By Christine Fisher THERE’S A NEW MAINE-MADE BUILDING PRODUCT on the market, and while it began as a way to prove that masonry homes can be energy-efficient, it has found another welcome yet unintended niche: the healthy home market. Based on German design, Comfort Block™ is a 16-inch thick concrete block with three pockets of…
Fall is a great time to prepare for the upcoming heating season, and many Maine homeowners are now relying on heat pumps for most of their heating. More than 20,000 high-efficiency ductless heat pumps have been installed in Maine homes and businesses in the past 3 years. So whether you are considering a ductless heat…
By Laura Seaton Have you ever sat by your windows in January and felt the heat being pulled from your body? Do cold drafts chill your home? Windows are a major source of heat loss—especially the antique, single-pane windows found in Maine’s historic homes. But cold windows are not limited to older homes—even newer, double-paned…
By Steve Caulfield If you need a new water heater and your basement is somewhat humid and musty, you might consider a heat pump water heater to solve two problems: heating the water and conditioning the air. Heat pump water heaters may sound complex, but they operate just like your refrigerator in reverse. The refrigerator…
Appraising & financing high-performance homes By Parlin Meyer Few people who embark on the adventure of building a new home have done so before. If you are venturing down this road, there are key things to know before the first shovels hit the ground. And a significant portion of this knowledge lies in the financing…
What makes a high-performing house? By Chris Briley & Heather Chandler THERE ARE A LOT of loosely defined terms used to describe how “green” a house is. Luckily, some professionals in our industry have worked very hard to find ways to quantify this almost intangible quality, and in so doing, have generated new nomenclature that can…
AN IMPROPERLY BUILT foundation can be a primary culprit of both indoor air quality and energy problems in homes. Whether your new home is built on a slab, a crawlspace or a full basement, your foundation has some very important work to do, including: prevent moisture and soil gases (such as radon) from entering the…
How to Design and Build a Pretty Good (or Better) House by Michael Maines THE BUILDING STANDARD that’s not a standard and started as a joke takes off… again. Once a month a small group gets together in Portland, Maine to discuss hot topics in building science—the field that covers everything from indoor air quality…
A conversation with Efficiency Maine Ductless heat pumps are one of the most popular technologies for highly efficient heating in cold climates. More than 20,000 high-efficiency ductless heat pumps have been installed in Maine homes and businesses in the past three years. We sat down with Efficiency Maine program managers Dana Fischer and Andy Meyer…
By Tim King HERE IN MAINE, and around the world, it would be difficult to find an organization that is doing more—quite often with less than you might imagine—to resolve the severe shortage of safe, decent and affordable housing for people in need, than Habitat for Humanity. Genesis and the birth of a radical idea:…