Green building pioneer, Stephen Aiguier, reflects on how Green Hammer has embraced the highest level of energy efficiency and environmental sustainability by successfully integrating design and construction into a highly refined, unified design build process.

Teamwork is the key to building zero energy homes that are functional and beautiful.

Since most American homes already have a forced-air heating and cooling system, it’s almost irresistible to use the same ductwork for fresh air ventilation. But beware the pitfalls! Avoid performance-killing mistakes by following these essential guidelines. This is the second installment of a two-part series.

At some point, homes can become too broken to fix. Instead of pumping public funds into lost causes, combine existing funding sources to provide new homes that are safe, healthy and dignified for a longer-term, smarter solution.

There are many opportunities to improve the energy performance of existing homes. Finding a good home performance contractor is the key. Sara Holman of GreenSavers shares why.

How can can costs be cut on the construction of affordable zero energy homes? This Habitat for Humanity zero energy home demonstration project documented $3,000 in construction cost savings.

Tight homes need efficient, effective ventilation. Until now that has been accomplished by a heat recovery ventilator with an elaborate duct system. Now there is an option that ventilates and recovers heat, without the ducts.

Zero-energy homes usually require a wall system with an insulating value of R-30 to R-40, at least in cold, heating-dominated climates. In Part 1 of this series, I suggested that you can’t go wrong with rigid insulation sheathing or with double-stud walls filled with fibrous insulation. While the double-stud approach does have advantages, it also […]

There has been a lot of talk lately about which wall assembly is better for achieving a truly high-performance wall, i.e., R-30 or better.  The top contenders are exterior foam sheathing or off-set double-stud walls. They are both great, so you can’t go wrong. But for the sake of argument, let’s take a look at each.