Better Homes, Better Future

Recent studies show that user experience leaders compared to laggards realize 3X greater return to investors and 3X greater resilience during downturns. Housing will not be the exception to this trend. If the “house is a system” in building science, “housing is a system” in user experience. Housing professionals have to be prepared to optimize this total homebuyer experience. High-performance is n...

Software, specifically software services, has been disrupting industries since the 50's. Marc Andreesen, the founder of Netscape, 10 years ago had a famous article in the WSJ titled "Why Software is Eating the World." Today, that has proven to be true, we experience the phenomenon as online software services that we interact with every day. Sendal software services solve unhealthy living environme...

Virtually every major industry has experienced, or is in the process of experiencing, disruption. Think retail, personal transportation, automobiles, computing, music, photography, media, and the list goes on and on. Housing in the U.S. has been able to sit on the sidelines with its first cost dominated business model and uniquely disaggregated industry…but not for much longer. That’s because ther...

Phius Prescription for Better Buildings This webinar presents the new Phius 2021 core prescriptive path and prepares Passive House practitioners to certify their buildings with it. It covers the background context, the origin of the prescriptive checklist, and provides step-by-step instruction, along with some case study examples. Learning Objectives: 1.  Learn about the origins of the Phius...

Lisa White and Aaron Smith: Phius 2021 is the next progression of the Phius passive building standards which were created to guide builders to success in the design and construction of passive buildings. The well-known Phius performance path now has two levels related to overall building impact: the CORE target to acknowledge aggressive load reduction and energy conservation and the ZERO target to...

Established in 1954, the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that advocates for sustainable living and 100% renewable energy. We share information, events and resources to cultivate community and power progress in the U.S. and beyond. As the U.S. section of the International Solar Energy Society (ISES), we work with individuals and groups around the world to accelerate t...

In this session, the NAACP brings you an overview of the Centering Equity in the Sustainable Building Sector (CESBS) Initiative and the stories of two members at the intersection of energy, equity, and housing. Lonnie Feemster, President of the Reno-Sparks Branch of the NAACP and former energy inspector, is known around town as “Solar Man.” With immense care, he built his own passive house that pr...

With Jim Shelton & Brian Kincaid from Greenheck Content Covers:  1. Why Home Builders need a new IAQ Partner.  2. Why the antiquated residential-grade ventilation wholesale distribution model does not work for Home Builders.  3. Why Home Builders cannot rely on residential-grade ventilation fans to perform in common installation scenarios.  4. Why everyone (Home Builders, t...

Module 8: Performance path options (R405 and R406), and additional efficiency path options This class will explain how to use the various performance path options in the IECC (Section R405 and R406) – their structure, the flexibility allowed in each, and the limitations of each.  The audience will explore various scenarios for which compliance path will best suit certain construction choices....

This class will explain mandatory and prescriptive requirements related to duct installation, insulation, sealing, and testing, as well as requirements for heating, cooling, and hot water systems and controls. The class will also discuss mandatory requirements for mechanical ventilation and the building science rationale for these requirements. Attendees will also learn about code lighting require...

This class will discuss the air sealing requirements of the IECC, all of which are mandatory, as well as some new flexibility added in the 2021 IECC.  The audience will learn what air sealing details are needed for compliance with the visual inspection tables, as well as air-tightness testing requirements in the code.  The class will focus on successful strategies for meeting code air se...

In this class, building code expert, Joe Nebbia will discuss mandatory and prescriptive insulation requirements in the IECC, as well as the building science rationale for these requirements. You will hear about important code compliant installation details, learn in what ways the code is flexible with multiple installation options, and understand how the new structure and details in the 2021 IECC...

This is Part 4 in the exclusive 8-part series of the "Better Homes, Better Future" podcast. Joe Nebbia from Newport Partners, LLC will discuss code requirements found in the prescriptive window and insulation requirements and how these requirements have changed through various code editions (2009-2021). Listeners will learn how to interpret the tables, understand different insulation types that co...

This is Part 3 in the exclusive 8-part series of the "Better Homes, Better Future" podcast. Joe Nebbia from Newport Partners, LLC will discuss code requirements found in the prescriptive window and insulation requirements and how these requirements have changed through various code editions (2009-2021). Listeners will learn how to interpret the tables, understand different insulation types that co...

This is Part 2 in the exclusive 8-part series of the "Better Homes, Better Future" podcast. Joe Nebbia from Newport Partners, LLC will discuss code requirements found in the prescriptive window and insulation requirements and how these requirements have changed through various code editions (2009-2021). The audience will learn how to interpret the tables, understand different insulation types that...

In this exclusive 8-part series of the "Better Homes, Better Future" podcast, Joe Nebbia from Newport Partners, LLC will explore how the International Energy Conservation Code is structured, as well as the process for complying with the energy code and what details to put on building plans. Listeners will also gain insight into the various compliance paths, with a specific focus on how the code ha...

Residential energy is changing quickly with new mandates, greater demand for electricity and an aging infrastructure. Home builders today are meeting these challenges in new ways to build homes of the future today. With new strategies and solutions, home builders are building not just smart homes, but homes with smart, sustainable, resilient energy. This episode of "Better Homes, Better Future" wi...

This episode of "Better Homes, Better Future" with special guest Sam Bowles from Newport Partners is intended for students, entry-level workers, or people experienced in the home building industry looking for career path advancement options. The discussion explores various career paths, using career map tools intended to explain various options for people interested in careers in innovative, high-...

When it comes to understanding the components and benefits of high-performance homes, learning through experience is one of the best approaches. In this “Better Homes, Better Future” podcast, hear from Greg Davenport, a performance construction manager at Mitsubishi Electric Trane HVAC US, and Andy Barrett, a high-performance builder representing Toolbox NW, who also happens to use one of his buil...

Episode 3 in this exclusive 4-part series with Doug Tarry of Doug Tarry Homes concludes our review of the 11 critical steps involved in building a house as a ‘system.’ We look at managing occupant comfort and indoor air quality through system design by addressing such topics as building a better basement wall, reducing the A/C size, and creating greater comfort in the house by the windows we selec...

Episodes 2 and 3 in this exclusive 4-part series with Doug Tarry, of Doug Tarry Homes, explore the 11 critical steps involved in building a house as a ‘system.’ Customer comfort is paramount and we have to consider how the client will use their home. We must ask ourselves one simple question: “Am I making the homeowner’s life easier or harder?" Episode 2 looks at how to avoid improper planning and...

This is the first installment in an exclusive 4-part series with Doug Tarry, President of Doug Tarry Ltd., an award winning, leading home building company in southwestern Ontario, Canada. Having built and labeled more Net Zero / Net Zero Ready homes than any other builder in Canada, Doug is currently developing a book called “From Bleeding Edge to Leading Edge: A Builders’ Guide to Net Zero Homes....

Joseph Molina and Rene Carter join us for a "Better Homes, Better Future" podcast discussion on the benefits and strategies for hiring veterans. The National Veterans Chamber serves both the individual Veteran and the organizations that support our Veterans and military families. Veterans and military families are able to access resources to find jobs, start a business, and obtain advice in curren...

This episode will cover strategies and elements of radon mitigation with Randy Nicklas, Senior Engineer at Huntsman Building Solutions . Building codes are steadily increasing the requirements for building envelope airtightness, along with mechanical ventilation. One aspect that is critical in tighter building construction is the need for maintaining a healthy indoor air environment. Outdoor pollu...

High performance zero energy homes provide many benefits including cost savings, energy resiliency, durability, comfort, and sustainable operation. While these types of homes have been built for a long time, the knowledge of how to build them has historically been kept by few. Now with increasingly stringent building codes across the U.S., driven by long-term energy policy and growing demands on t...