The Marshall Fire has revealed so many questions about home insurance and the process of becoming whole after an sever disaster event. My hope is to have some continuing conversation with people to understand their experiences after a sever disaster event, to better understand how the insurance industry works, maybe what the Colorado or other state Insurance Commissions do, and particularly more about this software the industry is using to determine replacement cost as it seems to be woefully in accurate.

This exploration into insurance and housing beings here with my insurance agent Tim Stuber. I hope you Enjoy your listen

Tim Stuber on LinkedIn

Tim Stuber Insurance Agency LLC

Farmers Insurance

Colorado Public Radio News: “Most people who lost homes in the Marshall Fire were underinsured; Colorado insurance regulators say”

The wait for hot water at the tap can last several minutes leading to wasted water, time, money, and energy.  I spoke with Larry Acker, the Chief Technology Officer and inventor at ACT D’mand Kontrol Systems, about how their control system works to eliminate the wait time for water from the hot water heater to the faucet and the waste associated with that wait time.

The D’MAND Kontrols® Systems use an efficient pump and temperature sensing system to move a larger quantity of water in a short amount of time. Once activated, the System brings hot water from the water heater to the tap in seconds. When the integrated temperature sensor detects hot water in the line the pump is shut off leaving hot water for the homeowner to use at the tape

The circulation pump can be retrofitted into an existing home by utilizing the cold-water line to bring water back to the water heater or it can be designed into a newly constructed home with a dedicated recirculation pipe loop that returns water back to the water heater. The result of either installation is greater comfort, efficiency, and water conservation by providing instant hot water at the farthest fixture from the water heater. Remember, Instant is relative, one does have to first activating the pump with a push of a button why using the D’Mand Kontrol system or potentially a motion sensor or adaptive learning technology when using other systems.

Larry Acker on LinkedIn

ACT D’mand Kontrols

ACT D’mand Kontrol Systems Videos

Scott Sedam is the Owner and President of True North Development.

True North is a training and consulting firm for homebuilders, trade contractors, and suppliers, specializing in applying Lean Methods to the homebuilding industry. Scott likes to say that True North focuses on delighting the customer and removing "waste"

True North website

Scott Sedam on LinkedIn

Scott regular column in Pro-Builder magazine

The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement – 30th Anniversary edition by Eliyahu Goldratt

Neal Kruis has a Ph.D. in Architectural Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder and has been developing building energy modeling software since 2007. He is the Vice President of Big Ladder Software and has been contracted as RESNET’s Energy Modeling Director. In addition, Neal has been Chair of RESNET’s Software Consistency Committee since 2018 and is a core developer of the Department of Energy’s EnergyPlus simulation engine, as well as the State of California Simulation Engine (CSE) used for residential Title 24 compliance calculations.

It was a pleasure speaking with Neal and learning more about residential energy modeling, which is becoming more and more important for code and program compliance, as well as, for developing means to measure house performance as we continue our quest for zero energy and carbon neutral homes.

Neal Kruis on LinkedIn

Big Ladder Software

RESNET Software Consistency Committee

The EEBA High Performance Home Summit conference organizers brought together exhibitors that represent the breath of our industry and are available to highlight the new and innovative products and practices that the building industry will use to achieve our goals for high performance homes. In three days of conferencing, we all struggle to pack in presentations and networking which leaves the exhibit hall as one of our last priorities. There is much to learn at the exhibit hall, so I took some time to visit the 2022 EEBA Summit exhibitors to learn what messages they feel need to get out to the industry. In this extended version of the buildCAST you are able to hear from 25 companies that are offering a wide variety of services and components that may help make the homes you are working on even better.

EBBA

American Solar Energy Society 

Broan- Nutone 

Ekotrope 

The Energy Conservatory

EPS Building 

Extreme Panel Technologies 

Graphenstone 

Greenheck Fan Corporation

Mitsubishi Electric Heating and Air Conditioning

Panasonic

Pearl Certification 

Preflex SIP Panels 

Resideo 

Retrotec 

RHEEM Water Heating 

Rheia duct system 

Santa Fe indoor air quality solutions 

Schneider Electric 

Trane

SRP 

Stego Industries 

Sunnova 

Sustant LLC 

Swidget 

Matt Blomquist is the Building Trades Instructor at Taylorville high school in Illinois and Mike Degitis is the Construction and Applied Math Instructor at Cherry Creek Innovation Campus in Denver Colorado. Although Matt and Mike are located in different states, they are making a difference in the construction industry teaching high school students the importance of the building trades and how what they learn each day can be applied in life skills outside of school. In addition, they are teaching sound building science fundamentals as a better way to build more efficient, comfortable, healthier homes that are made to last.

On Instagram 

On Instagram 

Midwest Building Science Symposium

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