Construction Archives - The Handbuilt City

Remembering George Crabtree (1944-2023)

January 25, 2023January 25, 2023 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments argonne, argonne national lab, chicagoland, dr. george crabtree, energy, enrico fermi, george crabtree, illinois, JCESR, joint center for energy storage research, science, scientific research, SISE, summer institute on climate and the environment, thomas alaan, UIC, university of illinois, university of illinois chicago

The energy sector lost a giant this week in the passing of Dr. George Crabtree, who was one of the

old-light-switch-incandescent-light-bulb

Energy Efficiency Home Improvement & DIY Construction Energy

Age of Incompatibility: Fixing Smart Home Tech

December 13, 2022December 11, 2022 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments alexa, amazon alexa, amazon echo, amperes, amps, asbestos wire, ballast, dimmer, dimmer switch, dumb home, echo dot, electroluminescence, gosund, halogen, home rehab, home renovation, how to install a dimmer switch, incandescent, knob and tube, knob and tube wire, LED, LED bulb, LED bulbs, led compatible dimmer, led lights, Leviton, light emitting diode, light switches, light-emitting diode, lutron, rehab, rewiring an old house, smart home

A minor saga involving a dysfunctional lightswitch led me to thinking about some of the challenges of integrating smart home technology.

Historic preservation Construction Energy Tech

Matterport 101 – Three Unusual Use Cases

December 9, 2022December 9, 2022 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments afro deli, afro deli st. paul, dubuque, ford motor company, ilitch, matterport, matterport camera, matterport pro 2, mattertag, Michigan Central Station, moten, saturday night building detroit, use cases for matterport

The Matterport platform offers plenty of opportunities well outside the realm of simply creating virtual tours for real estate listings.

pittsburgh-2030-district-decarbonization-sustainability-energy

Energy Efficiency Sustainability Energy

Detroit Rallies The 2030 Districts

October 6, 2022October 6, 2022 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments 2030 district, 2030 districts, Detroit, energy, energy benchmarking, green building alliance, guardian building, pittsburgh, sustainability

Last night, I had the opportunity to attend a happy hour event sponsored by Detroit’s 2030 District, one of 26

Detroit Historic preservation Automotive

“Detroit: Become Livonia” – Mike Duggan

December 15, 2021December 15, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments amazon, amazon warehouses, amc, amc building, american motors, american motors corporation, appliance manufacturing, auto project, Behrouz Rashidinejad, BSEED, Detroit, detroit mayor mike duggan, duggan, duggan regime, flex-n-gate, garbage aliens, industry cluster, industry clusters, junkyard, junkyards, kelvinator, mayor mike duggan, mike duggan, nash motors, nash-kelvinator, northpoint, Paul Jones III, paul the urbanist, paultheurbanist, ruin porn, sakthi automotive, scrapyard, star trek voyager garbage aliens

Detroit’s mayor has a vision for the city. It involves a lot of parking lots, and a lot of low-wage jobs. But there’s a better way.

Business & Economics Energy Efficiency Energy

It’s not an “energy crunch.” It’s a “fossil fuel crunch.”

October 19, 2021October 19, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments AEP, business-friendly regulatory environment, decarbonization, decarbonizing the economy, energy economies, fossil fuel, fossil fuels, gas, joe manchin, oil & gas, public utilities, public utility regulation, retirement of fossil fuels, utility regulation, west virginia, western economies

Economies rebooting from a long COVID slumber are now facing higher energy prices, just in time for winter in the northern hemisphere, where most of the highest-consuming countries are. Is it really an “energy crisis”? Or is it really just a fossil fuel crunch?

edgewood-dc-rowhouses-mixed-income-housing-units-efficiency

Energy Efficiency Poverty Energy Utilities

Energy Burden: How To Measure? How To Reduce?

September 10, 2021September 10, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments air source heat pump, analytics, CDD, census, census tracts, cooling climate, cooling degree days, decarbonization, EIA, energy, energy efficiency, energy poverty, energy waste reduction, federal poverty line, first energy, HDD, heat pumps, heating climate, heating degree days, LMI, low to moderate income, low-income, metrics, mini-split, pepco, potomac edison, potomac electric power company, program evaluation, red states, reducing energy burden, Rust Belt, smeco, statistics, Tony Reames, urban energy justice lab, utilities, wgl

Measuring energy burden is relatively straightforward. Figuring out how to create robust metrics for it, though– and how to address it- is much more challenging.

Energy Efficiency Urban Planning Poverty Affordable housing Energy

MDHHS and LIHEAP: We’ll Pay For Fossil Fuels. Weatherization, Not So Much.

September 2, 2021September 2, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments Brad Banks, cardi b, CMS energy, coal, coal power, Consumers Energy, DTE, DTE Energy, EE&C, energy efficiency, energy efficiency & conservation, energy waste reduction, fossil fuels, fossil gas, Gretchen Whitmer, LIHEAP, LMI, low to moderate income, low-income, maddy kamalay, michigan, michigan department of health and human services, michigan public service commission, MPSC, Nat Zorach, natural gas, the war on coal, WAP, weatherization assistance program, why is DTE so bad

At an MPSC workgroup meeting this morning on Energy Waste Reduction specifically for the low to moderate income (LMI) market

mini-split-air-source-heat-pump-space-conditioning

Energy Efficiency Energy Utilities

The Future Is Electric. Mostly. But It’s Complicated.

July 14, 2021July 14, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments air source heat pump, beneficial electrification, biogas, decarbonisation, decarbonization, e3, electric resistance heating, electrification, electrification with fuel backup, heat pump, high decarbonized methane, high electrification, larry hogan, maryland commission on climate change, mccc, mini-split, power grid, synthetic methane

Decarbonization is the buzzword du jour in the sustainability movement. Will it make everything more expensive? Maybe– but there are a few caveats to that.

Energy Efficiency Home Improvement & DIY Energy

Summer Breeze: Heat Pumps, Mini-Splits, and the Magic of Thermodynamics

June 10, 2021June 16, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments ac inverter, air conditioning, air source heat pump, alpine home air, amazon, ampacity, beneficial electrification, blueridge, blueridge mini-split, boiler replacement, bosch, bosch appliances, carnot cycle, cooling, DIY, electric vehicles, electrification, electrification of buildings, energy efficiency, heat pump, heat pumps, heating, home energy, home improvement, home rehab, home renovation, HSPF, HVAC, inverter, manual d, manual j, mini split, mini-split, mitsubishi, mr. slim, power grid, refrigeration, Renovation, residential energy, SEER, split system, split system heat pump, statistics, thermal comfort

Mini-splits are the coolest new thing. Literally. Here is a guide to how to figure out how to navigate the sea of product options based on a simple calculation.

← Previous