Will the CRREM rise to the top?
When I first heard the term “CRREM” I admit that I got excited because I thought it might be a type of filling for a fancy donut. Maybe I was just hoping. Setting my...
Lawyers take big government to the Supreme Court
“We all get to vote, but the ability to make legislation is no longer in the hands of the people we elect,” Columbia law professor Philip Hamburger said. As the administrative state implements more regulations...
Rules that make dishwashers, wash machines perform worse also illegal
Plaintiffs argue that the Department of Energy has no legal authority to impose its own water use limits on energy-consuming home appliances. The federal regulations that make dishwashers and washing machines worse are also illegal....
INFOGRAPHIC: Appliance payoff models explode
^58 percent increase in requested quotes to thousands of appliance repair businesses y/y (2022-2023) ^43 percent increase in appliance spend in 2023 compared to 2013—rising from $390 to $558 over the decade Why? 1987. Home appliances...
Study and prepare to dominate the test
I am different from my family in many ways. To me the most striking difference is in our disparate aptitudes. If you conduct a quick internet search on Buzz Nitschke or Bear Nitschke you...
DoE defines zero
The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) has released a document defining what qualifies a building to be called “zero emissions”. The DoE states that they intend their definition to “support the buildings sector moving...
In trash we trust
Continuing last week’s discussion about my trust issues, and battle cry of “Don’t Trust THE GUY.” I would like to examine why we trust our waste haulers implicitly. We really do. For those of...
As irrigation season arrives, adapt to the weather
As we cruise into summer, we anticipate it being warm, hot, or perhaps even stupid hot, depending on where you live in the country. Regardless, summer means that we tend to increase our irrigation...
Finding the low-hanging fruit of efficiency retrofits
I get asked a lot what are the top opportunities for efficiency retrofits. I never answer that question because there are always SO MANY opportunities for retrofit. Let’s face it, we are only limited...
Finding value in green building designations
On January 11, 1964, U.S. Surgeon General Luther Terry issued a report that linked smoking cigarettes with developing lung cancer. We then debated into the 1970’s if smoking was bad for people. As someone...
Let’s talk about sewer
When Salt-N-Pepa’s song “Let’s talk about sex” came out in August of 1991, I thought it was important. I am not certain that they are related but, within 24 months, the Japanese book, “Everyone...
Where the water goes
People have said to me, “we cannot control our property’s water consumption because we cannot affect what the residents do in their units.” Oh, really? According to EPA’s WaterSense program, 26.7% of all indoor water...
INFOGRAPHIC: Grinding housing into votes
download pdf Landlords rarely escape the machinations of politics. Just how far will tinkering with free markets go this election cycle? In an election-year effort to shift responsibility for the nation’s high costs of living away...
LEED’s bold green overhaul
After more than 10 years, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is putting out a new LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system. According to the authors, LEED v5 is more than just...
The sun will heat it
As I have shared before, I grew up in a rural part of California in a farmhouse built in 1913 which was surrounded by 1.5 acres of grapes, oranges, walnuts, and various farm structures....
