Category Archives: Green Building Interests

Green Roof?

Posted on July 6, 2020 by ellen

I’m waiting for Tesla to install solar roof tiles. The project is at the Xcel power company application stage. The permit from the city was granted. We decided to upgrade the roof to solar tiles the day the president announced … Continue reading →

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Solar Decathlon!

Posted on October 19, 2017 by ellen

I spent one day at the 2017 Solar Decathlon at the Panasonic building near the airport in Denver. John Avenson hosted a booth at the Solar Decathlon for the Passive House Institute and included the various energy efficiency non profit … Continue reading →

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Poster Presentation at the National Solar Energy Conference in Denver

Posted on October 16, 2017 by ellen

It was a busy week. From the NREL talk to the Solar Decathlon, I spent a good deal of time sharing our LEED project. I was one of 33 poster presenters at the solar conference. It was great to see … Continue reading →

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Passive Solar Open House

Posted on October 15, 2017 by ellen

The Green Homes Solar Tour was a great success at my house anyway. We had many visitors though I did not count, nor did I take photos. One of our volunteer docents took this photo though! It was fun to … Continue reading →

Posted in Green Building Interests, LEED Project, Solar | 1 Comment

Preparing for an NREL Lunch Talk

Posted on October 6, 2017 by ellen

Our house is going to be on the 2017 Denver Solar Home Tour on October 7th! I’m very excited about it because we have attended Solar Home tours in both Arizona and here. Having a home that can be included … Continue reading →

Posted in Green Building Interests, LEED Project | 1 Comment

Concrete Bricks as Thermal Mass

Posted on February 10, 2016 by ellen

While painting the kitchen block wall I started wondering what kind of block is our inner south wall made of anyway? At one point I heard this type of block called “slag block” and in Arizona where there are many … Continue reading →

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Tarnished Energy Gems

Posted on June 9, 2015 by ellen

It appears that SERI had a good deal of influence in the 80’s in the Denver area. I say this because I purchased a solar hot water system from a couple in Centennial who bought a foreclosure that has a … Continue reading →

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iConf

Posted on April 5, 2015 by ellen

I thought this was a cool way of “checking in” attendees to the conference sessions. Continuing education is important in all fields these days and in order to get the credit for being at the sessions, the attendees were checked … Continue reading →

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I meet Peter Ellis!

Posted on April 5, 2015 by ellen

This is a bit embarrassing because I was kind of a groupie fan when I met this man at Rocky Mountain Green. When I found out he was registered for the conference I was hoping I would meet him. Then … Continue reading →

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Rocky Mountain Green 2015

Posted on April 5, 2015 by ellen

April 2, 2015. I really can’t help loving this conference. Even though it is really aimed at planners, architects, and commercial buildings, it is exciting to hear the youthful, intelligent, talented people involved in the energy efficient building movement. The … Continue reading →

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Window and Door Performance

Posted on February 4, 2015 by ellen

The best performance is expensive, but is it more expensive than it is worth? I hope not! Here are the tested performance values for the 525-S Alpen window and doors that I chose. All the 525-S window panels are glazed … Continue reading →

Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, Energy Efficiency, Green Building Interests | Comments Off on Window and Door Performance

Amory Lovins’ House Systems

Posted on December 17, 2014 by ellen

The Lovins house tour was most interesting because of the various house systems; heating, water, electricity, etc. I’m sure there was more going on than what met the eye but what met the eye was pretty exciting. First, there is … Continue reading →

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Effective R Value?

Posted on December 12, 2014 by ellen

Amory Lovins’ home boasts an “effective R-Value” of 40 for the masonry walls. I was skeptical knowing they were masonry with a 4″ polyurethane core. The core would be about 20 if it was XPS foam, less if EPS foam … Continue reading →

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Amory Lovins Home Tour!

Posted on December 10, 2014 by ellen

We had a great opportunity due to the Roaring Fork USGBC scheduling of a tour of Amory Lovins Passive Solar, Greenhouse Furnace, Net Zero, photovoltaic and thermal solar home in Snowmass, yesterday! It was a large tour group, about 30 … Continue reading →

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LEED Awareness and Education

Posted on September 22, 2014 by ellen

Increasing awareness for LEED, its mission, its requirements, the benefits and features is one of the categories for gaining points for LEED certification. I had an opportunity to talk about this project at the Fort Collins Sustainable Living Fair on … Continue reading →

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USGBC Denver Rocky Mountain Green Conference

Posted on May 16, 2013 by ellen

This is the roof we toured at the conference! It is “semi intense”, planted in trays and suffering a bit from the extreme conditions in Denver, cold, heat, wind and sun. Also has suffered from lack of maintenance. But it … Continue reading →

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