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

[email protected]

(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 an experienced 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 [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