BUILDTank / buildCAST

Josh Butzbaugh, Senior Project Engineer at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, has been focusing his research on Heat Pump Water Heaters (HPWH). His research has helped to demonstrate the impact HPWH’s can have on efficiency, carbon reduction, and peak demand response. The problem with implementing the technology is that replacement happens at a point of failure and consumers want a new water heater installed immediately, generally within 48 hours. Now that the inflation reduction act funding is offering a 10-year incentive to consumers and industry to install HPWHs the DOE has put forward a tool designed specifically to help plumbing contractors quickly assess the opportunity for successful installations.

Josh shares his research and knowledge and guides us through the new heat pump water heater installation tool on the Building America Solution Center. Thanks, Josh, for speaking with me and helping us understand more about HPW Heating as well as some of the obstacles to deploying newer technologies.

Josh Butzbaugh on LinkedIn

Building America Solution Center Heat Pump Water Heater Installation Tool

DOE Career Skills Training Grant Program

Robert Lewis is the Radon Program Manager at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. He wrote a paper and presented on the History of Radon from 1470 to 1984 which I found to be an interesting way to approach the subject of Radon in our homes. Early in my career I combined home inspection with energy ratings and offered a radon measurement service. At the time I had to get an EPA radon certification and ever since I have been puzzled by how little builders think about radon and the installation of a simple passive radon mitigation system. As Robert says and alludes to in our conversation, “radon mitigation systems in new construction are a cost-effective insurance policy to protect against lung cancer since you have no idea of the potential of the problem until the house has been occupied.

My conversation with Robert not only discusses history, but also what radon is, how it migrates into our homes, as well as mitigation systems. I don’t think we can talk about high performance homes, without also including Radon in the conversation.

Robert Lewis on LinkedIn

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Radon Division

2024 IRC Appendix BE Radon Control Methods

EPA Radon resources

AARST is now Indoor Environments Association™

EPA Indoor airPLUS program

Before dedicating his career to integrating solar energy into the new construction market Dennis Helblig worked for a variety of builders including Colorado’s favorite regional production high performance builder Thrive Homebuilders. Seeing the efficiency of the housing stock continue to improve, Dennis moved on from building and worked for industry leading solar companies like SolarCity, Sun Street, Sunnova, and now Colorado Based Pro Bid Energy to integrate solar into new home construction.

Either through leasing agreements or incorporating the cost within the mortgage, adding solar as a standard feature in new homes, rather than an option has proven to be the most cost-effective way to integrate the technology into homes. Dennis discusses all things Solar and new home construction in this conversation which is a pivotal aspect of our energy transition.

Dennis Helblig on LinkedIn

Pro Bid Energy

Scott Doyle is the managing director of quality assurance for the Residential Energy Services Network, or RESNET. RESNET governs the home energy rating system or the HERS® Energy Rating Index. Scott became a HERS® Rater in 2003 and since being certified has inspected and tested the energy performance of thousands of homes across a variety of construction types and climate zones.

In 2007 he became a RESNET certified Quality Assurance Designee and Trainer and oversaw quality assurance

Scott’s next move was becoming the quality assurance manager at RESNET itself and he has been one of the guiding influences in protecting the RESNET brand and the home energy rating industry in general. As you will hear, I was one of Scott’s trainers and employers which made this conversation even more enjoyable as it has been supper fun to watch Scott’s carrier evolve over the years.

Scott Dyle on LinkedIn

Residential Energy Services Network / RESNET

Early on in my carrier when working for a regional production builder, the president and owner suggested that indoor air quality was that path forward to communicate the benefits of applied building science, resilient, and energy efficient construction. I think he was right, but it still has taken living through covid to get the consumer to understand its importance to health in our homes.  Version 2 of the Indoor airPLUS program, which has just been released, will help us better understand the complexities of indoor air quality while pointing to relatively simple things we can do to ensure we build for better air quality.  It’s more than ventilation and filtration, it’s the fundamentals of applied building science and systems thinking, packaged in such a way that builders can truly market the benefits.

Nick Hurst is a renaissance man who, as you will hear, has been able to incorporate his love of music with his work in applied building science. He comes from the construction industry but has changed his focus from being a contractor and educator to being the EPA’s program manager for the Indoor airPLUS program. After learning more about Nick’s path to the EPA we hunker down and work our way through this newly released program.  I must note up front that although we accurately reflect the direction of version 2 of the IAP the discussion reflects the opinions of Nick and myself and not necessarily those of the EPA.

Nick Hurst on LinkedIn

Indoor AirPlus Version 2

Formaldehyde Emission Standards for Composite Wood Products

Frequent Questions for Consumers about the Formaldehyde Standards for Composite Wood Products Act

Stephen Davis is the product manager and director of building science for Quadrant Performance Materials. Quadrant is a spray foam insulation manufacturer that produces the EnvironSeal line of spray foam. Stephen has been working in the industry for the past 25 years and has always offered himself as a resource for all questions regarding spray foam, from building science to manufacturing and installation. I decided to take him up on his offer and it was wonderful to catch up, learn more about him, and to ask more questions about spray foam insulations in general. 

Quadrant Performance Materials

Rockwool Residential

WarmBoard

I was able to speak with Dave Roberts just before he retired from the National Renewable Energy Lab after a full carrier leading a group of talented engineers and scientists who have been leveraging computer modeling and simulation to address pressing residential building efficiency, electrification, and carbon related issues in our country.

I first met Dave when he worked in software development with REMRate which at the time was the most widely used energy modeling software developed to create the RESNET HERS Energy Rating Index. He has been heavily involved with RESENT over the years as a member of the ANSI standards development committee and chair of the software calculations subcommittee.  We have become friends, and I wanted to be sure to speak with him on the buildCAST before his retirement to be able to better understand his carrier and catalog is contribution to our industry. 

Unfortunately, my side of the conversation did not record well and sounds a bit rough, but luckily for you Dave did most of the talking and he is well worth listening to. What he has to say puts a lot of our applied building science and other work with residential buildings into better context and he leaves a research question on the table for us to aspire to answer, hopefully in the near future.

Thanks, Dave, for all you have done, and I truly hope you have a wonderful and fruitful next stage of life.  All the best.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

RESNET

Eric Werling spent 30 years in public service. First in

We get an overview of that history through his carrier and then learn about the important work Eric is aiming to accomplish with his newly minted consulting firm.  Home

 I have known Eric throughout my carrier as it also shadowed the growth and direction of Building America, EnergyStar, Indoor airPLUS, and the DOE Zero Energy Ready Home programs so it was a real pleasure to learn more of the inside story and history of these programs that have been so impactful in the building industry.

Eric Werling on LinkedIn

Home Innovation Strategies, LLC

Building America

EnergyStar for New Homes

indoor airPlus

DOE Zero Energy Ready Home