One common refrain within the high performance construction community is that you need to “build it tight and ventilate it right.” In other words, as you tighten up buildings and reduce the natural air changes, you also need to bring in outside air through mechanical ventilation. The fear is that a tight envelope will trap indoor pollutants and increase occupant exposure. Today there is a growing chorus of voices raising concerns with weatherization programs that don’t require ventilation and source control measures when air sealing. Few would argue against air sealing, but it must be part of a systems approach to improving building performance.

Thanet Offshore Wind Farm. Photo by Nuon from flickr.com, used under a Creative Commons license.

Along a similar vein, a new study in Environmental Research Letters looks at the environmental impact of the first offshore wind farm in the Netherlands. When proposing new wind or solar farms, a detailed environmental assessment must be performed. The goal is prevent environmental “punishment” in exchange for the benefits of renewable power. There is a growing body of research on the impact of wind farms on bird and bat populations, but little has been done to establish the aquatic impacts of offshore wind farms. Thankfully, the research shows that there is little negative impact on the marine ecosystem- some species benefit from the wind farm, some lose out, and some are unaffected.