This past Sunday morning I boarded a shuttle headed towards West Potomac Park, site of this year’s Solar Decathlon competition. I wanted to experience the event, now in its 5th iteration, from the visitor’s perspective—so I grabbed a map of the Solar Village and joined a line of fellow sightseers.

I should note that D.C.’s quasi-monsoon season (relentless rain and humidity almost every day), has not dampened enthusiasm for the event. The Solar Village has been attracting a good amount of traffic (about 35,000 visitors came out to see the houses this past Saturday).

Despite persistently cloudy skies— the teams’ solar arrays were still generating a good amount of power. [More]

When I’m at a dinner party or going to a baseball game with friends, the conversation sometimes turns to what people are doing to improve their homes. As many of our readers have discovered on their own, improving the energy performance of your home can also make it more comfortable and attractive, increase its value, and help you save money on your energy bills.

Remodeling a kitchen with granite countertops or stainless steel fixtures, for example, might make a home more attractive to a potential buyer. In the same way, installing energy-saving appliances, windows and doors, insulation, heating and cooling equipment, and automated thermostats, to name a few energy-efficiency upgrades, can be big selling points in our energy-conscious world. [More]

We discuss the weather a lot here on the Energy Savers Blog. It comes with the territory; seasonal temperature changes influence how we use energy in our homes. We also know that extreme weather can have big consequences; from health to finances to simple comfort, the weather has a huge effect on our daily lives.

But one thing we don't discuss here very often is when weather turns tragic. Some areas of the country have seen a lot of terrible weather in recent weeks, with devastating tornadoes and now flooding hitting many states hard. Many people have lost friends and loved ones, and even more have lost property. The emotional toll of these natural disasters can't be overstated.

So what does this have to do with energy? Unfortunately, many of our seasonal and weather-related tips simply aren't that helpful when you're facing huge weather events. Where energy considerations could come into play, though, is after the devastation, when communities are working to rebuild. [More]

In the past, when I thought of solar power I would automatically think solar panels or more specifically, solar photovoltaics. However, within the last couple of months I've gained a better understanding of the variety of ways we can harness the sun's abundant energy to help meet our power needs.

Step outside on a hot and sunny summer day, and you'll feel the power of solar heat and light. There are many ways to take advantage of this natural resource. One option I find particularly interesting is passive solar design. [More]

Lately, I've been hearing a lot about cool roof technologies, so I welcomed the chance to learn more at a recent seminar. Cool roofs, also referred to as white roofs, have special coatings that reflect sunlight and emit heat more efficiently than traditional roofs, keeping them cooler in the sun.

Cool roofing technologies can be implemented quickly and at a relatively low cost, making it the fastest growing sector of the building industry. U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu is among the many cool roof enthusiasts. The Secretary recently announced plans to install cool roofs at all DOE buildings when constructing new roofs or replacing old ones. [More]

At a December holiday party, the host handed me a newspaper clipping and asked me what I thought of the energy pyramid mentioned in the article. I hadn't read the article, so I told him I would read it and get back to him. Of course, when I found time to look into it, I didn't have the article with me. So I decided to do a little research on energy pyramids on the internet. It turns out that I found several variations on the theme, including the one mentioned in the article handed to me by my friend and neighbor, Larry. The Energy Use Pyramid, featured in the Washington Post article Larry asked about, was designed by architects Peter Pfeiffer and Betsy del Monte. It's a valuable resource, especially for new building design. It clearly shows that most of the emphasis should be placed on design elements that use no power at all, such as solar orientation and tight building construction, because these are often the most cost-effective solutions. In some cases, such as building orientatio... [More]