A few weeks ago I wrote about the possible impact that the Waxman-Market climate and energy bill (the bill would institute a cost for carbon emissions via a cap-and-trade system and provides incentives and mandates for improved efficiency) could have on old house renovation. In that post, I alluded to incentives included in the bill for homeowners who inprove the efficiency of their homes without actually describing what those incentives are. (Full disclosure: I hadn't actually ...

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I've never been a big fan of composite decking, for a variety of reasons that I'll get into later, but I've always been particularly against using composite decking on older houses. I mean, you wouldn't build an addition onto a 100-year old stone cabin and clad it aluminum siding, right? But to my eye, composite decks on older homes was roughly equivalent to that. Still, I recently had cause to rethink my ...

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On June 26 the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill which, depending on which side you listen to, will either usher in an era of nirvana or drive the economy off a cliff and send all non-government jobs overseas. If enacted, the bill would regulate--and reduce--carbon emissions in this countrty for the first time, with a stated goal of a 17-percent reduction in emissions over the next decade ...

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