New Site For Green Earth Equities

111101 Home Performance In The Mid Atlantic Mixed-Dry Climate Zone

Home Performance In The Mid Atlantic Mixed-Dry Climate Zone Yahoo! I closed on a new foreclosure here in Virginia yesterday. It's a two story, 92 year old, balloon framed farmhouse with two additions, half a basement and a nasty damp craw space which is home to woodchucks and other residents. It has a horrible HVAC system and attic insulation that  will make you say, "What were they thinking?" when you see the pictures. As I've said before, I know what to do to fix houses in "Hot Dry" climate zones... But this is different.   We actually have snow on the ground here, and...Continue Reading!

111026 More On Mini-Splits

More On Mini-Splits  ACI Webinar Overview Today at 11 pm Pacific Danny Parker and I presented a Webinar for ACI and the Thousand Home Challenge on the topic of... You guessed it,  Mini-Splits, with an emphasis on Hot-Dry climate. Danny is in Florida and has a Fujitsu in his own home and loves it.  He is an energy geek who has been monitoring his home's energy consumption for the last 20 years.  So he has lots of data that shows his journey to Net Zero. So tonight at our 6pm Pacific regular time we'll talk more about Mini-splits including a debrief of the information...Continue Reading!

111018 Mini Split Heat Pumps… What We’ve Learned So Far

Mini Split Heat Pumps What We've Learned So Far Tonight We'll summarize what we've learned so far about Mini-Split Heat Pumps.  And what we suspect and are still researching. To date the ductless, ducted and hybrids Mini-Split systems are the most energy efficient HVAC units we've found.  Heavily in use elsewhere in the world, such time tested technology is greatly needed in America. With decades of experience installing popular manufactures such as Carrier and Train, we're extremely satisfied with the Mitsubishi Mini-Split systems.  Some topics we'll discuss are: What's "better" about these units than typical units we see in America? What needs to be done to...Continue Reading!

111011 Be The Building Scientist

Be The Building Scientist Not Just The Lab Rat BTW you get to be the Rat too! Read on to learn more about our latest project. Many in our industry bemoan the fact that there isn't much unbiased & practical data available. Even government funded research tends to have a "laboratory" feel and sometimes fails to give the practical conclusions needed by decision makers. Although we have produced some surprisingly low bills and many happy buyers and renters, it is not quite at the level of a scientific study. The two ends of the spectrum regarding research are the government or university funded study...Continue Reading!

111003 Quickbooks Pro Overview PC & Mac

Quickbooks Pro Overview Introduction To House Flipping Accounting Tonight we'll be responding to requests for an overview of how GEE uses QuickBooks to meet our accounting needs. Part 1 of a series on Energy Wise House Flipping Business Management, some of the topics we'll discuss include: QuickBooks Features Getting Started Account Set Up Reports: Standard and Custom Reconciling Bank Statement Online Account Updates Bill Pay and Invoices Tracking by Jobs Year End Accounting We'll also take a brief look at NeatWorks electronic receipt and document filing system. The first in series on this topic, we'll discuss upcoming training and were you can find answers to QuickBook questions you may have now or in the future. Click here to...Continue Reading!

110927 Portable Task Management

Portable Task Management Laptops, Cell Phones and Tablets Tonight we'll discuss an essential aspect to our or any industry, namely time and task management. In the past we've reviewed our use of SmartSheets, a great online project projection and delegation software. More important still is the use of daily portable task tracking devices and software of which I've been a high end user since the debut of Palm Pilots (back when Dave's "palm" pilot was aSharpe). I currently use 3 different programs for long-term, daily and incidental tasks. Join us as we review and discuss several hardware and software options.  Looking forward to your feedback on what works...Continue Reading!

110920 Getting Top Dollar On Renovations

Getting Top Dollar Profitable Renovating Ideas You may have seen his presentations at ACI or the 3 part documentary on his own home in Home Energy Magazine. Larry is one who has really lived Building Science, and has since before it became popular. Like me, Larry did real estate and landlording  several decades ago and got out of it... until recently when the "Perfect Storm" of opportunity that we have today with foreclosures, lower prices and low interest got both of us to jump back into the game. Larry brings a unique blend of Home Performance to his projects. He knows he can't do everything...Continue Reading!

York Nebraska Update 110913

York Nebraska Update Ongoing Success Story Andrew and Fred who have been renovating a tri plex in York Nebraska. And now they are looking for their next project. They will be sharing about how they are getting better and better blower door numbers and how they are doing it. Also of interest will be their experience with the 26 SEER mini split.  It's a single head model, but they move some air with a Panasonic bath fan... very progressive. Click here to watch a streaming version of this webinar. To download this Webex presentation click here.  To watch this audio/video presentation you’ll need to install the FREE...Continue Reading!

110906 The eMonitor

The eMonitor Energy Performance Monitoring Tonight we will look at another idea who's time has come...  The eMonitor (and other similar power monitoring systems)  Isn't it time all new houses (and quality renovations) come with these systems installed? It has been proven that just knowing where we are losing money has been able to modify usage to reduce consumption by an average of 20%. This is more savings than many renovations and the cost is less than almost anything else that can be done. The good thing is that monitoring impacts customer behavior much more than mechanical equipment. GreenEarthEquities is planning to start...Continue Reading!

Home Performance: Why Do We Make It So Difficult?

Home Performance Why Do We Make It So Difficult? If you've hung around this site for a while, you've noticed some recurring "Mantras" ... the chief of which is "Keep It Simple."  We've found that Simplicity Works and Complexity Doesn't. For example, the above photo which Rogelio sent me from his phone ... of the final blower door number for our project on Homsy Ave ... it's a simple number but it's all I need to know that we are well on our way to a top performing house.    All we need to do is tag a few more bases like this and...Continue Reading!