When you think of your impact on the world and what you can do about energy usage in your daily life you probably think about actions you can take to make a difference. Most people do not want to learn about arcane energy scoring systems, complex building codes and the underlying motivations of the people who profit from them. If you are like me you are curious about how things work and are looking for more information on what works and who to avoid. This section of my web page is where we will explore these topics and learn together. I don’t have all the answers so feel free to correct me where needed so I can share the best information possible.
These topics will focus on the best use of our personal resources. We will not assume any one technology or system will work for every person in any building. We will address minimizing monthly energy use and costs by first making sure we are being as efficient as possible, then by adjusting our needs to the lowest cost energy source. To keep this relatively simple, there are only 2 metrics that we will track, energy use per square foot and energy cost per square foot. Other metrics may be introduced in the following articles but the basis for each will be the starting and ending energy use and cost per square foot.
Bring us your ideas and projects. We will be measuring, not modeling. We will always start with a test in condition to set our baseline and clearly state the goal of our test. I will put links in the articles to products or vendors I recommend, I may or may not be getting a commission. Many of the articles I write will be based on measurements or tests anyone can do. I will try to use the lowest cost or most readily available equipment so you can repeat my experiments yourself which is the purpose of the links to products and vendors.
Send us your project ideas or questions to energyhelp@aae-hers.org.
