UnBuild It Podcast

Questions all about water, in everything from concrete to paint, to soils and ventilation systems. Steve says bring caramels and a book for this one... Pete's Resources: 1.  The Manual of Below-Grade Waterproofing (2nd edition, 2016) by Justin Henshell. from this GBA blog 2. ACCA Manual LLH (Low Load Homes) 3. High Performance Dehumidification: Santa Fe Ultra70 YouTube

Join Jake and Steve as they talk with Ben Bogie in this weeks podcast.

From the Mongol Horde (an actual rock band but what Jake thought Steve was referring to regarding wall permeability) to the Visual Abacus (a rock band Jake wants to form but Steve's new name for his slider detail climate-tuning wall insulation), wall framing is covered in an entirely unique way in this UnBuildIt podcast. You won't be surprised that the boys approach wall framing from the...

Join Jake and Steve as they talk with Construction Instruction co-founder and president, Mark LaLiberte.

What the Foch (based on the lead-in quote from Jake)? I honestly was not prepared for how riveting an impromptu discussion of floor framing could be but listeners won't be surprised to hear Jake and Steve blow up the "simple" decision of floor framing systems with issues like: HVAC integration, finished floor materials, air barrier penetrations, fire protection for engineered wood s...

Jake is joined by cohost Tim Uhler and guest Mike Conneely  the guys discuss panelized construction and a very interesting window manufacturer.

In this special extra episode Jake is joined by co-host Tim Uhler and guest Aron Jones from Big Dog construction. Siga day 3 wrap up includes conversations about an amazing trade school as well as a very interesting multi-family development that featured a Zehnder ERV for the entire building, sound dampening techniques and some huge windows from B4.

And yet, in homes, whole-house ventilation is a "brand-new" concept in much of our industry. The boys go through all the whole-house ventilation systems citing pros and cons and their own experiences with different systems in their projects across the board. Pete's resource: Energy Vanguard, Allison Bailes - https://www.energyvanguard.com Christoff Irwin with Positive Energy https:/...

This week Jake and is joined by Tim Uhler and Belinda Carr to discuss the second day of of the Switzerland trip. Jake and guests talk pre-fab construction as well as a very high-performance jobsite visit.

This week, Jake is joined by Travis Brungardt to promote the Midwest Building Science Symposium in Kansas City and Chattanooga TN. Go to bsandbeerkc.org to sign up for tickets and enjoy some of the best building science minds in the country talking about their craft.

Holy smokes--so much to consider: the boys range from roof pitch to venting, from color (heat absorption) to texture (water retention), and even planning out plumbing penetrations based on roof cladding layouts (or air admittance vents...). And by the way: this podcast only covered pitched roof claddings--roof membranes on low slope roofs waits for another UnBuildIt day.

Jake is joined by Tim Uhler and Kristopher Mirchandani to discuss the innovation process and manufacturing tour at Siga world headquarters. 

Tons to talk about: roof design (simple roofs for easy water management), materials (advanced framing--trusses vs solid sawn rafters), spacing (16 vs 24 inches), accommodating HVAC equipment, and even planning for PV array load. Even building roofs on the ground and craning them into place like a top hat OR what about SIP roofs (and why)? The boys cover a lot of ground but up in the air... Pete&ap...

Steve--the Zen master of deep discussion on all things building--explains how he thinks of these two terms. If you don't integrate, you end up solving during application, be it moving water off the building or transferring structural loads. This approach to designing, specifying, and constructing means the window package is connected to the HVAC system, the roof plan connects entryways to gut...

Jake lays out the three major sound issues in homes--inside/out, room-to-room, sources of noise inside the home. Pete draws analogies between early 1980s airport noise abatement and early air tightness work. Steve, always listening carefully, finally offers how he designs for sound management. Pete's resource: BuildingGreen feature article: "BuildingGreen...Quietly: Noise Pollution and W...

Join us as we learn all about Solar 101 - Part 2 with Dan Shifley of Dogwood Solar out of Columbia, MO.

Description: On his own, Steve blindsides Pete and Jake with this: how important is each of our backgrounds and how does that affect our approach to building?  And how can each of our perspectives be shared to build better buildings? Pete's Resource: For each of us, what resource has had the greatest impact on your perspective: - Pete: Bill Rose's Water in Buildings - https://www.greenbu...

Funny that we want to both make indoor spaces separate from the nasty outside but also connect to the outdoors when it's peachy. Jake kicks it off admirably by linking air quality to CONTROL (surprise, surprise). This podcast will be one in a bit of a mini-series on the broader topic of Indoor Environmental Quality (including things like thermal comfort and acoustics) and the connected topic...

Join us as we learn all about Solar 101 - Part 1 with Dan Shifley of Dogwood Solar out of Columbia, MO.

The Business Challenge - Life is too short to work for every client that comes through your door. Work hard to inform them of how you are different as a high performance building professional--including that you charge more because you are worth more--and then let the chips fall where they may. Because our project relationships are on the long side--anywhere from 3 months to many years--it's...

Take Two because we only got to two questions on this podcast: What good are industry labeling programs, like Pretty Good House? And how do you identify high performance building professionals? They are kinda related. You don't want to miss Steve's rant on the 1st question, Jake's cut on the 2nd, and Pete's info resource to wrap up.  Learn more:  PrettyGoodHouse.org Peter'...

Steve takes the lead on this podcast and ties innovation to one of his favorite clients. Here are the UBIP Big 3 Innovations: from Jake--Huber's ZIP-R; from Pete--AEROBARRIER; and from Steve--wait for it....Instagram. Bet you did not see that one coming. Steve wraps up this podcast with a listener request: tell us YOUR favorite building industry innovation so we can come back to this cool top...

Doors--tougher than windows, in terms of what we ask of them and proper installation. The boys talk about everything from deciding on swing/slide/pivot to thermal performance to triple-point hardware. And Steve gets pretty riled up, providing all of us a "door" into his thinking as an architect...

Favorites from the philosophy of building to historical graphic details--here you go! Jake:  Fine Homebuilding, Journal of Light Construction A Year in Provence (Mayle),  The "Code" book The World in a Grain (Beiser) Steve:   the FIRST Architectural Graphic Standards (1932) The Most Beautiful House in the World (Rybczynski) Home - the History of Domesticity [we couldn't actually fin...