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Rate It Green Team
Member Since: 01/11/2006
My Activities
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About Me
Activity
Heat Pumps 101 - Comfort, Health, Savings, Energy Efficiency, and Lower Emissions
If you’re even thinking about energy efficiency, or if you’ve been considering HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning system) improvements or building renovations of any kind, you’ve likely heard many mentions in recent communications and news about heat pumps. What are heat pumps, and why are they suddenly everywhere? The short answer is that heat pumps can do the same work as fossil fuel powered equipment when it ...
By Rate It Green Team Last updated: 05/01/2024 + Show |
Windows and Energy Efficiency - Factors for Making Better Choices
Green Builder Matt Hoots of Sawhorse, Inc . and Mike Barcik, a Technical Principal at Southface, recently teamed up for a helpful conversation about windows and energy efficiency . The two review quite a few key concepts that everyone should know, and many of us likely don’t. Among other topics, Mike and Matt help bust some myths about window replacement. New, m...
By Rate It Green Team Last updated: 02/06/2024 + Show |
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Introduction and Update
What is the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)? Signed into law on August 16, 2022, The Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, represents the largest US legislative investment in energy efficiency and clean energy, and stands as a significant climate bill in many respects, including that the IRA uses “carrots” to incentivize investment over “sticks” like fees and punishment. Though it’s not apparent ...
By Rate It Green Team Last updated: 02/02/2024 + Show |
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) - Tools & Resources
This list is an evolving effort to share helpful Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA-related information we have found to date. Please feel welcome to share your favorite tools, platforms, organizations, and additional federal and other energy efficiency and clean energy resources! It's an understatement to say the IRA is big and complicated. We'll learn from each other and make more progress together, so that everyo...
By Rate It Green Team Last updated: 01/26/2024 + Show |
The Perfect Wall, Explained - and Demonstrated
According to Green Builder Matt Hoots of Sawhorse, Inc. , "The Perfect Wall” is an advanced way of insulating, air sealing, and keeping air and water vapor out of buildings in a logical manner. This efficient description supports the idea that green building is really just smart building. If we're logical and aim for best practices and conditions with great products, while minimizing material and resou...
By Rate It Green Team Last updated: 01/23/2024 + Show |
Welcome to the #1920sMakeoverATL Project! See the Virtual Tour Below, or Click to Visit the full-view version ! Green Builder Matt Hoots of Sawhorse, Inc. and his team and Project Partners will be be gutting a charming 1920s Ansley Park Atlanta home down to the studs and then rebuilding it back with a goal to make this the most energy-efficient house in this zip code! As the ...
By Rate It Green Team Last updated: 04/25/2023 + Show |
Building Electrification: Why It Matters to Your Wallet, Health, Comfort, and the Environment
What is Building Electrification? Building electrification might sound complicated, but the concept is actually both simple and critically important. Electrification means using electricity to power buildings instead of fossil fuels, which are primarily used in structures to power heating, cooling, water heating, and cooking. Electric vehicle charging capacity has also become a part of building electrification consideration...
By Rate It Green Team Last updated: 02/28/2023 + Show |
Electric Lawn and Garden Equipment - A Revolution in the Making
Have you woken up or tried to work to the sound of a noisy leaf blower? Have you gotten caught in the gas fumes behind gas powered lawn and other maintenance equipment? Lawn maintenance and outdoor power equipment such as mowers, leaf blowers, edgers, trimmers, and chain saws are clearly pesty, unhealthy, and cause negative environmental and climate impacts. Fortunately, a better option already exists. Due in large par...
By Rate It Green Team Last updated: 03/01/2023 + Show |
2050 has long been the year cited by which carbon emissions must be reduced by zero, which was already a step more aggressive than the stretch Paris Agreement goal of limited global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050. Now, the authors of the 2035 report and others are increasingly arguing that the new goal for net zero must be 2035 (or even 2030) to prevent the worst effects of climate change from taking place. Why th...
By Rate It Green Team Last updated: 03/02/2023 + Show |
Reducing the Natural Gas “Bridge,” for Human and Environmental Health
The Risks and Dangers Associated with Natural Gas To reach critical and urgent climate change mitigation goals, we must decrease global carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. To achieve this reduction, there is no doubt we must decrease dependence on all fossil fuels, including natural gas, while also producing and consuming these energy sources more cleanly. We must also imme...
By Rate It Green Team Last updated: 03/03/2023 + Show |
Whole House Energy Recovery Ventilators (ERVs) Explained, by Panasonic
We’d like to thank Ken Nelson at Panasonic for his terrific explanation of how ERVs work and for introducing us to the features and benefits of the Intelli-Balance 200 as well. Have you been wondering what an ERV is and how it really works, as in, how exactly the water vapor moves around in that enthalpic (or magic)...
By Rate It Green Team Last updated: 09/29/2021 + Show |
Key Humidity Control Concepts by Therma-Stor
Nikki Krueger, Building Science and Business Development Manager at Therma-Stor took the time to introduce the company and also to explain several key dehumidification concepts. This interview is a great example of how sharing expertise can help everyone down the green building, healthy building, and smart...
By Rate It Green Team Last updated: 09/29/2021 + Show |
Humidity, Hardwoods and Homes - The Building Science Approach to Protecting your Investment (Video)
Proper humidity is critical for building product condition and durability, just as it’s important for human comfort and health. Do you know the ideal humidity for your hardwood floors and how to manage humidity to protect your investment? Our experts do, and they’re sharing what they know. We were fortunate to...
By Rate It Green Team Last updated: 09/22/2021 + Show |
Net Energy Optimizer (NEO) - A Commercial Energy Modeling Tool (Video)
The Net Energy Optimizer tool, or NEO, is a web-based energy modeling software tool, designed to provide customized building energy modeling for architects, engineers, product manufacturers, utilities and building owners. NEO provides fast and validated analyses to inform decision making during design to help construct, maintain,...
By Rate It Green Team Last updated: 06/12/2021 + Show |
The Pre-Construction #1920sMakeoverATL Virtual Reality Green Building Tour is Live!
Announcing the launch of the #1920sMakeoverATL Showhouse Pre-Construction Virtual Reality Tour! Hear the birds sing and the music play, tour the project, and it's like you're THERE, from the comfort of your office or even living room! Visit each room and stop to learn about leading edge materials, products and practices...
By Rate It Green Team Last updated: 05/25/2021 + Show |
Follow along in this video as Corbett Lunsford of the Building Performance Workshop talks about air-tightness with Green Builder Matt Hoots of Sawhorse Inc. and Architect Chris Laumer-Giddens of LG Squared and performs a blower door test to measure air tightness at the #1920sMakeoverATL showhouse. As part of the #1920sMakeoverATL...
By Rate It Green Team Last updated: 05/23/2021 + Show |
Asbestos Testing at the #1920sMakeoverATL Deep Energy Retrofit Project
In collaboration with Green Builder Matt Hoots of Sawhorse, Inc., Derek Williams of Bruce Environmental reminds us that asbestos is a serious safety hazard and concern for both workers on site and the eventual homeowners. Asbestos fiber gets into the air and can cause lung damage, cancer and mesothelioma. Asbestos is not dangerous in a...
By Rate It Green Team Last updated: 05/21/2021 + Show |
The Rheem ProTerra Hybrid Water Heat Pump - A Great Fit for the #1920sMakeoverATL Project (Video)
Green Builder Matt Hoots and Rheem join together in this video to give a preview of the Rheem ProTerra hybrid electric heat pump water heater, which will be installed in the #1920sMakeoverATL deep energy retrofit project. The ProTerra is the most efficient electric water heater in North America - up to 400% more efficient than...
By Rate It Green Team Last updated: 05/17/2021 + Show |
Radon and Vapor Control Layers in the 1920sMakeoverATL Showhouse: Pre-Project Testing (Video)
As part of the #1920sMakeoverATL whole house deep energy retrofit, Matt and the building team are running pre-diagnostic tests which will help them address performance issues relating to health and safety, comfort, and energy efficiency. The idea is to protect workers and make the right long-term choices for the home. In this video,...
By Rate It Green Team 2 replies Last updated: 05/17/2021 + Show |
Air Filtration at the #1920sMakeoverATL Showhouse - It Can Only Get Better from Here (Video)
We might say Green Builder Matt Hoots is having too much fun filming informative videos to let us in on the behind the scenes action at the start of the #1920sATLMakeover deep energy retrofit project, but breathing unhealthy air is of course not good for him or anyone else. As Matt correctly, points out, "Indoor...
By Rate It Green Team Last updated: 05/17/2021 + Show |
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