by srmi | Jan 17, 2013 | Energy News
Productivity and Unemployment: A Relationship Labor productivity is an index of economic output divided by labor input. This figure rises and falls several times a year and productivity often spikes at the same time that unemployment spikes. During a spike like this,...
by srmi | Jan 11, 2013 | Energy News
Our Current Energy Standards-Making Process Engineers and other contributors often write national energy standards, or change them without a clear idea of the desired benefits or the unintended consequences. The process of updating standards resembles software...
by srmi | Jan 4, 2013 | Energy News
Bruce Manclark and I were training contractors in Pacific Power’s mobile-home weatherization program in a mobile-home court in Yakima, Washington during 1994. We were working on three mobile homes with about 30 participants; insulating, air-sealing, and performing...
by srmi | Dec 21, 2012 | Energy News
A Misunderstood Truth When I was six years old, my Dad’s business needed a new warehouse. While the workers built the building, I wondered how my Dad got the money to pay them so I asked. He said: “Son, our customers pay for everything.” That’s...
by srmi | Dec 14, 2012 | Energy News
Weatherization and home performance practitioners should reconsider the value of window treatments, especially storm windows. Early energy conservation programs overused storm windows and storms were subsequently banned from some weatherization programs because...
by srmi | Dec 4, 2012 | Energy News
Worldwide Northern Hemisphere prosperity was so high for so long that many of us forgot just what’s essential and what’s not. Now with the economic downturn and disappearance of jobs, people are becoming more independent and resilient. What is Simple...
