RESTalk

"We're all working together; that's the secret."

-Sam Walton

COVID-19 continues to impact nearly every area of life these days.

What is RESNET is doing to manage the situation?

In summary it involves three things:

Staying patient. Being open to ideas. Maintaining the dialog.

Today we are joined by RESNET leadership: Cardice Gray-Howard, deputy director and Steve Baden, Executive Director, for a quick update on the impact of COVID-19 on RESNET activities.

Hear what changes have been put in place for the organization as well as changes made for raters and builders.

Learn which changes are likely to be temporary and which may become permanent.

Find out what criteria will trigger the lifting of emergency procedures.

To learn more. Visit the https://www.resnet.us/about/us/resnet-covid-19-updates/

Tune in as field practitioners share their experiences a recorded webinar series: https://www.resnet.us/articles/new-covid-19-industry-impact-briefing-series/

RESTalk: To the RESNET community, we hear you and want to engage.

Pros can learn more at www.RESNET.us/professional

Consumers can learn more at www.RESNET.us

Or for more info on this topic contact RESNET at [email protected]

"To be a carpenter or a builder or a home inspector, you have to have that kind of visual brain where you can sort of imagine something being taken apart."

-Nick Petrie

Even before the impact of the pandemic, the housing market was in a challenging time.

The home building industry is certainly complicated in the physical world with all the components, materials and contractors that need to come together.

What additional complexities have arisen in the last 6 months? What do builders and raters need to know to be better prepared?

Clayton Traylor joins us on the podcast to shed some light on the deceptively complicated world of home building. He will help us take apart and see all the pieces involved.

From his position as VP for State and Regulatory Affairs at the Leading Builders of America, Clayton has a great handle on the numbers, trends, demographics and more as LBA represents 20 of the nation's largest builders.

Clayton helps peek into the looking glass of what the largest home builders see on the road ahead and lends advice on where you need to be positioned to succeed.

You can learn more about The Leading Builders of America at: www.LeadingBuilders.org

RESTalk: To the RESNET community, we hear you and want to engage.

Pros can learn more at www.RESNET.us/professional

Consumers can learn more at www.RESNET.us

Or for more info on this topic contact RESNET at [email protected]

"You do the best you can with what's thrown at you, then you try again."

-Mario Andretti

What does the Highway Bill, or HR 2 have to do with builders and raters?

What has happened to the "builders tax credit" over the course of the last few months and what is store as we head towards and through the upcoming presidential election?

Better known as 45L, Section 45L(c)(1)(A) and (B) of the US Internal Revenue Code (developed by David Goldstein of the NRDC), offers a $2,000 federal tax credit to builders for each energy efficient home they build and sell. As you may know the credit has lived an unsteady life, being on again and off again over the years since its inception, making it difficult for builders to act on this with certainty.

It's important to realize that the trillion dollar Moving Forward package proposed by the Democratic House Caucus contains a proposal to amend the 45L tax credit, and create a performance based path, tied to the IECC.

Join us as we discuss 45L with Carl Chidlow, a registered federal lobbyist and Steve Baden and learn of the history, perspectives and future opportunities of this tax credit.

Hear about the over 300 RESNET small business owners who signed a letter to Congress in support of this and how you can get involved.

RESNET has created an advocate toolkit found here: https://www.resnet.us/about/advocacy/ with the tools and guidance on how to contact your member of Congress and promote issues important to the membership.

While COVID-19 makes in person meetings almost impossible Congressional staff are still working remotely and have adapted to using conference calls and technology (eg ZOOM) to engage with constituents. Environmental stewardship is going to be a touchstone issue for the next four years.

RESTalk: To the RESNET community, we hear you and want to engage.

Pros can learn more at www.RESNET.us/professional

Consumers can learn more at www.RESNET.us

Or for more info on this topic contact RESNET at [email protected]

"You change your business plan to anticipate and adapt to changes in the marketplace."

-Jon Feltheimer

It seems like everyone is talking about change lately spurred in a large part by the global pandemic.

Rolling with the changes, staying on mission, continuing to work towards your vision are no mean feats.

How is the team at RESNET adapting the annual conference to deliver the high-quality educational content and social interactions while looking out for the health and safety of all involved?

The team at RESNET had some tough decisions to make regarding the 2021 Conference. After polling the community, the RESNET staff and board found that a virtual conference in 2021 is best for the safety and convenience of attendees to still get quality information.

Emma Bennett and Steve Baden join us to walk us through the inputs, research and decision-making leading up the delivery of the 2021 conference in a virtual format.

We will hear about the changes and some unique benefits of a virtual event including overcoming the common "problem" for in-person attendees of not being able to see all sessions.

The in-person social interactions will morph into unique and interactive networking opportunities. Fittingly, the theme of the 2021 RESNET Conference is "A New Path to the Future". Stay tuned for more details.

NOTE: Traditional in-person events are planned for the 2022 RESNET Conference in Austin, TX, 2023 RESNET Conference in Scottsdale, AZ and 2024 RESNET Conference in Atlanta, GA

RESTalk: To the RESNET community, we hear you and want to engage.

Pros can learn more at www.RESNET.us/professional

Consumers can learn more at www.RESNET.us

Or for more info on this topic contact RESNET at [email protected]

"Difficulties mastered are opportunities won."

-Winston Churchill

Disruptive trends exist in every segment of commerce. Residential construction is no exception.

Between changing customer needs and demands, new materials, changing codes, changes in the workforce, and an increased demand for sustainability, all the pieces of the machine are in motion.

Stepping back from the complexity and seeing patterns in the chaos is trait of many successful small businesses. What patterns and opportunities are emerging when you step back?

With the analytic prowess of a former accountant, the entrepreneurial skills gained in Silicon Valley, and 18 years' experience in the building trades, our guest today, John Gillett, shares with us a broad roadmap of the new business opportunities that are emerging for HERS raters.

John very neatly weaves together several topics we have covered in past episodes of RESTalk so we can see where the big picture of business is headed for raters:

Episodes 3 & 50: HERS H2O

Episode 20: ANSI/RESNET/ACCA Standard 310

Episodes 35 & 53: Energy Code Compliance

Episode 36: Building Information Modeling (BIM)

If you are interested in learning more about John's work go to www.QualityBuilt.com

RESTalk: To the RESNET community, we hear you and want to engage.

Pros can learn more at www.RESNET.us/professional

Consumers can learn more at www.RESNET.us

Or for more info on this topic contact RESNET at [email protected]

"Make no mistake about it: Change is hard, but change is necessary."

-Lori Lightfoot

As organizations grow, systems, policies and procedures develop. Grasping the complexities of an organization can become daunting. Especially if you are new or "at the edges of contact" with the organization. It may be easy to feel disconnected.

Organizations like RESNET offer the ability to be part of the conversation, insisting that you have the right to speak up and offer the ability for you to make change.

We are pleased to be joined today by three guests, Sharla Reid from the Energy Smart Institute, Gayathri Vijayakumar from Steven Winter Associates, and John Hensley from BPS Consultants. They are the chairs/change makers of three RESNET Standards Development Committees or SDCs.

Sharla chairs the SDC 200 which oversees RESNET's education, training assessment, and certification standards and amending the standards.

The SDC 300 is chaired by Gayathri where she oversees RESNET's technical standards related to the inspections, testing, and calculations that impact an energy rating and amending those standards.

John chairs the SDC 900 where he oversees RESNET's quality assurance and sampling technical standards and amending the standards.

This talented team breaks down the scope and processes involved with standards development while dispelling some of the myths and misconceptions they have run across in their roles.

If you are interested in participating in a task group or joining an SDC please fill out the form at this link https://www.resnet.us/about/standards/committees/application/

RESTalk: To the RESNET community, we hear you and want to engage.

Pros can learn more at www.RESNET.us/professional

Consumers can learn more at www.RESNET.us

Or for more info on this topic contact RESNET at [email protected]

"How come it's given you the code?

Someone up there likes me."

-Cathica and The Doctor from Doctor Who (S01E07)

What does the future world of residential construction look like?

What do opportunities lie for HERS raters in a code world?

Yes, podcast listener someone likes you and will share the code.

Chris McTaggart (The BER) and Ryan Meres (RESNET) join us on the podcast to detail out the HERS Rater's role in Energy Code compliance.

The International Code Council now offers a new combination designation, the IECC/HERS Compliance Specialist. To qualify you must be a current RESNET HERS Rater and hold the Residential Energy Inspector/Plans Examiner Certification (79).

We learn how this designation combines the energy code knowledge of code officials with the energy efficiency knowledge of HERS Raters to provide more powerful advice in energy plan review and inspection. This new credential leverages the strengths of both RESNET and IECC to increase the number of qualified personnel available for evaluating energy code compliance and home energy performance.

They explain how an IECC/HERS Compliance Specialist demonstrates their competence in energy performance measurement and energy code proficiency. In areas where jurisdictions face resource constraints, these certified specialists can supplement the work in this dual role.

Topics we cover include HERS rater involvement with duct and envelope leakage testing and the R405 performance path compliance.

Both Chris and Ryan cover a few on the myths and misconceptions they have encountered along the way as this designation has developed.

For more info you can review the topic on the IECC website: http://bit.ly/IECC-HERS

RESTalk: To the RESNET community, we hear you and want to engage.

Pros can learn more at www.RESNET.us/professional

Consumers can learn more at www.RESNET.us

Or for more info on this topic contact RESNET at [email protected]

"Go out and collect data and, instead of having the answer, just look at the data and see if the data tells you anything."

-Steven Levitt

With over 20% of all new homes being built in the US receiving a HERS rating, this repository of data can allow important trends in residential construction can be discerned.

What does this data speak to in terms of the types of homes and types of buyers?

Ryan Meres joins us on today's podcast to walk us through what the data in the new Trends in HERS Rated Homes report tells us.

We get a walk-through of national, state and even city trends which cover the basic characteristics of the rated homes and even the building components.

The report concludes with a first-of-its-kind look at the demographics of buyers of HERS rated homes based on a 2019 study conducted by the mortgage industry giant Freddie Mac.

For more info you can reach review the study at: www.bit.ly/RESNET-TRENDS-19 .

Or if you wish to reach Ryan you can email him at [email protected]

We also discuss the advantages granted to members of the RESNET Suppliers Advisory board, to learn more visit this page on the RESNET site: www.resnet.us/about/sab/

RESTalk: To the RESNET community, we hear you and want to engage.

Pros can learn more at www.RESNET.us/professional

Consumers can learn more at www.RESNET.us

Or for more info on this topic contact RESNET at [email protected]

"Difficult times disrupt your conventional ways of thinking and push you to forge better habits of thought, performance and being."

-Robin S. Sharma

In this time when the novel Coronavirus has impacted so many aspects of our daily lives in both personal and business aspects we often hear of the "new normal".

In the case of home energy ratings, where the object of the work is a home in the field, often with others from the trades present, the "new normal" has to be carefully thought out and developed. And most importantly, it must iterated with feedback from the field in order to perform at an acceptable level.

Scott Doyle joins us on today's podcast to detail out the temporary protocols that have been established for emergency virtual inspections. He and the team at RESNET have field many questions and received valuable feedback as the procedures have been iterated.

We learn about the development process of the default test values and applicability of using these optional protocols.

To keep up with the very latest on this important topic go to the RESNET homepage at resnet.us and click on the RESNET COVID-19 updates link at the top.

You can reach Scott at [email protected]

RESTalk: To the RESNET community, we hear you and want to engage.

Pros can learn more at www.RESNET.us/professional

Consumers can learn more at www.RESNET.us

Or for more info on this topic contact RESNET at [email protected]

"If you can't measure it, you can't improve it."

-Peter Drucker

Over the last decade, what Americans pay for water and sewer service has increased three times faster than inflation or the price of food.

How can builders and homeowners get a handle the amount of water being used without some kind of practical and usable metric for both new and existing homes?

Join us as we plunge into the depths of HERSH20, RESNET's new water efficiency rating system.

Both of our guests today, Mark Johnson from ICC and Jacob Atalla from KB Home, were intimately involved in the development of this Standard 850.

Listen in as we learn how the standard addresses water efficiency and why ICC decided to collaborate with RESNET in the development of this standard.

We learn how the index score is determined and what the home is being rated against.

Our guests also describe why a builder might want to get a HERS H2O rating on their homes.

To learn more, view the slide deck on this topic from the RESNET 2020 conference by going to this link: www.bit.ly/HERSH2O

RESTalk: To the RESNET community, we hear you and want to engage.

Pros can learn more at www.RESNET.us/professional

Consumers can learn more at www.RESNET.us

Or for more info on this topic contact RESNET at [email protected]