Sales of newly built, single-family homes rose 1.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 417,000 units in March, according to newly released figures from HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau.
The National Fenestration Rating Council approved changes to its NFRC 100 and NFRC 200 standards, allowing certain shading devices to be rated for U-factor and Solar Heat Gain Coefficient.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is working on new building standards after discovering previously unknown indoor air pollutants.
The first group of Passive House-certified homes called the Stables will be ready for occupancy in spring 2013. The row of Passive House single-family townhomes is being developed by Onion Flats group with Domani Developers.
“The first dozen or so attempts to build net-zero [homes] in Oregon fell short because they missed the mark on efficiency and performance,” says Sam Hagerman, co-owner of Hammer & Hand and president of the Passive House Alliance US.
The New Mexico State Court of Appeals struck down an attempt to repeal energy-efficient building codes. The original decision to roll back the building codes came from a suggestion by Gov. Susana Martinez’s small business task force.
On Sunday, April 7, the first four families received keys to their homes in the St. Croix Valley Habitat for Humanity Eco Village project in River Falls, Wis.
Ohm is the first system that can measure both solar and backup energy inputs as well as hot water energy usage, allowing solar hot water system owners to make smarter use of their solar-heated water.
