not one of those. No, this system is the HVAC equivalent of the guy at the party who spends the entire evening in the corner petting the host’s dog.
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3 weeks ago | 
greenbuildingadvisor.com | David K. Warfel |Brian Pontolilo
I have been a lighting geek for more years than I want to admit, but I started out more concerned with how the lighting looked than how many resources I consumed in the process. Early in my career I spent a decade teaching theatrical lighting design at a large state university and it was not unusual for me to design a show with 300,000 watts of lighting over the stage.
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Dec 10, 2024 | 
finehomebuilding.com | Brian Pontolilo |Abby Cote
I’ve been a magazine junkie since I was a kid, so landing a job at Fine Homebuilding was a dream come true—not just because I get to work on our own articles, but because the office was always full of other magazines to dive into. That’s where I discovered Old House Journal, a magazine I immediately came to admire. Like FHB, it’s all about houses. And like FHB, OHJ is a magazine made by passionate editors for an equally passionate audience.
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Oct 21, 2024 | 
greenbuildingadvisor.com | Brian Pontolilo |Kiley Jacques
Catching a plumbing leak quickly can prevent a host of headaches—repairing or replacing damaged walls or ceilings, removing mold and rotted lumber, and making an insurance claim. As a form of “cheap insurance,” a number of companies now offer residential water-leak detectors that can alert you as soon as a leak occurs.
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Oct 14, 2024 | 
finehomebuilding.com | Brian Pontolilo |Abby Cote
Catching a plumbing leak quickly can prevent a host of headaches — repairing or replacing damaged walls or ceilings, removing mold and rotted lumber, and making an insurance claim. As a form of “cheap insurance,” a number of companies now offer residential water-leak detectors that can alert you as soon as a leak occurs.
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Sep 26, 2024 | 
finehomebuilding.com | Brian Pontolilo |Abby Cote
I’ve had two houses with small “shops” in the basement. I’ve been reluctant to put too much money or effort into them because they’re also storage spaces, utility spaces, and, in the first house, the laundry space. Instead of investing in nicer, stationary tools, I continue to use portable tools. Instead of setting up dust collection, I often lug my tools outside for projects.
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Jul 15, 2024 | 
greenbuildingadvisor.com | Brian Pontolilo |Kiley Jacques
The way we frame houses is based on physics. Durable building assemblies must consider thermodynamics. Healthy indoor air quality (IAQ) and comfort relate to human biology. And good design plays off our psychology. As designers and builders, there’s not much we do that isn’t grounded in science. Maybe that’s why the term “building science” has become inevitably linked with best practices. Without considering the former, we cannot implement the latter.
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Jul 15, 2024 | 
greenbuildingadvisor.com | Brian Pontolilo |Kiley Jacques
The way we frame houses is based on physics. Durable building assemblies must consider thermodynamics. Healthy indoor air quality (IAQ) and comfort relate to human biology. And good design plays off our psychology. As designers and builders, there’s not much we do that isn’t grounded in science. Maybe that’s why the term “building science” has become inevitably linked with best practices. Without considering the former, we cannot implement the latter.
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Jul 9, 2024 | 
finehomebuilding.com | Brian Pontolilo |Kaitlyn Hayes
Synopsis: Every house needs a dedicated and effective water-resistive barrier to let out wind-driven rain and any other moisture. The role of the material behind the siding has become of the utmost importance.
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May 30, 2024 | 
finehomebuilding.com | Brian Pontolilo |Fernando Ruiz |Abby Cote
Smart thermostats have a number of features that can help homeowners save energy and money with programmability, remote control, learning technology, geofencing and diagnostics, sensors for occupancy and humidity, and energy reporting. This article discusses these capabilities and describes a number of different smart thermostat brands of different price levels, as well as smart thermostats offered from HVAC companies to control entire systems.
