Editorial & Review Policy
Alternative Technologies adheres to rigorous technical editorial standards to ensure all engineering analysis, sizing formulas, and pricing evaluations are empirical, accurate, and transparent.
1. Technical Fact-Checking & Primary Sources
Every article published on Alternative Technologies is authored or reviewed by a qualified engineer, certified building consultant, or renewable energy specialist. We rely on primary literature and government research bodies, including:
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL): PVWatts solar models, battery chemistry degradation datasets, and system cost benchmarks.
- US Department of Energy (DOE) & Energy Information Administration (EIA): Electric grid reliability metrics and residential consumption statistics.
- US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): Safe Drinking Water Act standards and WaterSense fixture parameters.
- American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association (ARCSA): Potable rainwater harvesting standards and catchment design codes.
- National Electrical Code (NEC / NFPA 70): Article 690 (Solar PV Systems) and Article 706 (Energy Storage Systems) safety guidelines.
2. Separation of Verified Facts, Estimates & Editorial Opinion
To prevent misleading consumers, our editorial team adheres to a strict taxonomy of claims:
- Verified Facts: Engineering constants (e.g., water density: 8.34 lbs/gal; solar irradiance conversion: 0.6233 gal/sq ft/inch), NEC electrical safety codes, and laboratory test results.
- Estimates: Real-world cost ranges, regional solar payback periods, and seasonal rainfall yields. Whenever an estimate is stated, we transparently publish the geographical location, inflation year, and engineering assumptions behind the calculation.
- Editorial Opinions: Evaluations of equipment usability, DIY feasibility, and brand reliability based on documented field experience and community teardowns.
3. Commercial Independence & Advertising Separation
Alternative Technologies displays digital advertising through Google AdSense. In compliance with Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines:
- All advertisements are clearly marked with an ADVERTISEMENT label and visually segregated from editorial content.
- Advertisers have zero influence over article topics, product reviews, or cost conclusions.
- We strictly refuse sponsored articles, paid "pay-for-play" manufacturer placements, or artificially inflated rankings.
4. Corrections Policy
We promptly correct factual or numerical errors. When a substantive correction is made to an engineering equation or pricing metric, an editor's note is appended to the bottom of the article specifying the date of modification and the nature of the update.
Readers and industry professionals are encouraged to submit corrections to corrections@alternativetechnologies.org.
5. AI-Assisted Research & Human Editorial Verification
In maintaining comprehensive technical coverage, our editorial staff utilizes modern analytical tools, computational scripts, and AI intelligence systems (such as Google Gemini and specialized search engineering models) to assist in parsing extensive technical documentation, formatting complex comparison matrices, and outlining initial research briefs.
Crucially, every article published on Alternative Technologies undergoes human editorial review and calculation verification. Computational outputs are cross-referenced with primary codes (NEC, NFPA, ARCSA, NREL), mathematical formulas are checked against physical constants, and all pricing ranges are verified for seasonal accuracy before release.