BUILDTank / buildCAST

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

[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