Building Science: Build Very High Levels Of Energy Performance Into New Homes
Building Science article describes, using this Westford House as an example, how to build very high levels of energy performance into new homes. Use lots of insulation, airtight construction, controlled ventilation, and not a lot of glass. Use real good glass whenever you use glass, use real good appliances, use real good lighting, and after you have done all of this use real good equipment. The real good equipment is now pretty small because you have done the other stuff. And then stop.
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Building Science: Community Scale Evaluation Of Affordable Energy Efficient House
Building Science project goal was to create a home with a high R-value enclosure, a right-sized mechanical system, energy efficient lighting, appliances, windows and doors, and also have the possibility of adding site-generated power at some point in the future. This summary includes whole-house performance and systems engineering, construction support, source energy savings and quality control requirements and integration. (PDF)
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EQuilibrium: CMHC EQuilibrium Housing Initiative
CMHC EQuilibrium housing is a design and development approach that addresses integrate the following five key principles for sustainable design: Health, Energy, Resources, Environment, and Affordability.
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Factor 9 Home: A Prairie Demonstration Home By Rob Dumont
Factor 9 Home is new demonstration home in Regina that will use 90% less energy than a conventional 1970 home of same size, use about 50% less water than a conventional home of same size and features other environmental approaches. (PDF)
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GBA: Meet The Tightest House In The World
Green Building Advisor describes an Alaskan home, a 600-sq. ft. building with three windows and 28-in. thick walls, that set a world mark with a blower-door test result far below the Passivhaus standard.
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J of C: Vancouver Passive House Project Shows Energy-Efficient Future
Journal Of Commerce says a new low-carbon, ultra-energy efficient building called The Heights is under construction in Vancouver. The six-storey, 85-unit market-rental apartment aims to be Canada's largest building certified to the internationally recognized passive house standard.
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Minto: EcoHome Net Zero Energy Demonstration House In Ottawa
Inspiration, the Minto ecohome in Ottawa has been awarded LEED for Houses’ highest achievement level - Platinum, and has also received the highest score of any home in Canada. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Houses program is the undisputed Green Standard in North America for assessing green homes. LEED for Homes measures energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality, water conservation, sustainable sites, location and linkages, materials and resources, awareness and education, and innovation – with points assigned for each measure.
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Solar Decathlon: Online Videos Of 2015 Demonstration Houses
US Department of Energy online 2015 Solar Decathlon videos highlight the various demonstration homes that were part of this years competition. They feature projects that include everything from solar electric power, solar hot water, radiant heating, reclaimed wood and steel materials, living roofs and gardens, and cool designs for any environment.
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US DOE: The Performance House, A Cold Climate Challenge Home
US Department of Energy Report The Performance House, A Cold Climate Challenge Home provides details of a high performance test home built on the premise that homes should be safe, healthy, comfortable, durable, efficient, and adapt with the homeowners. The focus was on simplicity in construction, maintenance, and operation, and the technologies and strategies used were not cutting-edge, but simply best practices practiced. (PDF)
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West House: Vancouver Sustainable Laneway Home
West House is a made-in-Vancouver demonstration of a sustainable laneway home. It showcases leading-edge small footprint residential design, energy efficient, integrated systems and interactive technologies that encourage a sustainable lifestyle.
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EERE: Links To US Energy Efficiency Education and Professional Development
US Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy offers links to colleges and universities with degree programs or specializations in clean energy fields, community colleges and training centers that offer two-year degrees or certificates for jobs in the field of energy efficiency and renewable energy, and individual seminars, training, or courses on clean energy topics.
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ACI: Annual ACI National Home Performance Conference
Affordable Comfort presents it's annual ACI National Home Performance Conference creating a forum where forward-thinking people can meet to get a wealth of unbiased building science know-how and all the latest product information. Connect with influencers in the home performance and weatherization industry. Share in their knowledge. Learn new ideas. Exchange best practices. Discover new products, technologies and solutions. Forge new alliances. It will be held in Nashville, Tennessee March 19-22, 2017.
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Big Builder: Centex Stays Course With Energy Advantage Homes
Big Builder magazine article describes how Centex, one of the largest home builders in the US, is staying the course despite the downturn, with Energy Advantage program. Centex Energy Advantage, is a standard package of low-E windows, insulation, high-efficiency HVAC systems, energy-saving appliances, plumbing and lighting, and an energy monitor.
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EEBA: Excellence In Building Conference & Expo
Energy and Environmental Building Association annual Excellence in Building Conference & Expo brings together builders, remodelers, developers, architects, designers and manufacturers to learn the science behind green and sustainable building practices, to understand new regulations and legislative measures, and to capitalize on increasing opportunities.
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Fine Homebuilding: KB Home Mileage Sticker For Household Energy Use
Fine Homebuilding says KB Homes new Home Energy Performance Guide, or EPG, is intended to provide prospective homebuyers with an estimate of average monthly energy costs. The estimated costs are calculated using the home energy rating protocol known as the HERS Index rating, which is based on an analysis of the building's design and performance, and on local utility rates.
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PNNL: Transitioning To High-Performance Homes: Successes & Lessons Learned From Builders
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory report Transitioning to High-Performance Homes: Successes and Lessons Learned from Seven Builders says as these builders have demonstrated, affordable, high-performance homes are possible, but require attention to detail and flexibility in design to accommodate specific regional geographic or market-driven constraints that can increase cost. (PDF)
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US DOE: 2016 Winners of US Housing Innovation Awards
US Department of Energy’s 2016 Housing Innovation Awards winners are recognized as the best in innovation on the path to zero energy ready homes. Awards are given in the categories of Custom for Buyer, Custom Spec, Production, Multi-Family, and Affordable.
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US DOE: Energy Efficiency Trends In US Residential & Commercial Buildings
US Department of Energy report outlines key drivers in building construction and use and resulting impacts on energy consumption. It then discusses impacts of that energy - particularly fossil-fuel-generated electricity - on carbon released to the atmosphere. Subsequent sections describe building and energy efficiency trends specific to the residential and commercial building sectors. The report ends with a section on policy efforts, such as taxes and regulation, intended to influence building energy use. (PDF)
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EEBA: Energy & Environmental Building Alliance
EEBA is the US association for those involved in energy efficient new home construction, and gives info on industry events and resources, as well as providing education on building science, energy efficiency, and environmentally responsible buildings.
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EECN: Canadian Energy Efficient Contractors Network
Energy Efficiency Contractors Network is an organization consisting of contractor associations and partners with an interest in delivering energy efficiency through contractors in Canada. EECN association members include Canadian Hydronics Council, Canadian Urethane Foam Contractors Association, Electrical Contractors Association of Ontario, Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada, National Air Barrier Association, and Ontario Electrical League.
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IRC: Canadian Research Into Zero-Peak Houses
Canadian Institute for Research in Construction is investigating how Canadian homes can become zero-peak power consumers, and to demonstrate a practical zero-peak house. Zero-peak means drawing no power from the grid at times of peak system-wide demand.It can be achieved through more efficient house design, shifting demand to off-peak times with advanced controls, appliances, and changes in occupant behaviour, and local power generation and storage.
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US Gov: R&D Agenda For Net Zero Energy High Performance Green Buildings
This Federal R&D agenda contains six major building technology goals that define the major transformational advances needed for energy, water, and material use for Net Zero Energy, high-performance green buildings. Inspired by the building research and owner communities, the goals address R&D needs as well as implementation barriers associated with technologies that could significantly improve building performance and occupant health and productivity. (PDF)
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BC Hydro: Free E-mail Newsletter On Energy Efficiency For Homeowners
BC Hydro free monthly e-mail newsletter for residential customers focuses on energy-saving tips and stories. Content includes conservation issues and questions, Green Guides, customer success stories, popular posts from Unplug this Blog!, recent updates from bchydro.com and information about the latest rebates and savings.
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CMHC: Resource Site On EQuilibrium Housing
CMHC provides information and resources on their EQuilibrium housing project that brings private and public sectors together to develop homes that combine resource- and energy-efficient technologies with renewable energy technologies in order to reduce their environmental impact.
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EcoHome Magazine: Trends In EcoHome Building Technologies
EcoHome magazine and Web site from building industry publisher Hanley Wood offers practical advice and guidance, highlights of the latest products and technologies, and in-depth articles on trends and techniques in energy efficiency, resource conservation, health and comfort, and building science issues of high-performance homes.
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NRCan: Overview On R-2000 Homes
Natural Resources Canada has a summary of information and links to resources on Canadian R2000 New Home Program. Although it has never made it into the mainstream there are still a good number of builders and customers who know it serves some very specific needs.
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BC Gov: BC Building Code Requirements For Energy Efficiency
BC Building and Safety Standards Branch provide resources which are designed to help code users understand and comply with BC Building Code new requirements for the minimum energy efficiency of buildings and their equipment and minimum ventilation requirements for houses and some residential apartments.
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CMHC: The Five Essentials of Healthy Housing
CMHC provides an overview on the five essentials of healthy housing, including occupant health, energy efficiency, resource efficiency, environmental responsibility and affordability.
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FortisBC: New Home Program Rebates & Incentives
FortisBC has adopted the ENERGY STAR® for New Homes | Natural Resources Canada as the energy performance standard for their New Home Program across the province. You can receive rebates when building a natural gas heated1 ENERGY STAR new home or when installing high-efficiency natural gas appliances.
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GBA: Disappointing Energy Savings For Energy Star Homes
Green Building Advisor says Energy Star homes are supposed to have energy savings of 15% to 30%. Trouble is, they don't seem to come close. A Houston study shows that homes without an Energy Star label perform almost as well as Energy Star homes.
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MNN: Gains In Eficiency Wiped Out By Increases In House Size
Mother Nature Network says houses are better insulated with better windows and more efficient appliances so energy used per square foot has dropped by a third. But because they are so much bigger, they use up just about the same amount of energy.
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NRCan: Canadian EnerGuide Rating System For New Houses
Natural Resources Canada outlines how over the coming months their My EnerGuide page will become a source for all the latest information about the updated EnerGuide Rating System. Natural Resources Canada is in the process of updating numerous aspects of the EnerGuide Rating System for homes, including the rating scale and the reports homeowners receive, in order to provide homeowners with better information about the energy performance of their homes. More than 300 key industry stakeholders were consulted as part of the process of planning these updates, including a nationwide public review period.
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NRCan: R-2000 Building Standards
NRCan gives you details of the IAQ, HVAC, envelope, and other performance requirements, to build a house to minimum energy and environmental standards so it can be certified R2000.
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Wilden Living Lab: Okanagan Sustainable Homebuilding Project
Wilden Living Lab is a research and learning project that Wilden partners with UBC, Okanagan College, AuthenTech Homes and Fortis BC. Two homes are being built to different standards and with different components. After families have moved in, the energy efficiency of the various innovations will be monitored over three years.
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BPP: Building New High Performance Homes
Building Performance Podcast features Matt Risinger on Building New High Performance Homes talking about insulation/outsulation, building science facts/fiction, and the classic dilemma of building anything well: it's complicated.
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Builder: Builder's Balanced Approach To Energy Upgrades
Builder magazine says homebuyers shopping in Denver’s huge Stapleton development know they’re going to get an energy-efficient home because that’s all the master developer will allow. But Wonderland Homes is betting that its continued success in Stapleton depends on not taking energy efficiency too far.
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Building Science: Designs That Work By Climate Region
Building Science offers house construction energy efficient design recommendations by climate region, hygro-thermal regions map, climate-specific building science and energy analysis for each house design, and house plan details based on different climate regions.
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Building Science: Just Right & Airtight
Building Science says folks are building houses and retrofitting existing houses with increased airtightness, and this is great. They use a blower door to help measure leakage, and this is also great. But then they think that a blower door actually is a precise measuring tool for how air will leak across the building during service. Wrong. Even more serious an issue is to then take the leap that using a wrong assumption about the results of an approximate measurement can be used to decide that mechanical ventilation is not needed. Bad, very bad, and potentially deadly.
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Building Science: Strategies For Resource-Efficient Residential Buildings
Building Science Consortium, one of five Building America teams, describes its integrated strategy to achieve the Building America goals, incorporating advanced framing, improved insulation, simplified HVAC systems, high performance windows, and details that ensure durability of the homes. The consortiums projects to date, totaling 884 homes, have produced in significant and measurable environmental gains. (PDF)
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CMLS: Home Energy Information Guide for US Realtors
US Council of Multiple Listing Services online Home Energy Information Guide assists real estate professionals in understanding how to provide home energy information and can facilitate multiple listing services delivering of verified data. (PDF)
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EIA: High Performance Houses & Energy In BC
Pacific Energy Innovation Association online slide show presentation High Performance Houses and Energy: Where we are at & where we are going, describes the current state of leading edge building science and technology for new homes in BC. (PDF)
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Energy Vanguard: Give Up Using High-Performance Home Term
Energy Vanguard says a marketing firm that focuses on sustainability and energy efficiency sectors says we must stop using the term High Performance Nome unless we’re going to really make the effort (i.e., support with marketing dollars) to make it meaningful to consumers.
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GBA: Net-Zero-Energy Versus Passivhaus
Green Building Advisor discusses net-zero energy versus Passivhaus approaches to building a superinsulated house, and describes how each has its strengths.
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GBA: The Pretty Good House
Green Building Advisor says finding the right balance between construction cost and energy performance is crucial. Many programs with different metrics can help you to determine how green your home is, but what elements of green building are important when you are designing and building a home?
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II: 4 Tips to Help Builders Ace Their Blower Door Test
Insulation Institute describes four best practices that can help builders meet new air tightness levels, as put forward by a company that specializes in residential and commercial energy auditing and code compliance.
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II: Do Homebuyers Want Energy Upgrade Packages?
Insulation Institute says builders, ever eager to meet the desires of their buyers, typically offer a dizzying array of choices in products, finishes and designs to suit a wide variety of styles. Yet seemingly few builders offer consumers a choice in homes at varying energy efficiency targets.
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IMT: Bringing Transparency To Real Estate Transactions
Institute for Market Transformation says in the District of Columbia, they are taking steps to increase the transparency of real estate transactions and ensure that the green attributes of homes are displayed in MLS listings.
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RDH: Energy Efficient Northern Housing Guide, Cost Optimized
RDH Building Engineering online Energy Efficient Northern Housing Guide covers the design and construction of an archetype energy and cost optimized single family dwelling for Whitehorse, YT. The guide is intended to be used by the building industry to achieve higher energy efficiency than the minimum code requirements while maximizing cost savings from lower energy use. (PDF)
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RDH: Energy Efficient Northern Housing Guide, Energy Optimized
RDH Building Engineering online Energy Efficient Northern Housing Guide covers the design and construction of an archetype energy and cost optimized single family dwelling for Whitehorse, YT. The guide is intended to be used by the building industry to achieve higher energy efficiency than the minimum code requirements while maximizing cost savings from lower energy use. (PDF)
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US DOE: Advanced Construction Documentation For High Performance Homes
US Department of Energy online Strategy Guideline: Advanced Construction Documentation Recommendations for High Performance Homes identifies differences between the requirements for construction documents for high performance housing and the documents that are typically produced for conventional housing. There are four changes recommended to achieve improvements in energy efficiency, durability, and health in Building America program houses: create coordination drawings, improve specifications, improve detail drawings, and review drawings and prepare a Quality Control Plan. (PDF)
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US DOE: Building America Climate-Specific Guidance
Building America online Best Practices guides and case studies demonstrate real world solutions for improving the energy performance and quality of new and existing homes in five major climate regions.
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US DOE: Business Metrics For High-Performance Homes
US Department of Energy report Business Metrics for High-Performance Homes: A Colorado Springs Case Study explores the relationship between energy-efficiency ratings and the market performance of several builders in Colorado Springs. It shows a builder's investment in voluntary energy-efficiency programs correlated with that builder's ability to survive the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009. (PDF)
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US DOE: Guide To Building Energy Efficient Homes In Marine Climate
US Department of Energy Building America Best Practices guide, 40% Whole-House Energy Savings in the Marine Climate provides helpful information on: the business case for energy efficiency; whole-house approach to building science; energy-efficiency construction recommendations; site documentation for supervisors and how-to field guides on specific energy-efficiency measures; and case studies. (PDF)
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US DOE: Improving New Home Efficiency Comfort & Durability In Cold & Very Cold Climates
US Department of Energy online Builders and Buyers Handbook for Improving New Home Efficiency, Comfort,and Durability in the Cold and Very Cold Climates is a resource to help builders large and small build high-quality, energy-efficient homes that achieve 30% energy savings in space conditioning and water heating in the cold and very cold climates. (PDF)
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US DOE: Strategy Guideline For Partnering For High Performance Homes
US Department of Energy online Strategy Guideline: Partnering for High Performance Homes is intended for use by all parties associated with the design and construction of high performance homes. It serves as a starting point and features initial tools and resources for teams to start collaborating to continually improve the energy efficiency and durability of new houses. (PDF)
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Waterloo Univ: Evaluation Of High Performance Residential Housing Technology
University of Waterloo student Aaron Grin masters thesis reviews a variety of North American green rating systems and contrasts their energy performance requirements with those of the Ontario Building Code. The literature review shows that homes that use 75% less heating energy than a standard house could be built in the 1980s for a mere 5% construction cost premium, and that significantly more can be done to economically reduce house energy consumption. (PDF)
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BC Bid: Access BC Public Sector Bid Opportunities
BC Bid offers a faster, more convenient way to access BC public sector bid opportunities. You can take advantage of their value-added bid-matching and e-bidding services. For an annual fee of $100, you can create your own custom commodity profile and receive matching notices automatically by e-mail. Interested in electronic bidding? This service is also available to authenticated bidders for $150 per year.
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Canada Gov: ecoENERGY Efficiency Initiatives For New Homes
Canada government ecoENERGY programs encourage construction of more energy-efficient houses. Their various programs are described here including EnerGuide rating service, R-2000 Home, ENERGY STAR for New Homes, choosing the most energy-efficient appliances & building products, and grants & incentives.
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FortisBC: New Home Program Rebates & Incentives
FortisBC has adopted the ENERGY STAR® for New Homes | Natural Resources Canada as the energy performance standard for their New Home Program across the province. You can receive rebates when building a natural gas heated1 ENERGY STAR new home or when installing high-efficiency natural gas appliances.
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GBA: Home Buyers Will Pay Extra For Energy Efficiency
Green Building Advisor says according to a national survey of 116 single-family home builders, developers, and remodelers performed by McGraw Hill in 2013, 73% of those surveyed said that home buyers will pay more for a green home. This is up from 61% in 2011.
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NZEH: Cost Optimization Study Of Improving Energy Efficiency Of Homes In Canada
Net Zero Energy Home report Path to Net-Zero Energy Homes: Cost Optimization Study of Progressively Improving Energy Efficiency of Homes in Canada documents the uniform framework for developing specifications in different regions, with specific emphasis on methods used for the energy analysis, housing archetypes, HVAC systems and incremental cost impacts. Energy efficiency targets included 25%, 50%, 75% and net-zero (100%) better than current code requirements. (PDF)
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