Construction Archives - The Handbuilt City

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.

Energy Efficiency Energy

This Doesn’t Happen In A Normal Climate– Or Power Grid

February 15, 2021February 18, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments coal, coal power, dallas, electric reliability council of texas, electrical generation, electricity, ERCOT, galveston, gas, gas-fired, gas-fired turbine, generation mix, gulf coast, houston, load following, microgrid, mid-merit, NERC, peaker, peaker plant, PJM, power generation, power grid, power grids, power plant, texas interconnection, texas power grid, texas storm, texas storms, texas winter storm

An unusual winter storm in the Lone Star State is prompting the grid operator to orchestrate voluntary blackouts– asking people to shut off power voluntarily. Climate change, power reliability, and the state of infrastructure in the United States in 2021.

Business & Economics Energy Efficiency Culture & Language

James Brown Feels Good (About Weatherization)

January 15, 2021January 15, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments ACH50, air leakage testing, ben dueweke, blower door, branding, building envelope, depressurization, energy efficiency, energy justice, funk, funky, funky president, get up offa that thing, i feel good, i got you, james brown, Kevin McNeely, make it funky, manometer, marketing, mcneely building group, minneapolis blower door, pressurization, RESNET, retrotec, retrotec blower door, sex machine, usgbc, walker-miller energy services

One of the weirder things I’ve come across in the past year– apart from Soviet Cookiemonster, our second-most viewed post

Energy Efficiency Policy Energy

Detroit’s Green Task Force Looks Toward Benchmarking, PACE, Energy Codes

December 9, 2020December 9, 2020 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments 2030 district, bali kumar, ben dueweke, bob bedzyk, city of detroit sustainability office, connie lilley, detroit city council, detroit council, detroit public schools, ecologic institute, EcoWorks, elise matz, energy, energy benchmarking, energy efficiency, energy policy, energy waste reduction, energystar, Joel Howrani-Heeres, josh musicant, kendal kuneman, latia leonard, max gruenig, michal helman, michigan public service commission, POCACITO, policy, randy hargraves, Regulation, scott benson, utilities, utility policy, walker-miller, walker-miller energy services

The Energy Waste Reduction Committee of the Detroit Green Task Force met yesterday morning to talk shop for the last

Energy Efficiency Home Improvement & DIY Construction Energy

DIY Energy Tips: Insulating Boiler Pipe

December 7, 2020December 10, 2020 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments boiler, boiler loop, boilers, comfort, DIY, DIY energy, DIY energy projects, DIY projects, energy, energy efficiency, energy savings, fiberglass, home comfort, home improvement, home renovation, hot water boiler, hydronic, hydronics, infrared, insulating boiler pipe, insulation, manifold, mineral wool, pipe insulation, pipe wrap, radiant barrier, radiant heat, reduce utility bill, Renovation, rockwool, roxul, steam boiler, thermal, thermal comfort, water boiler, water heating, winter

Got a boiler? Insulate your pipes to save you some bucks.

Construction Energy

Rehabbed or Pre-Habbed? Two Approaches To Distressed Real Estate

November 17, 2020November 17, 2020 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments affordable housing, construction, flipping, home renovation, house flippers, house flipping, investment property, redevelopment, rehab, rental property

Handbuilt’s approach to real estate development involves taking guesswork out of the equation at the beginning of a project by creating a set of construction schedules, scopes, scans, and images using a Matterport camera.

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