Construction Archives - The Handbuilt City

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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?

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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.

coal-ship-dock-fossil-fuels-energy

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.

Energy Efficiency Construction Housing Rural Issues

Durable, Illiquid, Efficient, and Thoroughly Unsexy: Building Envelopes vs. Climate Change

April 30, 2021April 30, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments 1837 border war, air conditioning efficiency, air source heat pump, amy ellsworth, building retrofit, buildings and housing workgroup, cadmus group, carbon footprint, CDD, climate change, climate zones, CMS, consulting industrial complex, Consumers Energy, decarbonization, DNR, DTE, DTE Energy, EGLE, electrification, energy usage intensity, environment great lakes and energy, EUI, HDD, heat pump, illiquid, insulation, insulation retrofit, jeannette lezaks, jeremy kraft, Leila Mekias, liquidity, mary templeton, michigan council on climate solutions, Michigan DNR, Michigan EGLE, michigan saves, mini-split, mr. slim, residential energy, retrofit, SEER, slipstream, split system heat pump, spray foam, TRC companies, uppco, Upper Peninsula, wsp, Yooper, yoopers

Building envelope retrofits aren’t very flashy. But they’re a crucial way to address the climate crisis.

Sustainability Home Improvement & DIY Construction

Pervious Paving Patio, One Year On

April 8, 2021April 8, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments brick theft, DIY, home improvement, impervious, pavers, pervious pavers, pervious paving, pervious surfaces, rain garden, rain gardens, salvage brick, salvaged brick, unilock

We did a somewhat experimental project last year at the old homestead around a pervious patio installation. It was a

Energy Efficiency Policy Energy Utilities

“Electrification Is Not Enough For Decarbonization” – Consumers Energy

April 6, 2021April 6, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments building decarbonization, carbon transition, decarbonization, demand response, demand-response, distributed generation, electrical grid, electrification, energy efficiency, energy policy, energy transition, energy waste reduction, EWR, Gretchen Whitmer, just transition, michigan, michigan public service commission, MPSC, photovoltaics, policies, policy, pv, rooftop solar, solar panels, state of michigan, utilities, utility, utility infrastructure, utility policy

A new workgroup seeks to address some questions about the future of infrastructure in a state that continues to lag in regulatory and technical innovation.

Energy Efficiency Poverty Energy Utilities

Debt or Asset? How Utility Shutoffs Are About To Be A Big Problem.

March 24, 2021March 24, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments ACA subsidies, accounts receivable, chevy aveo, debt, double-entry bookkeeping, dr. tony reames, DTE Energy, energy poverty, harvard business school, investor-owned utilities, investor-owned utility, LIHEAP, mercedes g-wagon, michigan public service commission, MPSC, public service commission, public utilities, regulated corporations, regulated entities, Tony Reames, utilities, utility shutoffs, willy wonka, willy wonka rant

Springtime and mounting debt related to COVID19 means utility shutoffs are coming. At least probably. Here are some ideas for how we can fix our broken systems for utility billing– and how we subsidize utilities through programs like LIHEAP without actually moving the needle on energy poverty.

Energy Efficiency Sustainability Energy Housing

In Search Of Cheap, Scalable Solutions For Grid Resiliency

February 16, 2021February 16, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments AGM battery, air conditioning, air source heat pump, battery storage, carnot cycle, electric reliability council of texas, elon musk, energy efficiency, ERCOT, ERCOT texas, heat pump, home battery storage, li-ion battery, lithium-ion battery, lone star, market transformation, mini-split, mitsubishi, mr. slim, off-grid, power grid, powerwall, reduce energy bills, save money on energy, sorcery, split system heat pump, Tesla, tesla powerwall, texas, texas interconnection, texas power grid, texas storm, texas winter storm, thermodynamics

The extreme weather event affecting about two thirds of the United States right now suggests the need for small-scale interventions that can be scaled over an entire market.

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