Your home's "shell" is made up of the windows, doors, walls, foundation, floor, roof, and perhaps skylights. This envelope is the barrier between the carefully controlled, temperate indoor environment in your home and the fluctuating and sometimes harsh outdoor environment. Follow several tips to help your homework well as a barrier. In turn, you will use less energy in your lighting, heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems to control the light, temperature, humidity, and fresh air levels inside:

Add or upgrade insulation. Increasing your home's resistance to heat loss and gain may be the most important structural improvement to make. KUA recommends a minimum of R-30 for ceiling insulation and a minimum of R-11 for wall insulation and crawl spaces.

Seal cracks with caulking or other material. Inspect the outside to locate cracks and other obvious openings. On the inside, look for cracks of daylight and feel for drafts. Be sure caulking is sufficient around such places as window and door frames; where the walls meet the foundation; where pipes enter the house; and where different materials, such as concrete and wood, meet.

Tighten up the window and doorframes with weather-stripping. If existing weather-stripping is in good condition but has come loose, re-fasten it with an adhesive, nails, screws, or staples, whichever is appropriate? It if has deteriorated or there is none, install new.

Replace broken glass as soon as possible. Cracked windows are not only hazardous; they also leak warm or cool air and drive up your energy bills. Missing panes do, too. If you need to patch a cracked window temporarily, there are heavy transparent tapes that can be used for this purpose.

Make sure the attic is well ventilated. KUA recommends 1 sq. ft. of vent/150 sq. ft. of attic. Outlet vents should be 3 feet higher than inlet vents. Attic airflow is best with continuous soffit and ridge vents.

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Taking a closer look at Windows

Taking a closer look: Windows

* Install insulating drapes or shades. Close drapes and shades during the day in summer, during the night in winter. * In the summer, close windows during the day when it's hotter outside than in; open in the evening if the temperature outside is cooler than inside. * Use awnings, reflective tint, solar screen or other exterior shading for windows. When building, plan a wide roof overhang to shade windows. * Avoid large expanses of windows when planning to build a mechanically conditioned home, decreasing the amount of heat conductivity.