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.

Todd Usher on LinkedIn

Addison Homes

Earth Craft Home

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

Spohn Home

RESTalk a Podcast for the RESNET Ecosystem hosted by Bill Spohn

Building HVAC Science Podcast Hosted by Bill Spohn

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

BW Builders

Article - Santa Rosa firm helps wildfire victims navigate battles with insurance companies.

Article - Colorado Division of Insurance releases underinsurance estimates for Marshall Fire homeowners

United Policyholders

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 Instagram @stevenbaczekarchitect

UnBuild It Podcast

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.

Lisa Hughes on LinkedIn

United Policy Holders

Wildfire Prepared Homes

Wildfire Partners Boulder County

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.

ADL Ventures

EcoSnap

ABC/Advanced Building Construction Collaborative

RMI UpCodes 

Alpen High-Performance Products is an American window and door manufacturer that designs and builds some of the most energy efficient

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

Alpen WinSert® windows

National Fenestration Rating Council

Energy Performance Ratings for Windows, Doors, and Skylights

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

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

Green Appraisal Addendum

buildCAST #9-2022 Sandra Adomatis and the Residential Green and Energy Efficient Addendum

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

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.

Mike Missimer on LinkedIn

MGI Mechanical Services

Rockview Designs

How and Why Air Source Heat Pumps are well suited for Colorado