News | August 10, 2020 by Melanie Cannon
Suzanne Harmelink re-elected to the Building Performance Association board of directors
Congratulations to Suzanne Harmelink on her re-election to the Building Performance Association board of directors. Suzanne is one of 17 board members which also includes representatives from organizations dedicated to advancing the home and building performance industry. More
News | July 30, 2020 by Chris Schultz-Buechner
Slipstream earns its third ENERGY STAR® Market Leader Award
Slipstream was recently awarded the ENERGY STAR® Market Leader Award for its contribution of 53 ENERGY STAR certified homes throughout Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota. More
Blog | July 23, 2020 by Steve Kihm
Utility business models: The role of investor value
In the ongoing discussions of the changing utility industry landscape, the term business model is frequently heard, but unfortunately rarely defined in an explicit way. Statements such as “utilities need new business models” therefore ring hollow.
The management literature suggests that a business model must: More
News | July 13, 2020 by
Heart of a Building chooses Slipstream to disseminate documentary stories far and wide
Colorado-based Heart of a Building (HoB) and Colorado State University (CSU) chose Slipstream to deliver a series of technical online courses to Slipstream’s and the U.S. Green Building Council’s audience of architects, engineers, and other building professionals. HoB and CSU will create videos of building case studies that focus on ways buildings are transforming from the places we inhabit to spaces in harmony with nature. More
Publication | July 1, 2020 by
Low-Income Multifamily Weatherization Health and Resilience Impacts
We know that weatherization produces measurable health benefits for residents of single-family homes. Is the same true for multifamily buildings? With funding from the JPB Foundation, Three3 and Slipstream are conducting a multi-year study to quantify the health and resilience benefits of weatherizing multifamily buildings.
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Publication | June 24, 2020 by
Residential Building Energy Efficiency Field Studies: Low-Rise Multifamily
Slipstream was a member of the Ecotope team that undertook a four-state assessment of energy code compliance in low-rise multifamily buildings for the Department of Energy. Low-rise multifamily buildings straddle the code for single-family homes and commercial buildings, which complicates code compliance. Our assessment provides insights on how the energy code gets interpreted and applied in low-rise multifamily buildings. This insight into actual practice will inform program design for compliance programs. More
Publication | June 6, 2020 by
Assessment of Persistence of Energy Savings under Wisconsin’s Home Energy Plus Weatherization Program
This report analyzes the persistence of energy savings from the Wisconsin Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), Home Energy Plus. Persistence is defined as the extent to which normalized annual energy consumption (NAC) savings are maintained over time. This report answers the question: does NAC stabilize at a new lower level following weatherization and for how long?
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News | June 1, 2020 by Joe Zhou
Texas A&M University partners with Slipstream to improve ASHRAE’s Advanced Energy Design Guide Series
Texas A&M University chose Slipstream to partner on a two-year ASHRAE research project to optimize supply air temperature control for dedicated outdoor air systems (DOAS). The goal of this project is to develop optimal control strategies for commercial building dedicated outdoor air systems. This will help utilities achieve their energy saving goals and help government and facility managers save energy - and costs. More
Blog | May 7, 2020 by Kiara Fullham
For better homes, is it Net Zero or Passive House?
You may have heard of Barry Schwartz’s famous “Paradox of Choice.” The premise of Dr. Schwartz’s paradox is simple: while our instinct is to believe that more choice is better, too many choices can overwhelm us and make our lives more difficult. More
Blog | April 22, 2020 by Kristin Haas
Earth Day: a history lesson
Did you know 2020 marks 50 years of Earth Day? Earth Day was founded in 1970 by Wisconsin U.S. Senator, Gaylord Nelson. He was inspired to do something drastic after witnessing a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California, in 1969. At the time, a student anti-war moment was in full effect and Senator Nelson had the great idea of using that energy for public awareness around air and water pollution, which could force environmental protection onto the political agenda. Senator Nelson assembled a team and chose April 22 as the day. More