BUILDTank / buildCAST
By Robby Schwarz
buildtankinc.com
BUILDTank / buildCASTMay 09, 2022
#6-2024 BUILDcast FOCUSED - Dr. Robert Tino Sonora 10 Minutes on the Economics affecting the building industry
Dr. Robert Tino Sonora 10 Minutes on the Economics affecting the building industry
#9-2024 Dr. Ian Giammanco and IBHS’s Thunderstorm Ready Home
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
Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS)
IBHS Research video
BUILDcast #16 – 2022 Fred Malik and the Fortified Construction Program
BUILDcast #20-2022 Dan Gorham and the new IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home Program
#8 -2024 IBS and all things Heat Pump Water Heating
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
Make Trades Great Again Podcast
#5-2024 Buildcast FOCUSED - Haven Ventilation and Canadian 380 Ventilation Standard with Paul Raymer
Haven IAQ
I could not find a link to a Canadian 380 Ventilation Standard but I found this
#7-2024 Devon Tilly – The Art of Construction a platform that is bring people together in the construction industry
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
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
#4-2024 BUILDcast-FOCUSED (Navien Hydro-Furnace)
#3-2024 BUILDcast - FOCUSED (10 Minutes on the Federal tax Credits)
Section 45L Tax Credits for Zero Energy Ready Homes
Federal Tax Credits for Builders of Energy Efficient Homes
#6-2024 Robert Tino Sonora Clinical Professor of Finance and adjunct professor of economics at the College of Business, University of Montana
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”
#5- 2024 Enrico Bonilauri – A report on the performance of 12 Building Standards
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
ANSI/ASHRAE STANDARD 228, STANDARD METHOD OF EVALUATING ZERO NET ENERGY AND ZERO NET CARBON BUILDING PERFORMANCE
#4 – 2024 Kohta Ueno from Mentee to Mentor
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, we built their first environmental research house, and then the Building America program 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
Kohta Ueno in Fine Homebuilding Magazine
#2-2024 BUILDcast-FOCUSED: 9 minutes with Martin Holladay
Martin Holliday on the buildCAST
#3 – 2024 Paul Raymer – The Renaissance Man of Building Science
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
#1-2024 BUILDcast /FOCUSED: short and sweet info for you
#2-2024 Martin Holladay - a self-made building scientist
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
Martin Holladay Fine Homebuilding MagazineMusings of an Energy Nerd: Toward an Energy-Efficient Home
#1 - 2024 Pat Huelman, a career in Building Science Education and Research
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 on LinkedIn
University of Minnesota Cold Climate Housing Program Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering Northern STAR Building America Partnership
Foundation insulation effectiveness
#26 -2023 Ken Levenson Executive Director at The Passive House Network
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
475 High Performance Building Supply
Passive House Institute PHIUS or Passive House Institute US
#25 -2023 Lisa White Associate Director PHIUS on all things PHIUS
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
#24 -2023 Ross Trethewey Principal Te2 Engineering. Making HVAC design understandable.
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 This Old House
Ross Trethewey on Instagram
- @rosstrethewytoh
- @te2engineering
#23-2023 DOE’s Building America Solution Center and the Building Science Advisor
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
Oak Ridge National Laboratory Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
#22-2023 Todd Usher Addison Homes – Builder, Professor, Energy Rater
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.
#21 -2003 Bill Spohn President and CEO of TruTech Tools
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 LinkedIn Tru Tech Tools
RESTalk a Podcast for the RESNET Ecosystem hosted by Bill Spohn
Building HVAC Science Podcast Hosted by Bill Spohn
#20 -2003 Matt Everson Defining the damage, a builder’s guide to Insurance scope of loss reports.
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
Article - Santa Rosa firm helps wildfire victims navigate battles with insurance companies.
Article - Colorado Division of Insurance releases underinsurance estimates for Marshall Fire homeowners
#19 -2003 Steve Baczek bridging between architecture and sound building science.
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
#18 -2003 United Policy Holders, Marshall Fire, Natural Disasters, and the disaster of dealing with insurance.
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
Wildfire Partners Boulder County
#17 -2023 Dr. Diana Fisler at the crossroads of building technology innovation and market adoption
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
ABC/Advanced Building Construction Collaborative
2023 - #16 Craig Maierhofer Vice President of Business Development at Alpen High Performance Products AKA All things High- Performance Windows
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
National Fenestration Rating Council
Energy Performance Ratings for Windows, Doors, and Skylights
2023 - #15 - Pamela Bookstein, if you are not talking about it, you’re giving it away.
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
buildCAST #9-2022 Sandra Adomatis and the Residential Green and Energy Efficient Addendum
2023 - #14 Building Better with Karen Benner
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
2023 - #13 Mike Missimer Principal Owner MGI Mechanical Services and Rockview Designs
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.
How and Why Air Source Heat Pumps are well suited for Colorado
2023 - #12 Gayathri Vijayakumar Principal Mechanical Engineer at Steven Winter Associates
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.
EnergyStar Multifamily New Construction
RESNET Standard Development Committee 300
How Codes get Made a Buildings and Beyond podcast from SWA with Gayathri
2023 - #11 Keith Dennis President, Beneficial Electrification League
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.
Beneficial Electrification League
Weatherization and Electrification
WEATHERIZATION/ELECTRIFICATION TOGETHER INITIAL FINDINGS
Beneficial Electrification: Electricity as the End-Use Option (2015):
Beneficial electrification: The dawn of ‘emissions efficiency’ (2016):
2023 - #10 Anna Perks Founder of Perks Deconstruction
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 on Instagram
The National Center for Craftsmanship
BuildStrong Academy of Colorado
Buds Warehouse
buildCAST #13-2021 Laurie Johnson & Emily Freeman - Construction and Demolition Waster Recycling
2023 - #9 Glenn Mathewson Creator of BuildingCodeCollege.com
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.
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
2023 - #8 Off Site Construction with B Public Prefab and CEO Founder Edie Dillman
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.
Performance Prefab Installer Training
b.publicprefab on Instagram
2023 - #7 Ed Fronapfel Forensic Engineer and Principal Investigator on Zero Clearance shaft liner Area Separation Wall E119 Burn Testing
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
2023 - #6 Zack Giffin - Professional Skier, Tiny House Advocate, and Host of the popular show Tiny House Nation
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!
- 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
2023 - #5 Jake Bruton of Arrow Building
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.
#4-2023 Thriving in Construction, with Gene Myers, Founder of Thrive Home Builders.
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
What Is Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Investing? WHY ESG INITIATIVES CAN BE A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD FOR HOME BUILDERS#3-2023 Gary Nelson – They call him the "Father of the Blower Door"
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.
#2-2023 Rick Schultz Water Efficiency Supervisor Town of Castle Rock Water
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
Neighborhood Efficiency Program
Town of Castle Rock Landscape and Irrigation Criteria Manual
#1-2023 Teal Lehto Instagram’s “Wester Water Girl”, helps set the stage about water issues in the west and their potential impact on construction.
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.
Teal Lehto on LinkedIn
Colorado River megadrought got you down? Feel hope with TikTok's 'WesternWaterGirl'
#28-2022 Allan Hubbell Residential Marketing Leader at Dupont and host of the “Residentially Speaking” podcast.
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
#27-2022 An Insurance Primer for Disasters with Tim Stuber Insurance Agency LLC.
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
Colorado Public Radio News: “Most people who lost homes in the Marshall Fire were underinsured; Colorado insurance regulators say”
#26-2022 Larry Acker ACT D'mand Hot Water Systems Systems
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 Kontrol Systems Videos
#25-2022 Scott Sedam True North Development and Lean Building
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.
Scott Sedam on LinkedIn
Scott regular column in Pro-Builder magazine
The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement – 30th Anniversary edition by Eliyahu Goldratt
#24 -2022 Energy Modeling Consistency with Neal Kruis Energy Modeling Director for RESNET
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.
#23-2022 Energy and Environmental Building Alliance (EEBA) Building Summit Exhibitor Recap
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.
Mitsubishi Electric Heating and Air Conditioning
#22-2022 Skilled Trade Training in High Schools with Matthew Blomquist and Michael Degitis
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.