Did you know that water heating is often the top energy end use in smaller ADUs or homes with a higher occupant density?
Now in Beyond Efficiency's 5th year of business, it was due time to refresh the website. As days get shorter and weather cools, the importance of the work we do to optimize building performance is magnified. So four weeks ago, just before the autumnal equinox, we went live! We're proud of our new website, and it much better reflects what we've been up to and can offer to clients.
Lizzie and I will blog regularly on news from the field, technical briefs, rants, or anything else we see fit. If you'd like to hear about particular topics, contact us to make a request. Check back regularly, subscribe to the RSS feed, or follow me on LinkedIn or Twitter to get notified of new posts. And if you're so inspired, please share your insights in the comments area. We're all in this world promoting better building together, and critical thinking and discussions are essential to keep progressing and innovating!
Getting nostalgic
Developing our new website caused me to reflect on how far I've personally come in the energy efficiency and green building industries. Back in 2000, a couple years into my tenure at WJE, I picked up a random book on a whim (Earth Odyssey by Mark Hertsgaard) because I liked the title and cover. This book touched on green building towards the end, and it was my first career-related epiphany--
Wow, so here's something that merges my interests in building and engineering with my passions for nature and the planet."
And there was no going back. Two years later I launched my first website, thegreenmind, now long ago abandoned. But the Philosophy statement still rings just as true for me today:
A green mind is a state of being. Thinking beyond the present, being aware that current choices directly affect the future. Caring about the future. Not feeling anonymous. Realizing the whole is the sum of the parts, no matter how small the parts.
A green mind is a way of life. Living sustainably, in harmony with the environment. Appreciating nature, fresh air, the outdoors. Being healthy and active. Believing that a strong, balanced mind and body are essential to being whole.
- excerpt from "Philosophy" page from my first website, thegreenmind, launched in June 2002