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 [email protected]

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 [email protected]

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 

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