BUILDTank / buildCAST

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:

Instagram builders and others to follow

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