BUILDTank BUILDCast: Recent Episodes
Robby Schwarz
At BuildTank, a pragmatic building think tank, our mission is to use what we learn applying building science to affect meaningful change in the construction industry. The BUILDCast is the next step. Through conversations, we will learn something new from our guests’ story that could be the catalyst to take sustainable buildings to mainstream building. We will concentrate on the “story”. No two second intro, instead a deep dive into life experiences that create interesting lives and ultimately move our industry forward. Join me and learn something new from each conversation.
www.btankinc.com
Stephen Davis is the product manager and director of building science for Quadrant Performance Materials. Quadrant is a spray foam insulation manufacturer that produces the EnvironSeal line of spray foam. Stephen has been working in the industry for the past 25 years and has always offered himself as a resource for all questions regarding spray foam, from building science to manufacturing and installation. I decided to take him up on his offer and it was wonderful to catch up, learn more about him, and to ask more questions about spray foam insulations in general.
Stephen Davis on LinkedIn
Quadrant Performance Materials
I was able to speak with Dave Roberts just before he retired from the National Renewable Energy Lab after a full carrier leading a group of talented engineers and scientists who have been leveraging computer modeling and simulation to address pressing residential building efficiency, electrification, and carbon related issues in our country.
I first met Dave when he worked in software development with REMRate which at the time was the most widely used energy modeling software developed to create the RESNET HERS Energy Rating Index. He has been heavily involved with RESENT over the years as a member of the ANSI standards development committee and chair of the software calculations subcommittee. We have become friends, and I wanted to be sure to speak with him on the buildCAST before his retirement to be able to better understand his carrier and catalog is contribution to our industry.
Unfortunately, my side of the conversation did not record well and sounds a bit rough, but luckily for you Dave did most of the talking and he is well worth listening to. What he has to say puts a lot of our applied building science and other work with residential buildings into better context and he leaves a research question on the table for us to aspire to answer, hopefully in the near future.
Thanks, Dave, for all you have done, and I truly hope you have a wonderful and fruitful next stage of life. All the best.
Dave Roberts on LinkedIn
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
RESNET
Eric Werling spent 30 years in public service. First inthe Navy, then as a consultant supporting EPA’s infant EnergyStar program, before helping to create and manage the EPA Indoor airPLUS program, and finally as the DOE Building America program manager. Those 30 years were well spent helping innovation in the residential construction arena grow, flourish and come to market. Eric lived and contributed to the history and introduction of applied building science and energy efficient construction into mainstream construction.
We get an overview of that history through his carrier and then learn about the important work Eric is aiming to accomplish with his newly minted consulting firm. HomeInnovation Strategies, which provides expert consulting services to innovators in or adjacent to the residential building markets to help successfully leverage government & national lab resources, facilitate productiveconnections, and make smart business decisions regarding home performance technologies and applications.
I have known Eric throughout my carrier as it also shadowed the growth and direction of Building America, EnergyStar, Indoor airPLUS, and the DOE Zero Energy Ready Home programs so it was a real pleasure to learn more of the inside story and history of these programs that have been so impactful in the building industry.
Eric Werling on LinkedIn
Home Innovation Strategies, LLC
Building America
EnergyStar for New Homes
indoor airPlus
DOE Zero Energy Ready Home
Peter Yost is the principle of Building Wright, an applied building science consulting firm based in New Hampshire. Peter is the person you turn to if you want to truly understand how buildings work and is one of those people you keep track of all your carrier. To be honest I was a bit nervous about this conversation, but quickly learned that Peter is not only an expert in the field of applied building science, but humble and human as well. Although coming from a building background, Peter appears to have stumbled into a concentration in applied building science in much the same way that I have, which may be part of the reason I respect him so much and view him as a mentor from afar. Pasion for the field, continued curiosity, and the ability to say “I don’t know but I can and will find out” are two of the traits I most admire in Peter’s professionalism and hope that I can emulate in my professional interactions. Thanks for a wonderful conversation, Peter, one that I know you, the listener of the buildCAST, will enjoy listening as well.
Peter Yost on LinkedIn
Building Wright
UnBuildit Podcast
Building Science Corporation
Green Building Advisor
Home innovation Research Labs
buildCAST Episode #23-2023 DOE’s Building America Solution Center and the Building Science Advisor
Other buildCAST episodes you might like
#19 -2023 Steve Baczek bridging between architecture and sound building science.
2023 - #5 Jake Briton Arrow Building
Eric Kaiser is the Industry Engagement Manager for TruTech Tools, which means that he is the conduit between the HVAC and home performance testing and commissioning industry keeping the pulse of their needs. As a former HVAC contractor Eric has learned the importance of commissioning and testing and its role in informing technicians about the performance of the products they are installing. Once again it goes back to is it there and does it work as it was installed. Eric has also become an educator and is committed to helping his clients understand building science, HVAC sizing, and performance-based data analysis. It was fun to learn the circuitous route Eric took to get to where he is today and to see the great work, he is doing to ensure that beyond the state-of-the-art tools TruTech is bringing to the industry, his clients know how, when, and where to use them to bring data to performance.
Eric Kaiser on LinkedIn
TruTech Tools
Building HVAC Science Podcast Hosted by Bill Spohn & Eric Kaiser
John Tooley and MAD AIR
Comfort Institute
Ben Bogie is a Principal at Building Performance Cooperative, an employe owned building company specializing in building high performance homes based out of Ridgefield Connecticut. As you will hear, he is a third-generation high performance builder who has incorporated what his father and grandfather were doing into our modern construction practices. Ben remains curious about green high-performance buildings, while delving deep into the building science that surrounds it. In addition, he is passionate, yet not a high-performance zealot, who believes there is only one way to build. Rational thought, healthy skepticism, and sound confidence in his professionalism allows Ben to be one of the leaders that is bringing applied building science to mainstream construction.
Ben Bogie on LinkedIn
Building Performance Cooperative
Homebuilders CAN A community of practice to measure and reduce embodied carbon in home construction, powered by RMIInformation about Harold Orr
Joe Medosch is the Director of training and all things knowledge-based for Measure Quick, an HVAC commissioning tool that helps guide HVAC technicians to ensure the system they install, and work, on perform. In conjunction with a properly sized and designed system, Measure Quick uses measurements of air flow, refrigerant charge, temperatures, and static pressure to leverage data and therefore performance of installed systems. Growing from visionaries in the field like John Proctor’s CheckMe system, Jim Bergman, who created Measure Quick,developed a modern-day app to streamline the process of commissioning HVAC equipment installations.
The disappointing fact is that the majority of installed residential HVAC systems do not get commissioned, which brings me back to Joe Medosch, who is a fanaticabout measurement, data, tools, and the perfect person to hold the knowledgebase for Measure Quick and to use that knowledgebase to train technicians and others who care about performance and about the simple power of doing things right.
Joe on LinkedIn
MeasureQuick
Jim Bergmann on LinkedIn
Proctor Engineering
Sara Guterman is the CEO Green Builder Media, an avid outdoors person, and a leader of change and innovation in our construction industry. Many have moved on from the term, “green building”. Sara has embraced it, is conscious of the potential for green washing, and has built a network of builders, consumers, suppliers and trades people that are reframing green building to include the totality of the construction industry. I am so focused on house performance, “is it there and does it work”, So it was refreshing to be taken to a 10,000-foot level to learn more about ESG, carbon, and data driven Analytics that is helping to move our industry forward.
Sara Gutterman on LinkedIn
Green Builder Media
Asa Foss is the program manager for the ENERGY STAR Nextgen Certified Homes program, which is the first federal new construction certification program focused on operational decarbonization.
The program requires that the base home be labeled under EnergyStar for new homes, and then install a climate specific heat pump for heating and cooling, ahot water heating heat pump, an electric or induction cook top, and finally electric vehicle ready infrastructure.
Asa explains these programs and requirements and their new link to the Builder 45 L tax credit. He was a wealthof information and clearly demonstrates how working within a building program can benefit builders and homeowners and help move the construction industry as a whole forward to more sustainable and resilient homes.
Asa Foss on LinkedIn
EnergyStar NextGen
EnergyStar for new homes
45 L Tax Credit
LEED certification for residential
Northeast Energy Efficient Partnership (NEEP) heat pump list
Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) heat Pump Water Heater
Alison Bailes has a PhD in Physics and tried academic life but found his true passion in building science while building his own house. He has moved on and is now fully renovating his current house kind of in the same way that he moved on from home energy ratings, where I first met him, to concentrating on HVAC design. From the broad to the specific one might say. Applying building science through HVAC design led to this discussion on the buildCAST because I had the pleasure of hearing Allison speak at the Colorado Chapter of the ICC’s code education institute on all things heat pumps. We concentrated our discussion on heat pumps, and I know you will enjoy hearing it, but don’t forget that Allison also just published the newest addition to our collective building science library. A House Needs to Breathe...Or Does It? An Introduction to Building Science.
Allison Bailes III, PhD on LinkedIn
Energy Vanguard and the Allisons Blog
Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships NEEP Cold Climate Heat Pump website
A House Needs to Breathe...Or Does It? An Introduction to Building Science
SouthFace Institute
Energy Vanguard on Instagram @energyvanguard
Emily Mottram often describes herself as a “little Nerdy” and as an architect that expresses itself in a focus on people and planet, through high performance design of residential buildings. Emily helped to define high performance construction, as one of the authors of the “Pretty Good House” book which states that the goal is a well thought-out, carefully crafted home, designed to maximize performance and comfort within a budget. Performance incorporates metrics like R-values and ACH50 numbers but is more about setting and achieving a goal for the performance of the house which in turn, is more about how it feels: comfort, safety, livability, beauty, healthy, efficient, and the team, science of building, and economics that are brought together to achieve the goal.
Emily Mottram on LinkedIn
Mottram Architecture
Emily’s Energy + Efficiency + Emily or E3 Podcast
The Pretty Good House website
Dr. Ian Giammanco is the Managing Director for Standards & Data Analytics and a Lead Research Meteorologist at the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety Center. He has been instrumental in the creation of IBHS’s Thunderstorm Ready Home program which was created in the wake of severe weather events. In 2023 alone 20 states were impacted by 19 severe convective storm events, each causing over $1 billion in damage.
Building from the Fortified Homes, Fortified, Roof, and Wildfire Prepared homes programs the voluntary Thunderstorm Ready Home program is another example of the results of applied research and inspection that IBHS is doing to impacting the built environment in positive ways.
Dr. Ian Giammanco on LinkedIn
About Dr. Ian Giammanco
IBHS Thunderstorm Ready Homes
Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS)
IBHS Research video
BUILDcast #16 – 2022 Fred Malik and theFortified Construction Program
BUILDcast #20-2022 Dan Gorham and the new IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home Program
The ability to take a deep dive into construction topics is never greater than at IBS. Because of the electrification of our home’s movement, my work in the Marshall Fire rebuild and the huge incentives that are now available to those electrify their homes, I chose to dive into heat pump water heating. Yes, they are more efficient at heating hot water, but several questions still needed to be answered. Are they loud, how much do they lower the ambient room temperature, what’s their recovery efficiency, can you use a recirculation loop, why is the contracting community still dragging their heals, and are they more difficult to install and maintain, where just a few? I was able to speak with American Standard, AO Smith, Rannie, did you know they now are offering a heat pump water heater, and Rheem whose conversation will be released on a buildCAST FOCUSED episode. I was also able to speak with Master Plumber Eric Aune after one of his IBS trade floor in booth talks. All in all, I think I was interesting to hear the relative consistency of answers from the different manufacturers of water heating heat pumps and to feel a little more grounded in my ability to recommend their installation. American Standard Heat Pump Water Heaters
AO Smith Heat Pump Water Heaters
Rinnai Heat Pump Water Heaters
Eric Aune
Aune Plumbing and Heating
Mechanical Hub
Make Trades Great Again Podcast
Haven IAQ
I could not find a link to a Canadian 380 Ventilation Standard but I found this
Ventilation and the indoor environment
Devon Tilly is a visionary who sought me out to partner on a deep dive series on his Art of Construction podcast. He speaks often about platforms and master facilitators, and it took me quite some time to better understand that he is a big thinker whose objective is to bring the construction community together. Platforms can be companies, networking groups, like BS and Beer Metro Denver that I started, or other such organizations that are the catalyst that bring people together to effect change and move an industry forward. Master facilitators are those individuals that help lead the way to creating dynamic synergistic outcomes when people are brought together around a common interest.
There are four parts to this deep dive series, but only edited versions of episodes 3 and 4 are included here, largely Because episode 1 is an interview of me and episode 2 is about a larger commercial efficiency program. Episodes 3 and 4 give us a better understanding of Devon and his goal of building a master facilitator community as well as discussing some interesting building science around windows and heat pumps.
Links to Full unedited versions of each podcast can be found in the show notes
Loosely Devon’s Art of Construction deep dive series revolved around BS and Beer Metro Denver. But in reality,BS and Beer is only a platform that brings together lifelong learners who turn out to be the master facilitators affecting change in the construction industry. I see now the journey that Devon took me on as cohost on these podcast and am thankful that I had the opportunity to take it with him.
Devon Tilly on LinkedIn
Mountain View Windows
The Art of Construction
Deep Dive Series Episode 1: Foundations in Building Science
Deep Dive Series Episode 2: Energize Denver
Deep Dive Series Episode 3: LIVE BS + Beer Q&A
Deep Dive Series Episode 4: Building science in action, with heat pumps
Section 45L Tax Credits for Zero Energy Ready Homes
Federal Tax Credits for Builders of Energy Efficient Homes
Homeowner Tax Credits
I reached out to Dr. Robert "Tino" Sonora, clinical professor of finance and adjunct professor of economics at the University of Montana and one of my oldest friends, because I had just listened to a “Planet Critical” podcast that posed the question, in countries that print their own currency, can we make the electrification transition faster. The premise of this question uses Modern Monetary Theory, which I cannot claim to understand, but in my simplistic mind I learned that we may want to question the politic argument that our federal government must balance the budget and that our $34 trillion dollar debt is a problem.
The simplistic analogy that equates the federal economic budget to a family’s budget and debt is bogus. Having a balanced family budget and little debt is important but on a nation state scale, and especially in a country that prints its own currency, it is not crucial. Look at the fact that the United States has carried a debt since 1775 in order to pay for the American Revolution. So this lesson in economics may just create more questions than it answers but I am so thankful to Tino for expanding our understanding of one aspect of the transition from a fossil fuel based economy to a renewable based economy.
Robert Sonora at University of Montana
Robert Sonora on LinkedIn
Planet Critical – “What We Get Wrong About Money , with Steven Hail”
There is no doubt that Enrico Bonilauri is a passionate advocate for performance based Passive House construction. He has recently researched and publishing a white paper report comparing twelve building standards used in the United States which concludes that current building codes and building programs fail to deliver resilient and healthy buildings for their occupants.
His conclusions are the result of modeling 50 homes to determine the minimum compliance requirements in each of the twelve building standards using the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) software.
Enrico boils his thoughts down to why Passive House performance-based construction should be widely adopted by stating in his paper that, “… one of the greatest challenges the American construction industry faces is to start setting specific goals to how a building performs. That is, instead of setting prescriptive requirements for individual building components.”
We see all the time that builders just want to be told what to do prescriptively, if instead, we concentrated on what we must do to perform would we be in a better place? I don’t know but we will figure it out together through my conversation with Enrico Bonilauri of Emu Passive.
Enrico Bonilauri on Linkedin
Emu Passive Report on Building Standards
Emu Passive Report on Building Standards YouTube
EMU Passive Building Science
Ice Box Challenge
ANSI/ASHRAE STANDARD 228, STANDARD METHOD OFEVALUATING ZERO NET ENERGY AND ZERO NET CARBON BUILDING PERFORMANCE
I first met Kohta early in my carrier after I got laid off from a builder, started my own company, and then that same builder became my client. When I worked for them, webuilt their first environmental research house, and then the Building Americaprogram began consulting on their second. BSC was the consultant assigned to the project and I was tasked to assist Kohta in all things diagnostic on this house before it opened to the public.
As you will hear, serendipity fell into Kohta’s lap, as he started a lifelong mentorship with Joe Lstiburek and Betsy Pettit, the founders of Building Science Corporation. Over time Kohta has become one of the great Building Scientists that we look up to and now the mentee is mine and many others mentor.
I believe that Kohta is wicked smart, but he is also one of the most humble and gracious people I have met, and that is what I appreciate most about him.
Kohta thank you for all you do for the construction industry.
Kohta Ueno on LinkedIn
Building Science Corporation
Kohta Ueno in Fine Homebuilding Magazine
Paul Raymer comes from a long line of inventors, innovators, and entrepreneurs. He’s added writing to the mix, and has published 4 novels, three of which follow his protagonist, Jon Megquire’s, trials with buildings and murder, and three handbooks, including the residential ventilation handbook, that give one the information needed to select and install appropriate ventilation systems for any home.
Paul’s not an engineer, but he has the mind of one. Taking a correspondence course in consumer electronics launched his entrepreneurial and inventing carrier. He’s started several companies and invented and developed a wide array of products in a number of different industries.Around the time of the oil embargo in the late 1970s, Paul was swept into the magic of building science when he moved into an old inn on Cape Cod that needed a lot of work and a lot of energy to keep warm. He has become an expert in ventilation and is currently working with the consulting firm ICF and the EPA’s Indoor airPLUS program.
I think writing is Paul’s real passion, however, so I put a link in the show notes to all his books. He says that “Writing is the transfer of information and ideas. It is like writing music or painting, photography, or any other art. The right words can create sounds or smells or images or people. It weaves together the magic of imagination in other human minds.
Paul Raymer on LinkedIn
Paul Raymer books, blog, and more:
ASHRAE Standard 62.2. - Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality in Low-Rise Residential Buildings
Indoor airPLUS
RESNET ANSI Standard 380
Martin Holladay is a self-made building scientist who followed a passion that led to a career in investigating how to build comfortable, efficient, and resilient buildings and then writing about it. First in JLC, then in Energy Design Update, and finally for Green Building Advisor. All publications Martin’s either started or helped to bring to prominence. He learned quickly that if he had a question about a building topic that many others did as well. What sets him apart, however, is that he can research, synthesize, and then write about what could be a dry topic, in a compelling way that makes you want more. I totally enjoyed the breath of my conversation with Martin, and I think you will as well.
Martin Holladay on LinkedIn
Green Building Advisor
Martin Holladay Fine Homebuilding MagazineMusings of an Energy Nerd: Toward an Energy-Efficient Home
Pat Heulman says he is a retired professor from the University of Minnesota, but in reality, in retirement, he has stayed on as an adjunct professor. Lucky for the University students and others in the industry, like me and you, he is still sharing his vast knowledge. He teaches residential energy and building systems, as well as advanced building science courses. He is a cofounder of the Cold Climate Housing Program and has been an active building science researcher and has participated in many DOE Building America funded research projects.
I have met Pat several times over the years, followed his research, and was very excited to have the opportunity to speak with him on the buildCAST. He has so much to share that we are already planning on a second conversation, so if you have a topic that you think I should cover with Pat please let me know and I will try to bring it up in our future conversation.
Pat Huelman onLinkedIn
University of Minnesota Cold Climate Housing Program Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems EngineeringNorthern STAR Building America Partnership
Building America
DOE Solar Decathlon
Foundation insulation effectiveness
Project over coat
Ken Levenson is the Executive Director of the Passive House Network. He graduated from Pratt Institute in Architecture and practiced architecture for 20 years in New York City where he discovered Passive House and became a Certified Passive House Designer. He was a founding board member of New York Passive House, the National Passive House Alliance, and the Passive House Network, all nonprofits dedicated to promoting Passive House principles through education. After briefly stepping away from the Passive House Network Ken returned to PHN as its first Executive Director, focused on Passive House education and building capacity to move passive house buildings forward in the US.
As you will hear, he was also a co-founder of 475 High Performance Building Supply, a mission driven building material supply house that provides passive house building knowledge and essential building materials and components to the community.
I think passion and mission driven are the two phrases that best describe Ken’s career, so much so, that he consciously got arrested to put action behind his values. You’ll hear more about that as well, so since I know you are going to enjoy it, let’s get started.
Ken Levenson on LinkedIn
Passive House Network
475 High Performance Building Supply
Passive House Institute PHIUS or Passive House Institute US
Lisa White joined PHIUS after earning a degree in Environmental Sustainability with a minor in Architecture from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Master’s in Energy Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
With PHIUS Lisa has worked as a PHIUS trainer, as the Certification Manager, and has been a longtime member of PHIUS’ technical committee that developed the PHIUS+ 2015 Climate-Specific Passive Building standard, followed by the 2018 and 2021 updates. In addition to standards development and research, Lisa has worked directly with the Fraunhofer Institute of Building Physics to develop and implement new key features into the WUFI Passive energy modeling software that PHIUS uses for passive building certification.
I have been seeing Lisa speak at different conferences and was grateful when she accepted an invitation to have a recorded conversation. Especially when I found out that in 2019, she became the Associate Director and a technical lead for PHIUS, which really makes her the perfect person to speak with, about all things PHUIS related.
Lisa White on LinkedIn
PHIUS or Passive House Institute US
PHN 0r Passive House Network
PHI of Passive House Institute
Ross Trethewey thinks Zero to 360 and is the founder of TE2 Engineering. TE2 is a full-service engineering design and consultation firm that specializes in high performance HVAC design, renewable energy design and MEP design. Thanks to Travis Brungart and Joe Cook at Catalyst Construction, I met Ross at the BS and Beer Building Science symposium held in September in Denver. Ross can explain mechanical engineering in terms that anyone can understand, and we had a wonderful conversation about HVAC design, low load homes, and his ongoing contributions as the third generation of Trethewey’s on PPS’s This Old House.
Ross Trethewey on LinkedIn
TE2 Engineering
Ross Trethewey on This Old House
Ross Trethewey on Instagram
- @rosstrethewytoh
- @te2engineering
The Building America Solution Center grew out of the Department of Energy’s Building America Program. A Program that has been a source of innovations in residential building energy efficiency and performance for over 25 years. The Building America Program leverages cutting-edge building science research to develop the solutions and best practices needed to advance energy efficiency in the homes we are building today.
The Solution Center is the platform the Department of Energy is using to disseminate and provide access to the expert information on hundreds of high-performance construction topics, including applied building science, air sealing and insulation, HVAC, windows, indoor air quality, and much more. Recently the Solution Center added the Building Science Advisor which is a no-cost, web-based tool that provides expert guidance on the moisture durability and energy efficiency of new and retrofit wall assembly designs. The Building Science Advisor helps teach building science principles and can inform residential building designers, builders, engineers, and students of building science, on how to specify energy-efficient, moisture-durable wall systems, with a simple, intuitive user-interface. The tool leverages expert knowledge and a database of thousands of pre-simulated hygrothermal models to provide rapid feedback and expert guidance on wall assembly design, tailored to your specific climate zone. If you use this simple modeling tool you can fail fast and move forward quickly while limiting risk exposure and increasing cost effective design.
It was a pleasure speaking with the national lab team of experts that help bring this tool forward for our collective use and who guided me through their carrier pathway as well as us through the Building Solution Center and specifically the Building Science Advisor tool.
Building America Solution Center
Building Science Advisor
Oak Ridge National LaboratoryPacific Northwest National Laboratory
Washington State University
Todd Usher is the Founder of Addison Homes a South Carolina home building company specializing in building healthy, high-performance homes that emphasize increased comfort and durability, better indoor air quality, greater energy efficiency, and the use of sustainable materials with lower embodied carbon. How does he do this, he partners with the Department of Energy’s Zero Energy Ready Home program.
Todd is a builder, but also an Energy Rater, building consultant, and professor at Clemson University in the Departments of Real Estate Development and Construction Science and Management. He is an active member of the NAHB, and our conversations touches on the NHAB’s first cost argument, the benefits of working with established building programs, and what seeking out continuing education can do for builders and their business.
Todd Usher on LinkedIn
Addison Homes
Earth Craft Home
Bill Spohn is the President and CEO of TruTech Tools and much more. He is an entrepreneur who is willing to listen, learn, and cooperate with an eye towards bettering the world in small and large ways and in any way he can. He is involved in so many interesting thinks that we jumped straight into questions, followed up with a discussion about what he calls his capstone project, a Net Zero Energy modular home that he and his wife built. This is yet another fascinating conversation that I hope you will enjoy.
Thanks for listening.
Bill Spohn on LinkedInTru Tech Tools
Spohn Home
RESTalk a Podcast for the RESNET Ecosystem hosted by Bill Spohn
Building HVAC Science Podcast Hosted by Bill Spohn
A Scope of Loss Report is the insurance industry term for an estimate of the rebuilding cost of a lost house due to a severe event like fire, hurricane, or tornado. It does not reflect the cost of the house that will be rebuilt. It reflects rebuilding the specific house that was lost, exactly as it was, to the current building codes. The goal of which is so that the insurance industry knows what to payout based on the policy that was purchased.
BW Builder was created in the aftermath of the Tubbs wildfire in 2017. Matt Everson and his partner Bill Wallace saw that insurance companies counted on the fact that disaster victims couldn't find a good way to report their losses and collect the insurance they deserved. Insurance companies also don’t define how these losses must be reported, yet they rely on the disaster victim to report the loss themselves.
Regardless of being underinsured a policy holder is due the full amount of their policy, not 70 or 80% of the policy value, which is on average what is being paid out. So, BW Builders began creating accurate scope of loss reports for property owners who must demonstrate the value of their loss. These estimates are incredibly detailed, down to the number of nails used, and are not created in the typical way that a builder prices building a house, yet builders are in the unique position of having accurate knowledge of the cost of construction in their specific market.
Through technical innovations and a desire to help, not further harm, Matt and Bill provide estimates at a fraction of the cost of the typical private insurance adjuster. They are now getting the word out on how to do this work. They are actively recruiting other builders to use the systems they developed to help disaster victims recoup what they deserve from the insurance industry to rebuild their communities.
Matt Everson on LinkedIn
BW Builders
Article - Santa Rosa firm helps wildfire victims navigate battles with insurance companies.
Article - Colorado Division of Insurance releases underinsurance estimates for Marshall Fire homeowners
United Policyholders
Steve Baczek is a nationally recognized architect, who has been designing and developing custom residential structures for over 28 years. After architecture school he had the opportunity to work with Joe Lstiburek and Betsy Pettit at Building Science Corporation. But since then, he has really honed his unique perspective, knowledge, and ability to be a bridge between architecture and sound building science. As he continues to design, he also, now more than ever, dedicates a large portion of his time giving back to the industry. He is educating builders, trade professionals, and fellow architects through consistent Instagram and LinkedIn post, segments on the Build Show network, and as one of the hosts of the Unbuild it Podcast among other venues. It was a pleasure to speak with Steve and learn more about his view on the direction of architecture and our industry.
Steve on LinkedIn
Steve on Instagram @stevenbaczekarchitect
UnBuild It Podcast
Amy Bach, Executive director of United Policy Holders and Lisa Hughes Marshall Fire Survivor and Marshall Fire Local Liaison for United Policy Holders are my guests on this buildCAST. We discuss the impact of fire specifically, but natural disaster and the destruction of home, its impacts on people and the insurance nightmare that they face. United Policy Holders has stepped into this space to advocate for survivors of natural disaster events, and specifically help them navigate the insurance maze one must trek through to recovery and become whole again.
We need to be prepared, and plan ahead as it appears not to be if another natural disaster will hit, but when. In this light I think everyone should hear what Amy and Lisa have to say.
Amy Bach on LinkedIn
Lisa Hughes on LinkedIn
United Policy Holders
Wildfire Prepared Homes
Wildfire Partners Boulder County
Dr. Diana Fisler is an experienced building materials scientist turned Entrepreneur who is Interested in the interface between early building technology innovation and corporations that bring these technologies to market. She’s running her own research in this space as the CEO of EcoSnap, a technology she is bringing to market that speeds up and lowers the cost of the installation of mini split heat pump systems. Dr. Fisler is an entrepreneur in residence at ADL ventures and actively part of the team at the Advanced Building Construction Collaborative. Both groups are looking at how to bring meaningful change and innovation to the construction industry.
Diana Fisler on LinkedIn
ADL Ventures
EcoSnap
ABC/Advanced Building Construction Collaborative
RMI UpCodes
Alpen High-Performance Products is an American window and door manufacturer that designs and builds some of the most energy efficient window and door products in North America and the world. Alpen’s core products draw on a 30 plus year history of industry leadership in advanced, high-performance window and glass manufacturing. They are an innovative company that has partnered with the Department of Energy, the National Renewable Energy Lab, and others to be a leader in bringing new technologies to market.
Craig Maierhofer Vice President of Business Development at Alpen, our guest in this episode of the buildCAST, has not only a solid business background but also complete knowledge about the science and windows Aplen builds and sells. He was a wealth of information and I think you will really enjoy our conversation.
Craig Maierhofer on LinkedIn
Alpen High-Performance Products
Alpen WinSert® windows
National Fenestration Rating Council
Energy Performance Ratings for Windows, Doors, and Skylights
Energy Performance Ratings for Windows, Doors, and Skylights
If you’re not talking about it, if you’re not Marketing it, and most importantly if you’re not helping the consumer connect with it on an emotional level or a level where they can clearly understand the benefit to them, then you’re simply giving it giving it away.
Pamela Brookstein manages the Value for High Performing Homes program at Elevate, a nonprofit organization dedicated to designing and implementing efficiency programs that lower costs, protect the environment, and ensure the benefits of clean energy, reach those who need them most. In her role, she works to ensure the value of high-performing homes is visible and understandable in the real estate transaction.
Pamela leads Elevate’s research into the best ways to engage real estate professionals and homebuyers on the topic of high-performance homes. She works to define the messages that these groups need to hear to prioritize clean and efficient upgrades when looking for or upgrading a home.
Most of Pamela’s work is in the existing homes arena, however, all her work can and should be applied to new homes as well, so we can truly express the value of high-performance homes and not give it away. Please enjoy learning more about Pamela and the work that she does to help take sustainable building to mainstream building.
ElevateElevate Value for High Performing Homes
Green Appraisal Addendum
buildCAST #9-2022 Sandra Adomatis and the Residential Green and Energy Efficient Addendum
Karen Benner is a GREEN Realtor and founder of Clayton Avenue Consulting. She brings her 20 years of experience and a large builder perspective and discipline to her new Offsite Dirt show called “Building Better with Karen.
Offsite Dirt is a media and an event company that showcases all the current news, techniques, technology, influencers, and conversations in offsite construction and is hosting “better building with Karen”, on their website, and You Tube channel.
Karen is using her platform to bring awareness to people and organizations that are making a positive impact on the built environment, and I was lucky to have a conversation with Karen about rebuilding after the Marshall Fire in Boulder County Colorado and how substantial building program incentives are impacting the rebuild.
Karen on LinkedIn
Karen On Instagram
Offsite Dirt Marshall Fires Destruction to Rebuilding with Incentives
Mike Missimer principal and owner of MGI Mechanical has almost 30 years of experience in the HVAC industry, he has used his engineering background and love of learning to question the rules of thumb that are interwoven into the HVAC world. He has learned firsthand that you get what you inspect not what you expect, and therefore has helped develop and promote sound repeatable commissioning practices that have been codified within jurisdictions of Northern Colorado. Mike also understands the need for integrated sound building science within our homes, that the HVAC system will not work if the buildings thermal envelope does not work. He Started a separate HVAC design company to ensure that the projects he works on don’t silo HVAC design and installation, but rather they work synergistically to create comfort and performance. Mike loves to talk about what he does and teach us all about his passion which made this discussion on the buildCAST extra special for me.
Mike Missimer on LinkedIn
MGI Mechanical Services
Rockview Designs
How and Why Air Source Heat Pumps are well suited for Colorado
Gayathri Vijayakumar is a Principal Mechanical Engineer at Steven Winter Associates. For over 17 years, she has specialized in evaluating residential and multifamily buildings with an emphasis on high-performance construction and renewable energy systems.
Early in her career, Gayathri provided technical assistance to sustainability projects by performing energy modeling and conducting cost-benefit analyses of energy efficient measures in both new and existing residential construction. She leveraged that experience, and truly found her niche consulting and developing programs, codes, and standards for organizations like EnergyStar, RESNET and the International Code Council. This includes work on the EPA EnergyStar Multifamily New Construction Program as well as the Indoor airPLUS program, being chair of RESNET’s standard development committee 300, and most recently being a voting member of the 2024 IECC Residential Consensus Committee. Gayathri is one of those rare people who can organize a ton of complex information in her head, see a path forward to consensus, and help guide those who are willing to follow on a successful jury moving the construction industry forward.
Gayathri on LinkedIn
Steven Winter Associates
EnergyStar Multifamily New Construction
2024 IECC
RESNET Standard Development Committee 300
How Codes get Made a Buildings and Beyond podcast from SWA with Gayathri
Keith Dennis, President of the Beneficial Electrification league finds himself translating the languages of law, engineering, and business to pursue a vision where electrification has broad market acceptance as a necessary strategy to meet the economic, consumer, and environmental goals of our country.
Keith and the Beneficial Electrification League help to educate the wide breadth of policy makers and stakeholders on the benefits of end use electrification. They target and support research and development that brings new understanding to the topic of electrification, and they provide education, and toolkits to help craft messages that are inclusive to diverse stakeholders and programs that effectively bring the message of beneficial electrification to local communities.
Keith Dennis on LinkedIn
Beneficial Electrification League
Weatherization and Electrification
WE Together Video:
WEATHERIZATION/ELECTRIFICATION TOGETHER INITIAL FINDINGS
Beneficial Electrification: Electricity as the End-Use Option (2015):
Beneficial electrification: The dawn of ‘emissions efficiency’ (2016):
Perks Deconstruction provides a comprehensive and strategic deconstruction and demolition service that allows homeowners and contractors to salvage,donate, and recycle as many materials as possible during the building process. Anna Perks, owner and founder of Perks Deconstruction is driven by the pursuit of offering more sustainable building and demolition options. She has more than 12 years of experience in the fields of sustainability, business development, and sustainable materials management, and is a strategic and visionary leader who strives to make deconstruction a viable and economical option for municipalities seeking to add deconstruction requirements to their building code. It was a pleasure speaking with Anna and learning how her liberal arts background, like mine, gave her unique entrepreneurial skills to see a niche market that aligned with her sustainability ethic and the willingness to build a business focused on it.
Perks Deconstruction Ltd.
2021 COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS
Perks deconstruction on Instagram
Anna Perks on LinkedIn
The National Center for Craftsmanship
BuildStrong Academy of Colorado
Buds Warehouse
buildCAST #13-2021 Laurie Johnson & Emily Freeman - Construction and DemolitionWaster Recycling
Glenn Mathewson, creator of buildingcodecollege.com, likes to talk and I have to say I was a little nervous about our buildCAST conversation.
Glenn started his construction career as a carpenter’s apprentice, then began to framing homes and later started his own remodeling and deck building company. In 2005, he became a building, plumbing, and mechanical inspector for the City of Westminster, Colorado. Over the next 13 years he was a field inspector and plan reviewer and ultimately earned the master code professional certification. In 2018, Glenn took the leap to pursue code education full time through BuildingCodeCollege.com. Along the way Glenn has honed his teaching style and views on codes and their place in the governance of the construction of buildings.
So why was I nervous? Glenn has some deeply felt beliefs and I was uncertain how much they aligned with my own. I discovered that I think we are pretty much on the same page.
Building Code College
Glenn Mathewson on LinkedIn
Building Code College on Instagram
Glenn Mathewson on YouTube
buildCAST #7-2022 with Bill Rose – retired Senior Research Architect from the Indoor Climate Research and Training Applied Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
B Public Prefab is an offsite construction solution for the homes buildings thermal envelope that integrates bulk moister, air, vapor, and thermal control into its wall and floor panels. Their unique component-based, Lego like panels, have been developed for maximum design flexibility and with Passive House high performance in mind.
From how homes are built to how they are lived in, Edie Dillman is consciously committed to disruption, system change, and rapid adoption of solutions that impact buildings and the built environment. As CEO and Co-founder of B Public, Edie walks us through her journey from education and business development to finding passion in the construction industry and helping people build resilient, comfortable, environmentally sound, and efficient homes.
B Public Prefab
Edie Dillman on LinkedIn
Performance Prefab Installer Training
b.publicprefab on Instagram
Ed Fronapfel is a forensic engineer who I first met when he taught a thermography class I attended. Later he became the student when he participated in an Energy Rater class I taught. Ed has built and sold several successful engineering companies on the back of his ability to distill information and present it in understandable ways. Over the years we have been discussing the disconnect between energy and fire codes in relation to shaft liner area separation wall design and function. I was starting to get involved with work being done to understand how to air seal the assembly to successfully pass blower door testing requirements of the IECC. Ed, in the meantime, had been working to be qualified as an expert witness in construction defect litigation. He now has been involved in over 80 trials in District and Federal Courts and provided over 800 depositions and hundreds of arbitrations.
Our paths crossed again at the Colorado Chapter of the ICC Education Institute, where we were both teaching, right before the Covid shutdown. I learned that Ed had an opportunity to fund some ASTM E119 burn testing on Shaft Liner wall assemblies and became the facilitator to organize and get the testing completed. As you can imagine we both have been frustrated not being able to speak to the results of the testing that was performed, and now that we can, I am very grateful to Ed for the opportunity I was given to be involved in this work, and the story you are about to listen to.
Ed on LinkedIn
Acquisition of SBSA, Inc. expands Charles Taylor's U.S. Engineering and Technical Services Practice
Speak Expert Witness Directory
University of Denver Adjunct Faculty Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management
It doesn’t matter the size of the house that’s built, Builders are passionate about what they do. Zack Giffin demonstrates that in this conversation about tiny homes. In 2018 I happened to be at the code hearing where Appendix Q for tiny homes was adopted for the International Residential Code. This year I was asked by the state of Colorado to represent the energy code on a working group trying to figure out how to regulate the construction of tiny homes. It turns out that if they are built on foundations things seem to be fine, but when they are built on wheels there are issues that regulators and advocates must work out. Deciding if they are mobile homes or modular homes is the biggest issue, but in my world, the question is if they must abide by the International Energy Conservation Code. Some analysis has shown that they can easily meet the 2018 IECC using the Area Weighted U-value compliance alternative and the REScheck software, but now with the 2021 IECC tradeoffs are not as easy, and the insulation requirements would make the structure too tall to be on wheels. In Zack’s world regulating energy use in a tiny home does not make sense due to its size. I found it interesting that the fundamental question came down to first cost the same argument that the NAHB uses when pushing back against energy code. Regardless, ultimately the best thing about my conversation with Zack was that we did not agree on everything, but we were willing to hear each other’s views.
I hope you enjoy your listen.
Zack My Apologies for miss pronouncing your last name as well!
Zack Giffin’s website
- Check out the skiing side of Zack's website. I actually did not realize he was a professional skier when we talked.
Tiny Home Nation on Netflix
Zack on Instagram
Jake Bruton owner of Arrow Building continues to push the home building industry forward. As a carpenter running a business and helping to mature an industry, Jake’s skill and enthusiasm has brought him national attention and a platform to continue his effort to educate our industry through online content, publications, and speaking events. He is one of the leaders of what I call the Instagram builders and can be found @jake.bruton on Instagram, but also is a regular contributor on the build show network and a host on the Unbuildit podcast. Jake was easy to speak with and I really enjoyed our conversation and I hope you will as well.
Jake on LinkedIn
Instagram @jake.bruton
Arrow Building
Unbuild It Podcast
BUILD Show Network
Fine HomeBuilding
Gene Myers is the Founder of Thrive Home builders. I went into our conversation focused on learning more about ESG or Environmental, Social, and Governance and how this new way of looking at business is affecting the construction industry, especially for those who are not national Wall Street Builders. As soon as we began, I was reminded first, what humble, open, and simply nice Gene is, and second how much he and his company has influenced the industry and my carrier. Thrive Home Builders has led the industry nationally as one of the most progressive regional production high performance home builders. They have used national building programs like EnergyStar, DOE Zero Energy Ready Homes, and LEED for Homes to build upon their internal sound building science knowledge to truly create a brand in the home building world that consumers recognize, seek out, and acknowledge. When a new home becomes an existing home, few remember who the builder was. In Thrive Home Builders’ case that is not true, which is a testament to the leadership and vision of Gene Myers. ESG is just one of the new trends in the home building industry that Gene is staying abreast of, and it was interesting to hear his take on its impact on non-national builders.
Gene Myers on LinkedIn
Thrive Home Builders
What Is Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Investing?WHY ESG INITIATIVES CAN BE A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD FOR HOME BUILDERS
Gary Nelson, cofounder of the Energy Conservatory, is an engineer who turned his attention to residential efficiency in the 1980’s. He is often referred to as the father of the blower door, but did not invent the technology. He did, however, strive to make a blower door that was light, easy to use, accurate, and cheap. Gary’s success fueled his vision to get a blower door into every contractor’s hand as he felt that it brought building science to life for contractors and weatherization agencies specializing in efficiency, durability, and comfort in homes.
Gary’s success can be measured by the success of the Energy Conservatory, the company he says he accidentally created as more and more people asked him to build blower doors for them. However, success can be measured by so much more than the growth of a company. Gary was also instrumental in the creation of the duct blaster, and flow plate measuring tools, has contributed to the success of countless housing studies and programs, and has contributed to an industry and its understanding of the building science of air flow.
The Energy Conservatory founding story
Q&A With Gary Nelson on Green Building Advisor
Rick Schultz is the Water Efficiency Supervisor for the Town of Castle Rock Colorado. We spoke regarding some of the impacts that draught conditions are having in the west and what his town is implementing to conserve water that may begin to affect residentiual construction across the country. Over the past 20 years, an average of 800 single-family homes and 125 multifamily units have been constructed each year within the Town of Castle Rock. The town has extensively surveyed its community and has shown that residents support more stringent water conservation measures. New measures are being implemented now.
Rick Schultz on LinkedIn
Caste Rock Water Wiser
Neighborhood Efficiency Program
Town of Castle Rock Landscape and Irrigation Criteria Manual
Teal Lehto has honed a short, snappy, and data driven style perfect for Instagram, to explain western water issues in the Colorado river basin. Her Instagram handle is @westernwatergirl. She first got interested in water law and issues in the west while being a raft guide on the Animas River in her hometown of Durango Colorado. You might remember that in August of 2015 the Animas River turned orange after a plum of wastewater was released from the Gold King Mine which made the national news. As wester water issue are continuing to get national attention so has Teal’s Instagram account and her interest in explaining what is going on in a way that is understandable for us all. Teal is going to help set the stage for our understanding of wester water issue and how they might affect metropolitan areas like Phoenix and Denver and specifically how they might affect the building of homes.
Instagram “WesternWaterGirl”
Teal Lehto on LinkedIn
Colorado River megadrought got you down? Feel hope with TikTok's 'WesternWaterGirl'
Where does Denver’s water come from?
In this episode of the buildCAST, Alan Hubbell the residential marketing leader at Dupont and host of the Dupont Education Hubs, “Residentially Speaking” podcast, joins me for a conversation between two colleagues in the construction industry. Allan Hubbell is a scientist who cut his teeth in industry Managing all facets of operations, maintenance, safety, health, and environmental performance for North America’s largest Hydrogen Peroxide manufacturing plant. He then turned his attention to building materials using his science background for sales and marketing with Dupont. I had the pleasure of sharing this podcast with Allan and learning more about his role at DuPont and his views about the residential construction industry, while he learned more about me and my views.
Allen Hubbell on LinkedIn
Residentially Speaking a Podcast hosted by Alan Hubbell
Dupont’s Education Hub
The Marshall Fire has revealed so many questions about home insurance and the process of becoming whole after an sever disaster event. My hope is to have some continuing conversation with people to understand their experiences after a sever disaster event, to better understand how the insurance industry works, maybe what the Colorado or other state Insurance Commissions do, and particularly more about this software the industry is using to determine replacement cost as it seems to be woefully in accurate.
This exploration into insurance and housing beings here with my insurance agent Tim Stuber. I hope you Enjoy your listen
Tim Stuber on LinkedIn
Tim Stuber Insurance Agency LLC
Farmers Insurance
Colorado Public Radio News: “Most people who lost homes in the Marshall Fire were underinsured; Colorado insurance regulators say”
The wait for hot water at the tap can last several minutes leading to wasted water, time, money, and energy. I spoke with Larry Acker, the Chief Technology Officer and inventor at ACT D’mand Kontrol Systems, about how their control system works to eliminate the wait time for water from the hot water heater to the faucet and the waste associated with that wait time.
The D’MAND Kontrols® Systems use an efficient pump and temperature sensing system to move a larger quantity of water in a short amount of time. Once activated, the System brings hot water from the water heater to the tap in seconds. When the integrated temperature sensor detects hot water in the line the pump is shut off leaving hot water for the homeowner to use at the tape
The circulation pump can be retrofitted into an existing home by utilizing the cold-water line to bring water back to the water heater or it can be designed into a newly constructed home with a dedicated recirculation pipe loop that returns water back to the water heater. The result of either installation is greater comfort, efficiency, and water conservation by providing instant hot water at the farthest fixture from the water heater. Remember, Instant is relative, one does have to first activating the pump with a push of a button why using the D’Mand Kontrol system or potentially a motion sensor or adaptive learning technology when using other systems.
Larry Acker on LinkedIn
ACT D’mand Kontrols
ACT D’mand Kontrol Systems Videos
Scott Sedam is the Owner and President of True North Development.
True North is a training and consulting firm for homebuilders, trade contractors, and suppliers, specializing in applying Lean Methods to the homebuilding industry. Scott likes to say that True North focuses on delighting the customer and removing "waste"
. It’s about the value proposition and discovering the benefits that the customer and builder will receive through LEAN analysis of the home construction process. In short, the Lean methodology is a way of focusing and optimizing building plans and specification, the builder’s staff and trade partner experience, and the organizational structure toward creating a streamlined cost-effective building process. It’s based on two guiding tenets, continuous improvement, and respect for people. In this buildCAST, Scott speaks to how he became the first quality assurance person at Pulte Homes, and then to spreading the LEAN gospely to the construction industry.
True North website
Scott Sedam on LinkedIn
Scott regular column in Pro-Builder magazine
The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement – 30th Anniversary edition by Eliyahu Goldratt
Neal Kruis has a Ph.D. in Architectural Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder and has been developing building energy modeling software since 2007. He is the Vice President of Big Ladder Software and has been contracted as RESNET’s Energy Modeling Director. In addition, Neal has been Chair of RESNET’s Software Consistency Committee since 2018 and is a core developer of the Department of Energy’s EnergyPlus simulation engine, as well as the State of California Simulation Engine (CSE) used for residential Title 24 compliance calculations.
It was a pleasure speaking with Neal and learning more about residential energy modeling, which is becoming more and more important for code and program compliance, as well as, for developing means to measure house performance as we continue our quest for zero energy and carbon neutral homes.
Neal Kruis on LinkedIn
Big Ladder Software
RESNET Software Consistency Committee
The EEBA High Performance Home Summit conference organizers brought together exhibitors that represent the breath of our industry and are available to highlight the new and innovative products and practices that the building industry will use to achieve our goals for high performance homes. In three days of conferencing, we all struggle to pack in presentations and networking which leaves the exhibit hall as one of our last priorities. There is much to learn at the exhibit hall, so I took some time to visit the 2022 EEBA Summit exhibitors to learn what messages they feel need to get out to the industry. In this extended version of the buildCAST you are able to hear from 25 companies that are offering a wide variety of services and components that may help make the homes you are working on even better.
EBBA
American Solar Energy Society
Broan- Nutone
Ekotrope
The Energy Conservatory
EPS Building
Extreme Panel Technologies
Graphenstone
Greenheck Fan Corporation
Mitsubishi Electric Heating and Air Conditioning
Panasonic
Pearl Certification
Preflex SIP Panels
Resideo
Retrotec
RHEEM Water Heating
Rheia duct system
Santa Fe indoor air quality solutions
Schneider Electric
Trane
SRP
Stego Industries
Sunnova
Sustant LLC
Swidget
Matt Blomquist is the Building Trades Instructor at Taylorville high school in Illinois and Mike Degitis is the Construction and Applied Math Instructor at Cherry Creek Innovation Campus in Denver Colorado. Although Matt and Mike are located in different states, they are making a difference in the construction industry teaching high school students the importance of the building trades and how what they learn each day can be applied in life skills outside of school. In addition, they are teaching sound building science fundamentals as a better way to build more efficient, comfortable, healthier homes that are made to last.
Matt Blomquist On LinkedIn On Instagram
Mike Degitis On LinkedIn On Instagram
Really Enjoyed the Midwest Building Science Symposium in KC on September 14 and 15th, 2022. This episode is a quick recap of this event from me and a few of the attendees. Next up is the Southeast Building Science Symposium OCT 12 & 13, 2022 Midwest Building Science Symposium
In episode #16 of 2022 I spoke with Fred Malik about the Fortified Construction Program. The FORTIFIED construction method is a voluntary construction standard and program designed to help protect homes against sever weather events. Primarily wind driven damage event. FORTIFIED construction was created from decades of research that the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety or (IBHS) has conducted. Their lab allows for the building and testing of full-size houses in a controlled environment.
In this episode I am learning about a new IBHS program that has just been released and is of great interest to me because of my work as the Boulder County Marshall Fire New Homes Building Advisor. I spoke with Dan Gorham, a Research Engineer focusing on wildfire and its impact on the built environment at the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety. Like the Fortified programs focus on sever wind events, IBHS has focused its attention on wildfires and their impact on homes. They have recently launched a new Wildfire Prepared Home Program which is a research driven program design to meaningfully reduce risk and better protecting homes against wildfire. Dan was supper informative, and a pleasure to speak with, as he walked me through the IBHS research findings and the new Wildfire Prepared Home Program.
Dan Gorham on LinkedIn
Wildfire Prepared Home Program
Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety
FireWise USA
Colorado Firewise USA
Fortified Program
Gord Cooke, President of Building Knowledge Canada & Partner at Construction Instruction is one of the most influential building scientists and building science trainers in North America. He has an extraordinary ability to make complex topics understandable and meaningful for his students and clients. It was a pleasure to speak with him and to learn more about Canadian vs. US construction and how he has helped build successful building consulting firms in both countries.
Gord Cooke on LinkedIn
Building Knowledge Canada
Construction Instruction
National Building Code of Canada 2020
Free viewable version of the 2021 IECC
After growing a successfully energy rating company, Lightly Treading.
Paul Kriescher managed a merger with PCD Engineering who later merged with Bowman consulting group. Paul now wears two hats. He is the Business development manager and thermal envelope specialist at Bowman Consulting in Colorado and is Executive producer and host of Heat of a building.
Heart of a Building is a TV show about creating a better future. Paul and his team make videos, that have been airing on Rocky Mountain PBS, that tell the stories of innovators who are designing, financing, constructing, and occupying the buildings of tomorrow. The stories they tell showcase the state-of-the-art technical expertise behind energy efficient buildings. They explore the heart centered reasons – the “Why” – behind each project and feature buildings that are transforming the places we inhabit into spaces that can exist in harmony with the environment and their occupants.
Paul Kriescher on LinkedIn
Heart of a Building
Heart of a Building on Rocky Mountain PBS
Bowman Consulting Group
Travis Brungardt of Catalyst Construction has spent more than two decades working professionally in the remodeling and homebuilding industry. He and his partner Joe Cook have brought building science and systems thinking into their company as a foundational principle for how they approach and execute their work building and remodeling homes. This episode explores Travis’s growth as a builder and how the Kansas City BS and Beers Midwest Building Science Symposium came about.
Travis Brungardt on LinkedIn
Catalyst Construction
Building Science (BS) and Beer of Kansas City
Midwest Building Science Symposium registration Kansas City - September 14th & 15th, 2022
#KeepCraftAlive
Educational Resources discussed with Travis:
- Fine Homebuilding
- Journal of Light Construction
- Green Building Advisor
Instagram builders and others to follow
- catalystbuilt
- buildtankinc
- dettmore101
- risingerbuild
- jake.bruton
- stevenbaczekarchitect
- buildingsciencefightclub
- michaelmaines
- mike_guertin
The FORTIFIED construction method is a voluntary construction standard and program back by decades of research, that roofing contractors and builders can use to help protect their homes against sever weather events. FORTIFIED construction has been created from decades of research that the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety or (IBHS) has conducted. Fred Malik is the Managing Director of the program.
Fred Malik on LinkedIn
FORTIFIED program information and information for Builders and Homeowners
Insurance Institute for Builders and Home Safety (IBHS)
IBHS Research Center information and video
Brett Dillon has worked in the Home Energy Rating Index world for years. In the past as a RESNET board member, he was one of the leaders of the creation of the ANSI 301 standard. The standard lays out the Calculation and Labeling of the Energy Performance of Dwelling and Sleeping Units using an Energy Rating Index. He ran a successful rating company provider-ship under RESNET and now, using the ANSI 301 Standard, has created an alternative Energy Rating Index score and system in his newly created organization Building Science Institute.
Building Science Institute
Brett Dillon on LinkedIn
The Dillion Group
The Building Science Institute, Ltd. Co. has been recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency as an ENERGY STAR® Home Certification Organization
EnergyStar Home Certification Organizations (HCOs)
ASHRAE 140-2020 Standard 140 specifies a method of test for evaluating the technical capabilities and applicability of software used in calculating the thermal performance of buildings and their HVAC systems.
RESNET
MINHERS – Mortgage Industry National Home Energy Rating Standards
Triconic Energy Rating Program
Energy Plus software
SouthFace Institute
Moly Butz is the Managing Director of the Structural Building Components Association; she is also the hosts the Lumber connection podcast. The Lumber Connection Podcast focuses on the latest trends in the North American lumber markets. Each week, experts Justin Binning and Ken Timmins, lumber traders with American International Forest Products, provide insight into the latest trends and many factors impacting the supply and demand of the lumber used in structural components. Although I don’t buy lumber or build roof or floor trusses and the like, I began getting the SBCA newsletter and started listening to the Lumber Connection podcast during the pandemic. I have found the information and insights in both have helped me better understand the supply chain issues in the lumber industry, as well as those facing the entirety of the construction industry. In the podcast specifically, Molly, Justin, and Ken, break down the current issues impacting lumber sales in about 15 minutes, so a quick listen has broadened my ability to speak to builders in a more educated way. I was really pleased to be able to speak with Molly, Justin, and Ken on the buildCAST to learn more about how they came together and are using their expertise to connect their listeners to lumber, but also the broader economic issues that are impacting the construction industry on a lager level. I hope you enjoy our conversation.
Lumber Connection Podcast
SBCA Structural Building Components Association
Moly Butz, Managing Director, Structural Building Components Association on LinkedIn
Ken Timmins, Lumber Broker at American International Forest Products on LinkedIn
Justin Binning, Lumber Trader at American International Forest Products on LinkedIn
Brian Iverson is the CEO of US Engineered Wood, the manufacturer of the Tstud™ products. He is a character and was a joy to speak with. Brian brought the Tstud™ to market, an Innovation in framing materials that is impacting the energy performance of house and the construction of high-performance homes. Please enjoy this episode of the buildCAST.
Brian “Tstud” Iversonon LinkedIn
Tstuds™
I have been involved with the development of the IECC since the 2015 code cycle. Traditionally the International Code Council develops construction and public safety codes through a governmental consensus process. For the 2024 IECC and Chapter 11 of the IRC, which is the residential IECC reprinted in the International Residential Code, has changed. An ANSI standard development process and consensus procedures will now be used for the development of the 2024 IECC. The resulting document will still be called the international Energy Conservation Code and will still be considered a Code, but the process of getting the next updated code is quite different.
In this episode I explains the traditional code development process and the new development process and then speak with Gill Rossmiller, Hope Medina, Jay Crandell, Jim Meyers, Rob Salcido, and Tom Culp who are all deeply involved in the current 2024 IECC development to see how they think the new ANSI process is working.
IECC Committee website information:
Code Development Process:
IECC Committee Procedures including Scope and Intent of the development process:
ICC - LEADING THE WAY TO ENERGY EFFICIENCY, “A Path Forward on Energy and Sustainability to Confront a Changing Climate”
Solar Decathlon Build Challenge Teams will compete to earn points by operating their house successfully, and by showcasing the excellence of their solutions to industry expert jurors in the 10 focus areas which include: Architecture, Engineering, Market analysis, Durability and Resiliency, Embodies Environmental impact, Integrated performance, Occupant Experience, Comfort and environmental quality, Energy performance, Presentation.
The University of Colorado team has won the last few changes and we speak with Kyle Biega and Wes (MAC-EVOY) Mcevoy, the team leaders to learn what they have planned for the 2022-2023 Challenge.
Solar Decathlon Build Challenge
2022 CU Team Website
CU Solar Decathlon fundraising through crowdfunding
CU Boulder’s #1 finish in 2020 Solar Decathlon Build Challenge
Flatirons Habitat for Humanity
ElektrikGreen - 100% emission-free energy storage
To me Mark Willie burst onto the seen during the height of Covid when all kinds of building educational content was being created and distributed through social media. During this time, I learned about BS and Beers, Building Science Fight Club, Delta and rockwool training, and all the folks on Instagram I call the “Instagram builders”. Mark is in the mix of these people that came into my world at that point, and I was drawn to try and have a conversation with him. He works and promotes TStud, is a host of the Passive House Accelerator Construction Tech Tuesdays, as well as the Dave Cooper Friday building science show. Mark graciously spoke with me, and I hope that you enjoy this episode of the BUILDTank/buildCAST.
On LinkedIn
Passive House Accelerator
TStud
Dave Cooper Building Science Friday
Sandra Adomatis is an appraiser, consultant, and educator. Her story is one of love which also led her to her work passion, residential appraisals, specifically green appraisals. She has pioneered the art of valuation of the energy and green building features in homes that is behind the drywall. She wrote the first drafts of what, through the help of the Appraisal Institute, became the Residential Green and Energy Efficient addenda. A systematic approach for gathering the data needed to add the value of energy efficient and green building features incorporated in modern homes into the appraisal. I have seen Sandra speak several times at RESNET or EBBA conferences but never realized how important it is for builders to talk about and market their homes in a way that truly highlight the programs, energy rating index scores, and other features of value they build in. If you aren’t talking about it you are just giving it away and now thanks to Sandra we can quantify the dollar amount that builders have been giving away.
Sandra Adomatis on LinkedIn
Residential Green Valuation Tools
Residential Green and Energy Efficient Addendum Fillable PDF
A Guide to the Residential Green and Energy Efficient Addendum
Mark LaLiberte almost needs no introduction to the buildCAST audience. In the world of building science there are a few superhero promoters of doing the right thing in the houses that we build. Mark is definitely one of the Rockstar's. He is President of Construction Instruction, a tremendous educator and speaker and works with nearly 5,000 builders and architects a year. His particular gift is being able to communicate building physics in a fun and attainable way that is engaging and informative for the average nonscientist. He is now building a net zero home, and in Mark fashion, using it as a demonstration project to continue the promotion of proper applied building science. If you are a going to attend the 2022 EBBA Summit in Scotts dale Arizona, take the opportunity to tour the house.
I really enjoyed my conversation and want to thank Mark for taking some time out of his busy schedule to be on the buildCAST. Please enjoy.
Construction Instruction
Mark LaLiberte on LinkedIn
To me, Bill Rose has single handily written the most about historical forensic building science and analysis that explains why we build things the way we do. This historical perspective reveals why we have wrongly and myopically focused on class one vapor retarders to stop vapor diffusion when we should be focusing on vapor transport through air leakage, for example. I feel we can't loose this historic perspective if we want to move forward with making applied building science part of everyday building. Thank you Professor William B. Rose for all that you have brought to light.
More about William B Rose
“Water in buildings: an architect’s guide to moisture and mold” by Bill Rose
Green Builder Advisor Article with bill Rose
Search the internet for the following papers that I found particularly interesting:
“Early History of Attic Ventilation” By William B. Rose
"A review of the regulatory and technical literature related to crawl space moister control" By W.B. Rose
"Moisture Control in the Modern Building Envelope: History of the Vapor Barrier in the U.S., 1923-52" By William B. Rose
Drew Lindsay owner of Hammerwell Construction is the only builder in Colorado that I know of that has a full staff of Passive house certified tradespeople. The have learned building science and passive house principles that they are wrapping into all their projects, certified or otherwise, with an aim of continuing to build beautiful homes that their clients love living in. I learned of Hammerwell while I was training to become PHIUS certified passive house consultant, and continuing to learn more as I watch how they are approaching helping people rebuild from the Boulder County Marshall Fire.
As you will hear, Drew came up in the trades and worked his way to a position where he could take over hammerwell and continue to grow the company. It is clear that family is important to Drew and his business is like a family, but a family of professionals, experienced in a range of fields that allow them to bring creative solutions to projects that are now layered with passive house principles.
HammerWell
Colorado State University Institute for the Built Environment
Mark Attard, operations manager at HammerWell Custom Homes, and I have a candid conversation about rebuilding after the Marshall Fire. Applied building science and better performing homes needs to be at the heart of the conversation of rebuilding. 1st costs vs. opportunity cost vs. cost of ownership, resiliency, health, fire resistance and more. Cost of construction can’t be laid on the back of energy codes only.
Boulder County Marshall Fire Web Page
Town of Louisville Marshall Fire Updates
Town of Superior Marshall Fire FAQs, Resources and Recovery Dashboard
Mark Attard Operations Manager at Hammer Well custom homes is helping to lead the company towards a commitment to building exceptional custom homes following passive house principles. In that effort, Mark gained significant building science knowledge that he has applied in a complete retrofit of his own 1990 vintage home. Starting at 17 ACH50, mark improved the thermal envelope, air tightness, mechanical and ventilation systems in his house following building principals he and his colleges at Hammer Well are now taking to all their projects. Mark however has gotten to see the fruits of his labor because the neighborhood where his house is located ended up protecting downtown Louisville from the recent Boulder County Marshall Fire. One house burned in Mark’s neighborhood as firefighters defend the aera to ensure that the fire did not reach downtown Louisville. As you can imagine houses with air leakage in the 17 ACH50 range, All were smoke damaged. Mark’s house faired differently, and it’s story is the basis of this episode of the buildCAST. I can’t say I hope you enjoy this episode, but I do hope we listen well and learn a lesson of the byproduct of resiliency that can come from applied building science and better performing buildings.
Hammerwell, LLC
mark@hammerwell.com
(720) 201-2418
PHIUS
Colorado Public Radio Boulder County Marshall Fire coverage
Denver Post Marshall Fire Coverage
City of Louisville Building Codes
EFFECTIVE NOVEMBER 23, 2021 The city has adopted the 2021 IECC with amendments and electric vehicle charging requirements. All residential homes must comply with Appendix RC, Zero Energy Residential Building Provisions. Projects submitted after November 23, 2021 will be subject to the new regulations.
From Tragedy to Triumph: Rebuilding Greensburg, Kansas
Chief Builder and Owner of Sterling Enterprises, Peter Stuart values creativity, uniqueness, and perfection. Sterling builds for comfort and longevity while believing that advancing their craft leads to innovation and high performance. Peter is leading his team in building their first PHI passive house duplex, applying building science and critical passive house strategies that integrate with their company philosophy and working toward certification.
Sterling Enterprise Website
Sterling Enterprise on Instagram
Part II of my conversation with Justin Wilson concentrated more on the creation of Construction Instruction and how it has grown. CI provides leading building professionals with the tools needed to apply building science principles while integrating cost-effective, practical solutions to build better, longer lasting, healthier homes. They offer hands-on training at their Colorado Experience Center, continuous online learning through our Ci App and help connect builders with solutions to improve build quality, make fewer mistakes and stand-out from the competition, all while remaining cost-competitive.
Construction Instruction
LinkedIn Profile
Download the CI App
Justin is anexperienced building consultant with a demonstrated history of working in the construction industry. Skilled in energy efficiency, construction, sustainable design and applied building science. He is a principal partner with Construction Instruction and in part 1 of our conversation, reveals unique experiences that lead him to where he is.
LinkedIn Profil1
Construction Instruction
Download the CI App
EEBA
Martin Drake, a coal fired power plant located in downtown Colorado Springs, has burned coal to generate electricity since 1925. It burned its last piece of coal, however, on August 27, 2021 And it will transition to being fully decommissioned on December 31st, 2022. For now, Drake will operate by making electricity using a large natural gas generator. The generator is actually portable and can be repurposed after Drake is fully shut down.
Jim, is retired from the United States Air Force and from running an independent Home Energy Rating company, I first met Jim as a student in one of the Rater certification classes I taught while with EnergyLogic. He is now involved in the heart of his community’s energy future and is going to help describe what it takes to decommission a coal fired power plant. I hope you enjoy your listen!
Jim welcomes direct questions Reach out to him at rigginsJ110@gmail.com
Colorado Springs Indy article, “Drake Power Plant’s glory days are over” By Pam Zubeck Sep 29, 2021 Updated Oct 6, 2021
Colorado Springs Utilities Sustainable Energy Plan
Colorado Springs Utility Electric Generation 2030 Chart
Xcel Energy commits to net-zero carbon goal by 2050
Southeastern Colorado Renewable Energy Society
Passive House Institute United States
Creating an Airtight Shaft Liner Area Separation Wall
The IECC requires that town homes and duplexes achieve 3 or 5 ACH50 depending on the climate zone the dwelling is built in. My experience is that attached housing is 2-3 time leakier than detached even though detached is generally twice as large. In the past creating airtight attached dwellings has been quite difficult and costly do to the 1” to ¾” gap between the area separation and structural components of the assembly. Two recently completed UL and ICC/NAT tests are changing how we should think about construction and air sealing this assembly. This BUILDCast, explores what fire separation means and how air leakage can now be addressed.
Energy & Environmental Building Alliance
EEBA 2021 Summit
Reach out to me directly if you would like a copy of the slides for this presentation robby@btankinc.com
Bill Rectanus is chief operating officer, or COO, at Thrive Home builders, and today he will walk us through his journey to becoming a COO at this regional production builder, how the company began building only DOE Zero Energy Ready Homes, and the planning and economics that need to happen years in advance before a house can go vertical and be brought to market. I learned a lot about the business of building, for example the lead time and planning that goes into a project before going vertical. I hope you will learn as well and that you enjoy!
Bill on LinkedIn
Thrive Home Builders
Nigel Watts is successfully bringing the new RHEIA HVAC airtight compact air distribution system to market. Rheia's compact air distribution system is significantly faster to install, located entirely within the home's conditioned space, without using unsightly, expensive bulkheads and chases. Rheia improves comfort and helps maximize efficiency, at a competitive price.
NIgel's LinkedIn
RHEIA Website
Article on RHEIA
The Coanda effect explains how air can is thrown into a room from a high interior supply registers across the room to the exterior wall creating more mixing of air within a room. Differences between Bernoulli's Principle and the Coanda
RHEIA on LinkedIn
Chef Rachelle Boucher with KitchenToLife.com , and Chef Andrew Forlines with ChefAF.com speak to with me about one of the biggest roadblocks to the electrification of a home. Getting ride of the gas cook top.
Chef Rachelle Boucher KitchenToLife.com
In 2018, when the city of Berkeley, CA announced the first all-electric building codes, I immediately knew that this was a huge moment for the planet, for the appliance industry and, frankly, for me. As a self-described "induction cooking and electric kitchens super-fan" and chef, I knew that I could make a big difference. It was an "A-ha moment".
My partner Robert Roth and I started "Kitchens to Life" with the mission to:
ELEVATE the electric kitchens conversation, ENGAGE stakeholders with today’s inspiring cooking options and FACILITATE the adoption of kitchen electrification for performance, people and planet.
Chef Andrew Forlines ChefAF.com
I’m Chef Andrew Forlines and I offer insights on the newest technology available to the residential home cook. As a chef, I have spent my career at the nexus of food science, fine dining, appliance technology, refined customer service, and culinary education. For the last several years, I have worked in the residential appliance retail industry as a chef presenter, retail sales, and kitchen design trainer focused on advanced technology in the modern home kitchen. I am certified by both the NKBA and IDCEC to give accredited Continuing Education Unit presentations in person or via webinar.
Since his college days, Jonah has worked on national and international water issues. He has spent over a decade leading the technical direction and development of WaterSense which is the EPA's water efficiency program and has established himself as an expert in the field of water efficiency, conservation, and sustainability with numerous published articles and speaking engagements. Our conversation tracks his path and what the WaterSense program is doing in the built environment today.
EPA WaterSense Program
Arava Institute for Environmental Studies
LinkedIn profile
Welcome to this bonus session of the BUILDCast. I am happy to bring to you A conversation about Zero Energy homes that took place at the 2021 EEBA (Energy & Environmental Building Alliance) High performance Home Summit. I had this conversation as a session at the conference with individuals that have been working to build, promote, and educate us about building science based construction that results in zero energy homes.
Gord Cooke - President at Building Knowledge Canada & Partner at Construction Instruction
Bill Rectanus - Vice President of Homebuilding Operations at Thrive Home Builders
Justin Wilson – Principal Partner Construction Instruction
Seth Hart - Associate Principal at DTJ Design
Energy & Environmental Building Alliance
2021 EEBA High performance Home Summit
EEBA Ultimate ZEN HOME
Greg D. Fisher, Architect is a design and service-centered practice focusing on simple, progressive, authentic and responsible designs since the firm’s inception in 1993. In 2020 Greg started down the road of designing and building a Passive house for him and his wife in Fort Collins Colorado. Listen to his journey to architecture and then to Passive house.
Advantage Architectural Woodwork This is the window company located in Kolby, KS and is owned by Bob Holloway. They are represented here locally by AE Building Systems
Colorado State University Institute for the Built Environment
Revive community
EMU Systems - Passive House consultation and training
Fisher Passive house presentation links
AE Building Systems
Spring 2021 presentation given to NAPHN Live
December 2020 presentation to BS+Beer Show
November 2019 episode of the Build Show
Performance Construction Manger Mitsubishi Electric Tane US HVAC, Shawn has focused his worked in Energy and resource efficiency, sustainable buildings, and community abundance. He enjoys contributing his experience and intuitive problem-solving skills to what he calls a history-changing industry. He believes there are countless opportunities as we face the nexus of energy, water, food, transportation, technology, and economic sustainability. The time is now to meet our energy and carbon challenges head-on.
Shawn's LinkedIn
Mitsubishi Electric Trane US HVAC PCD Engineering and Lightly Treading Join Forces
An assortment of short conversations I had with the sponsor exhibitors at the 2021 EBBA High Performance Summit
EEBA
Aprilaire
Dettson
Energy Panel Structures SIPS
Graphen Stone
Panasonic
Resideo
RetroTec
Sonnen USA
Dupont
An assortment of short conversations I had with the sponsor exhibitors at the 2021 EBBA High Performance Summit - Part II
BOAN-Nutone
Etopia USA
Extreme Panel Technologies
Mitsubishi Electric Tane US HVAC
R-Control Panel
Santa-Fe Dehumidifiers
Stego Industries
SunNova
Huber ZIP System
I had a great conversation with Corbett who is juggling all things that his company Building Performance Workshop is doing. Performance Testing and home diagnostics, a home diagnostics book, training, podcast, TV show and YouTube Channel. All in an effort to help homeowners live their best life in the homes they have chosen.
Corbett introduces himself on his website this way. “Hi. I am Corbett Lunsford, and sometimes I’m an idiot. I wasn’t always a home performance expert – I used to play piano for ballerinas. For a living. So, in 2008, I started this career with Grace (my wife) and we learned a few things very quickly: construction is unbelievably messy, most pros are over-rushed and under-paid, and homeowners end up suffering in small ways, for their entire lives in the house. None of this has to be so we can opt out of the whole thing with performance testing.” Performance testing, gathering data in the home is the mission that Corbett has chosen as the backbone for his different platforms to educate industry and the public on what we should expect of our housing.
Building Performance Workshop
Home Diagnostics TV Series
You Tube Channel
Building Performance Podcast
Home Performance diagnostics book
Tiny House/Tiny Lab
The story about how Gary Klein got into hot water is a long one which we delve into in this episode of the BUILDCast. It takes us from the east cost of the United State to Lesotho in Africa, back to the United States and on to California. Throughout his journey Gary took his own path and followed what interested him the most while looking for big problems to solve. Gary is passionate about helping people and looking at social issue through a lens of environmental ethics which has led him first to renewables, then energy efficiency, and now to hot water. Why Hot water? Well take a listen and find out.
Gary Klein and Associates
Lesotho, a high-altitude, landlocked kingdom encircled by South Africa, is crisscrossed by a network of rivers and mountain ranges including the 3,482m-high peak of Thabana Ntlenyana.
California Energy Commission – Water Heating
C.R. Herro, Vice president of Innovation at Meritage Homes, leads Meritage’s Business Innovation Program which combines design, efficiency, sustainability, and new technologies to establish a new standard in home building that provide better comfort, healthier air, and cost less to own and operate.
C.R. earned a Bachelor of Science at Arizona State University in Physical and Life Science, master’s in environmental science from Governors State, and Doctorate in Environmental Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology, and a master’s in philosophy from Arizona State University. CR has spent 20 years within Fortunate 500 companies driving innovation and the supporting change management.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cr-herro-39725514/
https://www.meritagehomes.com/
Chris and his team provide a variety of strategic services to both private and public sector interests related to buildings and building product performance. Their Specialties include Building Science; Building Science Education and Training; Building Performance and Product Research, as well as, Building and Energy Code Development; Fenestration and Insulation Performance, and Energy and Power Policy. Chris was the director of the National Fenestration Rating Council and Architectural Testing Inc. and was a scientist at the NAHB Research Center before starting his own consulting company. MC2 Mathis Consulting Company
National Fenestration Rating Council
Architectural Testing Inc.
NAHB Research Center now Home Innovation Research labs
ASHREA
ASTM
About 23 years ago I almost created a sister company to my energy rating company BUILTWright that I was going to call WasteWright. Construction waste recycling was all the rage and there were all kinds of ideas regarding how to offer production builders solutions that fit within there building process. I almost bought a Packard Grinder which was portable and would allow me to grind construction waste on site. The theory was that the waste could then be used as mulch and soil amendment.
As you may well know, I did not buy a grinder or start a construction waste recycling business. Now I am helping the City of Denver with their new code adoption which includes a Green Building Code, and I began to wonder what has happened with regards to construction waste recycling in the past 23 years. Not sure if it is surprising or not, but little has happened. However, there are a number of people in industry and in Cities that are continuing to try and solve this environmental problem. This includes my guests Laurie Johnson of 5280 Waste Solutions and Emily Freeman of the City of Boulder Colorado. Take a listen and get a glimpse of where we are currently at.
Construction Wastes: Types, Causes, and Recycling strategies https://theconstructor.org/concrete/construction-waste-recycling/1088/
DECONSTRUCTION AND DEMOLITION REQUIREMENTS city of Boulder https://bouldercolorado.gov/plan-develop/deconstruction-and-demolition-requirements 5280 Construction Waste Recycling Solutions https://5280waste.com/recycling-leed/
Joe Medosch took a wide and varied route to become the Healthy Building Scientist. On his journey he became an artist, electrician, home inspector, and professor. He did marketing and sales and now is on a small team at Hayward score tasked with developing questions and providing best practice advice to homeowners to address indoor health issues that they are facing.
Hayward Score:Of the 23,000 breaths you take each day – about 90% of them are indoors. Breathing poor quality air has consequences. At Hayward Score both substantial scientific research and our personal journeys have led us to the knowledge that homes can (and should) be health supporting, not health degrading.
Joseph G. Allen is Director of the Healthy Buildings program and an Associate Professor at Harvard’s T. H. Chan School of Public Health.
Building Performance Institute's Healthy Home Evaluator (HHE) certification builds on the BPI Building Analyst (BA) and other BPI certifications. The HHE was developed in partnership with the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative (GHHI). A Healthy Home Evaluator assesses home-based environmental health and safety hazards and provides a prioritized list of recommendations to address those hazards
National Air Duct Cleaners Association (NADCA)
EPA Indoor Air Plus Program Version 2
In his spare time, as he claims to be retired, Steve Andrews is an energy consultant, free-lance writer, and mentor to many of us in Colorado. He worked primarily in the residential sector and was very active with the Denver Homebuilders' association and the development of Colorado’s home energy rating system in the early 1990’s, called E-Star Colorado. This was when states were the RESNET provider. His work ranged broadly from research with the State of Colorado’s Energy Office, co-chairing CORE's World Oil Forum in 1998, to working with the Fort Collins Utilities, code officials, Habitat for Humanity, and writing for Fine Homebuilding and local HBA publications. He also co-authored a draft report to the Colorado Legislature, for the Colorado PUC, regarding the findings by the state's Electricity Advisory Panel about whether or not to restructure the state's electricity industry. He has moved off the front range into the mountains of southern Colorado, but his impact on residential energy efficiency lives on.
Currently writing for Resilience an Online newsletter that is Building a world of resilient communities.
https://www.resilience.org/latest-articles/
Co-Founder of ASPO-USA The Association for the Study of Peak Oil & gas.
https://www.linkedin.com/company/aspo-usa/about/
http://www.aspousa.org/
David B. Goldstein has worked on energy efficiency and energy policy since the early 1970s. He currently codirects Natural Resource Defense Council’s Energy program. Goldstein has been instrumental in the development of energy efficiency standards for new buildings and appliances that are currently in effect at the regional and national levels in the United States, Russia, Kazakhstan, and China. He was a founding director of the Institute for Market Transformation, the Consortium for Energy Efficiency, and the New Buildings Institute. Goldstein received a Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the recipient of its Leo Szilard Award for Physics in the Public Interest. He was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2002 and is the recipient of the California Alumni Association’s 2003 Award for Excellence in Achievement. The author of the books Saving Energy, Growing Jobs and Invisible Energy.
ASHRAE 90.2-2018 Energy efficient design of low-rise residential buildings: This standard provides minimum requirements for the energy-efficient design of residential buildings, including new dwelling units, new portions of dwelling units and their systems, and new systems and equipment in existing dwelling units.
Eric Holt is an Assistant Professor at University of Denver - Burns School of Real Estate & Construction Management. He teaches Construction Building Systems, Architectural Design Management & Planning, Construction Project Management, and Residential Development. Our conversation revealed his beginnings in the construction world, what education looks like in the COVID world, and the field work Eric is exposing his students, including the DOE Solar Decathlon. Come take a listen.
University of Denver Franklin Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management https://daniels.du.edu/burns-school/
Solar Decathlon https://daniels.du.edu/burns-school/support/solar-decathlon
University of Denver Showcases First-of-Its-Kind Project for Solar Decathlon https://www.du.edu/news/university-denver-showcases-first-its-kind-project-solar-decathlon
RED Angle – Construction Spanish and more. Red Angle partners with construction leaders to attract, retain, and communicate effectively with the Hispanic workforce to improve retention, safety, and productivity. https://www.redangleinc.com/
TEACH Construction is here to support those doing the great work of training individuals in the trades. https://www.teachconstruction.org/
Today I am speaking with Zane Bishop of Bishop Built Construction based in Grand County Colorado Climate Zone 6. Zane and the Bishop Built team are the builders of the Kirsch/Stroup Passive house that we have been exploring over the past few episodes. Today we will be exploring Zane’s path to becoming a builder and what it took to dive deep into building a passive house. I hope you enjoy our conversation.
Bishop Built a premier home builder based in Grand County Colorado Climate Zone 6, Bishop Built takes pride in their craftsmanship, relationships, and attention to detail. Bishop Built caters to the individual needs of their clients’ budgets, aesthetics, and goals. When asked they jumped in full speed to learn and execute the Passive House standards on the Kirsch/Stroup house.
EMU Systems #RunWildBuildPassive | Empowering the construction industry to build for the future through simplified, standardized, Passive House systems. Learn from our experienced passive house building trainers through online, interactive training. We have courses throughout the year. View our training schedule for the next available class.
A&E Building Systems provides products that help builders, architects, home and building owners create comfortable, energy efficient and healthy environments to live, work, study and play. We look forward to helping you on your next project.
Arctic Cold Climate Heat Pumps
ENERsign Windows from Germany
David Barns took one career as an Industrial Technology Teacher, teaching classes in welding, AutoCAD drafting, STEM pre-engineering, and building construction, to his second carrier as a site construction manager for Bishop Built. He is one of the managers of the Kirsch/Stroupe Passive House. Our discussion ranged engaging young people in the trades, training the trades, to specifics on this passive house.
https://bishopbuiltconstruction.com/
Scott Munn Principal of Munn Architecture: https://munnarch.com/
Scott Munn’s warm-hearted and positive demeanor, coupled with a genuine love of his craft, translates directly into client satisfaction time and again. He is a Colorado native with ties to Grand County extending longer than 50 years. His family still has a home on Grand Lake, an incredible place that engendered in him a love for water. A graduate of architecture from the University of Washington, Scott achieved greatness in 1994 as World Champion in rowing, competing in Tampere, Finland, preceded by a fourth place in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. He now channels his passion for water in the sport of competitive sailing and as an avid fly angler. Munn's architectural career launched in Vail and continued to Grand County in 2000. As founder of Munn Architecture, LLC, in 2007, he has brought together a team of talented individuals who share his unique perspective for innovative architecture and how it relates to the mountain vernacular. He resides in greater Grand Lake with his wife Tonya, daughter Ashlyn and son Zayden.
University of Washington school of Architecture: https://arch.be.uw.edu/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Ching
Joe Mautz LEED AP BD+C~ Architectural Designer Joe Mautz joined the Munn Architecture team with a strong background in sustainable studies and an accreditation in high performance efficiency in construction. Originally from Pennsylvania, Mautz moved to Colorado in 2010 to finish his B.A. degree, then earned an Associate Architectural Engineering degree at Luzerne County Community College in northeastern Pennsylvania, as well as a B.A. in Sustainability Studies at Colorado Mountain College. Mautz went on to achieve a Master of Architecture at the University of Colorado Denver. He brings to Munn Architecture substantial experience as an energy auditor at a nonprofit community design center and from employment at smaller firms in the Denver area, where he gained considerable knowledge working on multifamily projects. With an official LEED AP BD+C accreditation, Mautz enriches the Munn team with his passion and authority on sustainable architecture. His appreciation of this place extends to his free time, in skiing, wakeboarding, hiking and camping.
University of Colorado Denver College of Architecture and Planning: https://architectureandplanning.ucdenver.edu/
Joe Mautz did hi energy auditing with High Country Conservation Center: https://highcountryconservation.org/home-energy-audits/
EMU Systems is empowering the construction industry to build for the future through simplified, standardized, Passive House systems. They are the primary passive house consultant for the Kirsch-Stroupe passive house, and the reason the house is moving forward to certification. Join our conversation.
Enrico Bonilauri and Marinara Pickering of EMU Systems offers professional training, consulting services, and component/systems analysis for all aspects of the design and construction of high-quality building envelopes and healthy indoor environments. They have extensive knowledge and experience in the international Passive House standard for building construction and performance and are on a mission to close the gap between mainstream construction practices and research based Passive design/build dwellings.
EMU Systems: https://emu.systems/about/
Passive House Institute (PHI): https://passivehouse.com/
Passive House Components: https://database.passivehouse.com/de/components/
Passive House Institute United States (PHIUS): https://www.phius.org/home-page
Passive House Rocky Mountains: https://www.phrockymountains.com/
Kerri Stroupe and Matt Kirsch How they got to Passive House.
Kerri and Matt have built an environmental ethic over the years starting at an early age yet it was a journey to find passive house when they decided to build their future retirement home in Tabernash Colorado Climate Zone 6. This conversation tracks that journey and some of the decisions that they made to embrace the building of a Passive house. They introduce us to their passive house consultant (Emu Systems), their Architect (Munn Architecture) and Builder (Bishop Built) who I will be speaking with on future episodes.
Emu Systems https://emu.systems/
Munn Architects https://munnarch.com/
Bishop Built Construction https://www.bishopbuiltconstruction.com/
https://www.arcticheatpumps.com
Cold Climate Heat Pumps capable of operating continuously in weather as cold as -30°
More show notes at https://btankinc.com/buildcast-podcast/
A great conversation with Jeffrey Rhodin focusing on his deep knowledge of of lean thinking and six-sigma methodologies and the construction industry. He is currently focusing on assisting builders and homeowners maximize their discretionary income and value of their homes by saving on heating, cooling, and electric expenses. He Bring to bear the problems facing the construction industry while working directly on access to, and affordability of, all forms of renewable energy. To learn more, go to LinkedIn
Michael Hammer’s work has been influential on Jeffery. “Dr. Michael Hammer's groundbreaking research and visionary thought leadership galvanized the business world—beginning with his leadership of the reengineering movement and continuing with his brilliant formulation of the process-centered organization. Hammer's ideas have become integrated into the DNA of businesses and organizations worldwide and continue to be relevant today.” To learn more http://www.hammerandco.com/index.htm
Harvard Business Review that "started" the reengineering wave. https://hbr.org/1990/07/reengineering-work-dont-automate-obliterate
Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution https://books.google.com/books/about/Reengineering_the_Corporation.html?id=dbqTHjKL0RMC
True North “a global provider of lean process and methods to the construction industry” is company mentioned during the episode that you might what to check out. https://www.truen.com/
The Lean Six Sigma method was discussed. To learn more https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_Six_Sigma
The Lean Enterprise Institute Inc., is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Boston, MA, with a mission to make things better through lean thinking and practice. Founded in 1997 by management expert James P. Womack, PhD, LEI conducts research, teaches educational workshops, publishes books and ebooks, runs conferences, and shares practical information about lean thinking and practice. https://www.lean.org/
A compelling conversation with Sam Rashkin, currently Chief Architect of the Building Technologies Office in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the Department of Energy. How did Sam get to were he is today and what is he doing in his spare time with "Housing 2.0"
- Energy Star website - https://www.energystar.gov/newhomes?s=mega
- DOE Solutions center https://basc.pnnl.gov/ https://betterbuildingssolutioncenter.energy.gov/solutions
- DOE Zero Energy Ready Homes https://www.energy.gov/eere/buildings/zero-energy-ready-homes
- Team Zero Website https://teamzero.org/
- IECC code https://codes.iccsafe.org/public/collections/I-Codes
Retooling the U.S. Housing Industry http://www.samrashkin.com/
Housing 2.0 Green Builder Medial Web site https://www.greenbuildermedia.com/housing-2.0
I am Robby Schwarz, and I’ll be your host on the BuildCast, therefore I would like to spend this first episode telling you my story before I go out and seek others.