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	<title>Elfstrom Engineering</title>
	<link>http://www.elfstromengineering.com</link>
	<description>Healthy homes and buildings for your changing energy future</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:08:22 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>Is your fireplace trying to kill you?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[via Sierra Club Insider e-mail newsletter
Keep a Home Fire Burning?
Cold winter nights are a tempting reason to light a fire for heat and comfort. But whether you throw a log in the fireplace or use a modern US EPA-approved stove, it pays to know the pros and cons of wood-burning. Sierra magazine&#8217;s Mr. Green has the particulars [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.elfstromengineering.com/2010/01/05/fireplace-wood-burning/</link>
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	<item>
		<title>It&#8217;s easy to sabotage green intentions</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Sometimes you can do all the right things and then have the last step seemingly undo all the effort you&#8217;ve gone to.
Elfstrom Engineering has a striking new visual identity designed by local firm Rossignol Design, fellow members of Green Enterprise Toronto. In ordering business cards Elfstrom Engineering went with the greenest possible choice: Local printer [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.elfstromengineering.com/2009/12/18/its-easy-to-sabotage-green-intentions/</link>
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		<title>Sixty members in 45 days</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s been about 45 days since the website passivebuilding.ca and mailing list were established. I started this up because I sensed a pent-up demand and serious interest, yet nothing was available.
Sixty people signing up for the discussion mailing list in 45 days certainly validates my hunch.
Until recently, the number one position Google search for &#8220;passive [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.elfstromengineering.com/2009/12/14/sixty-members-in-45-days/</link>
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		<title>Upgrading Sony VAIO VGN-Z555DN to Windows 7 Professional 64-bit</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The wonderful Sony Z-series notebooks are an optimal blend of performance and size. The VGN-Z555DN is a Canadian-only laptop with an ultra bright high resolution 1600 x 900 display in a mere 13.1&#8243; diagonal screen. This is more than notebooks with several more inches of size. When I purchased it in the fall of 2008 [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.elfstromengineering.com/2009/12/14/upgrading-sony-vaio-vgn-z555dn-to-windows-7-professional-64-bit/</link>
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		<title>Examining the Passive House standard in a North American cold climate context</title>
		<description><![CDATA[(Updated Nov 4 2009)
There was a bit of a stir lately within the building science online communities when a well-known and respected building scientist published a review of the Passive House standard.
John Straube published a review of the Passive House standard on BuildingScience.com compared to standards and practices applicable in the U.S. and Canada, available [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.elfstromengineering.com/2009/10/01/examining-the-passive-house-standard-in-a-north-american-cold-climate-context/</link>
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		<title>Cost-benefit analysis of ecoENERGY Commercial Retrofit Incentive</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Elfstrom Engineering can help your business obtain financial incentives under the ecoENERGY Retrofit Incentive for Buildings program. We often get questions as to how it works. Sometimes the extra effort to obtain the incentive isn&#8217;t worth the money that you get back. Larger buildings benefit from economies of scale and are more likely to take [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.elfstromengineering.com/2009/07/20/cost-benefit-analysis-of-ecoenergy-commercial-retrofit-incentive/</link>
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	<item>
		<title>Resource depletion in the Ontario Building Code</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Being concerned about resource depletion such as peak oil, peak natural gas, and overall energy production and natural resource decline, I thought it would be interesting to see if the Ontario Building Code acknowledges these very serious and imminent issues. I say imminent, because even if a resource peaks and enters decline 25 years from [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.elfstromengineering.com/2009/04/27/resource-depletion-in-the-ontario-building-code/</link>
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		<title>Rules of thumb for daylighting design</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Tiffany Otis &#38; Christoph Reinhart of Harvard have published a presentation-document &#8220;Daylighting rules of thumb: A design Sequence for Diffuse Daylighting&#8221; (PDF). Really, it&#8217;s more than just rules of thumb. There&#8217;s geometric calculations and multiple steps. This is a great way to start off a building design with daylighting in mind.

]]></description>
		<link>http://www.elfstromengineering.com/2009/04/14/rules-of-thumb-for-daylighting-design/</link>
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		<title>Using RETScreen to calculate design heat loss</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Have you ever gone to all the work of creating a building energy model in RETScreen, only to be left wondering how to convert those annual gigajoules into a specific equipment capacity?
This situation can occur when the capital cost of installing a greener heating system, such as a &#8220;geothermal&#8221; ground source heat pump, depends on [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.elfstromengineering.com/2009/03/12/using-retscreen-to-calculate-design-heat-loss/</link>
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		<title>Energy and monetary consequences of a fancy house design</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Architects designing custom homes often seem to go overboard on the complexity of the shape, seemingly unaware of the impacts on construction cost and operational cost. Let&#8217;s look at the walls of two custom homes of equal floor area but different shape.
Both homes are 5400 square feet on one level, nice sprawling ranch homes for [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.elfstromengineering.com/2009/02/19/consequences-of-a-fancy-house-design/</link>
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