Happy New Year! 2023 was a good year for the Northern Built Pro website with 45 new blog posts, many first appearing on the Green Building Advisor website, and some that ended up in a couple trade magazines, Fine HomeBuilding and Journal of Light Construction. I wrote a few that were directly for manufacturers of building materials, including Rockwool, Andersen Windows and Doors and Sashco. I am looking forward to partnering with a few additional manufacturers in 2024. A teaser to one that I am currently writing an article about, TimberHP.
These are the top 5 blog posts that were written and published in 2023.
5. The Diminishing Return of Insulation
This is one of the few articles I wrote in 2023 that was not published by another manufacturer/publisher. I almost didn’t include this one, I was afraid it might be taken the wrong way. I advocate for above code levels of insulation whenever possible. Read the comment by Kaspars after the article for additional clarity for the piece.
4. Construction Materials-Air Tight Electrical Boxes
This topic is something I dealt with my entire construction career. I was an electrician before I became a building contractor, which came before I started performing energy auditing/building investigations. It wasn’t until I started performing blower door tests that I realized that all the missed little details in air sealing effect the overall performance of a structure…the devil is in the details.
3. Recessed Lighting in Older Homes-The Issues and the Fixes
Another topic the crosses my entire career. I’ve known the older (and even sometimes the newer) recessed light fixtures leak air for decades, but it wasn’t until recently I was able to determine the actual rate of leakage, which varies from install to install. We have other options available.
2. Rockwool-Not Your 1950’s Mineral Wool Insulation
This is one of the blogs that was written for a manufacturer (you can probably guess which one). It is also one of several posts that came from working on my personal home, 5 years and counting with no end in sight…
Another post that came out of my electrical career, and one of my favorite construction related photos.
Honorable Mention. The top five posts of 2023 have had several months to accumulate views. A series of posts that were published at the end of the year have been quickly climbing in the ranks.
What You Need to Know About Continuous Insulation, Part One
What You Need to Know About Continuous Insulation, Part Two
(As a teaser, there is an upcoming article in the Journal of Light Construction that will be covering the continuous insulation topic, be sure to be well caffeinated for that one. It’s written for pros.)
That’s it, the final post for 2023. I want to thank all of you for supporting this little blog, and hopefully 2024 is your year. Happy New year!
What a beautiful job of air sealing…….yikes!