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Do you use Houzz.com?

By |2014-08-18T16:36:08-07:00August 18th, 2014|Community, CTA Consultation|

Have you been to Houzz? Houzz is a social media website dealing with home design ideas, from furniture and fabrics to custom and homes and remodeling projects. Houzz is a place for homeowners to browse a database of more than two-million photos of residential interiors and exteriors. Home owners can browse photos by room, style,

SITING A HOUSE

By |2013-04-09T20:20:47-07:00April 9th, 2013|CTA Consultation|

It is easy to get caught up in all of the new building materials and technologies that are available and lose sight of the important fundamentals such as properly siting a house.  There are few things that will make more difference in terms of energy use than this.  The predominant paradigm in what some refer

Should You Replace Your Windows?

By |2012-04-17T20:45:50-07:00April 17th, 2012|CTA Consultation|

In February the Federal Trade Commission handed down a complaint against five window manufactures for making wildly false claims in their marketing material about expected energy savings from their replacement windows.

This is not to say that you should not pay attention to your windows with an eye toward energy savings and possibly even consider replacing them. But on average most window replacements will reduce overall energy bills less than 5%, not the 50% claimed by some manufactures. But there are other reasons than return on investment that may encourage you to replace your windows. One of those reasons is comfort. Good windows will make your home more comfortable. The other reason is aesthetics. Windows frame the world beyond and should be just as beautiful as your best framed work of art. Indeed, a properly placed window may be your best piece of art. A high quality window will encourage you to open it on a nice day, unlike poor quality windows that must be fought to get them opened and closed. These are good reasons to replace windows, but most people are sold new windows on the idea that they will have a short return on investment, which is seldom the case.

What Does Building Science Have To Do With You?

By |2023-04-03T07:13:55-07:00March 29th, 2012|CTA Consultation|

Building science looks at a house as a system, recognizing that it consists of parts that work together to make up the building enclosure. All of these parts, their connections, and their relations affect the envelope of the building, which in turn dictates performance, efficiency, and comfort. One part of a building that people don’t

Developing Green Products: Flame Retardants

By |2011-10-24T16:56:21-07:00October 24th, 2011|CTA Consultation|

Today’s blog is a shout out about a flame retardant product that is being developed and tested at Texas A&M. It’s made from natural and renewable resources: layers of clay and a polymer from crab shells. These layers are designed to help prevent a fire from igniting a surface instead of trying to extinguish it after ignition like most fire retardants.

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