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Over or Under? The Best Options for Installing Both a WRB and Continuous Exterior Insulation
Thursday, September 24 | 2:00 pm Central
William Ranson - Building Knowledge Center Leader at DuPont Performance Building Solutions
Adding continuous exterior insulation is recognized in the building code as an option for residential structures; and building science supports its use. Unfortunately, few manufacturers provide the details of how to incorporate both a WRB and the insulation with install instructions. Do you put the wrap over or under the foam? What if the windows are installed first? Or if the windows are recessed? Do I use the same fastening schedule? This presentation will provide answers to these questions and many more, including detailed installation instructions for any wrap and foam wall assembly.
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Designing for Dignity and Claiming Our Power: Ownership, Empowerment, and Transformation with Sustainable Buildings
Wednesday, September 23 | 2:00 pm Central
Daphany Rose Sanchez - Executive Director at Kinetic Communities; & Lonnie Feemster - President at NAACP Reno-Sparks Branch No. 1112
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 provides a 100% electric, low-consumption, and comfortable place for work and play for three generations. Daphany Rose Sanchez, founder of Kinetic Communities Consulting (KC3) and proud New York native, leverages partnerships and resources to help close the gap between the affordable housing and energy efficiency industry for diverse New York communities. Lonnie and Daphany share a passion for supporting Black and brown communities to understand the human cost of energy, save money, feel safe, and live in a cleaner environment. They will share a call to action through stories and lessons for building professionals to design projects, policies, and programs first and foremost for people and for justice.
Mainstreaming Modular High-Performance Homes: Research, Collaboration, and Best Practices at the Intersection of Advance Building Science and Advanced Building Construction
Tuesday, September 22 | 2:00 pm Central
Ankur Podder, Shanti Pless & Stacey Rothgeb with panelists - NREL
The three-part, 90-minute webinar will be moderated by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Industrialized Construction Innovation (ICI) team and aims to focus on knowledge dissemination from ongoing research, collaboration opportunities, and best practices thriving at the intersection of advance building science and advanced building construction to deliver affordable high-performance homes. Two guest panelists will also participate - David Schultz, Founder of Simple Homes, an offsite construction company that manufacturers and installs building components; and Trish Cozart, an NREL representative who also manages the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2).
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Building the Future of Energy Efficient Buildings Through Workforce Development
Thursday, September 17 | 2:00 pm Central
Panel Discussion
How do we ensure healthy, energy efficient buildings are part of the future built environment? How can we ensure we have enough qualified workers to make efficiency upgrades possible at scale in our current buildings? By training a workforce that is empowered and passionate about designing, constructing, and operating high-performance buildings and installing energy efficient building technologies. Attend this session to learn about the current state of the efficiency workforce, steps leading organizations have taken to attract and retain younger workers, and how you can join forces with U.S. Department of Energy through programs such as the Solar Decathlon and Better Buildings Workforce Accelerator.
High Performance Insulated Rooflines
Tuesday, September 15 | 2:00 pm Central
Mike Barcik - Southface
This virtual session is intended for professionals in the home performance industry including designers and builders of new, efficient homes. This webinar begins with an overview of building science issues and concepts as they pertain to the roof/ceiling portion of the building thermal envelope. Merits of insulated ceilings and rooflines will be discussed so that participants may apply this knowledge to conditioned attics and vaulted ceilings. The session will review how current energy codes recognize insulated rooflines and will examine different approaches using a combination of methods and materials.
Learning Objectives:
- Review of building science concepts
- Apply knowledge of the building thermal envelope to home design
- Choose best materials and methods for insulating and air sealing attic rooflines
- Interpret the energy code's treatment of insulated rooflines
Presentation Slides
Take Control of Your Electricity Bills with Home Energy Storage
Thursday, September 10 | 2:00 pm Central
Aric Saunders - Executive Vice President of Electriq Power
There are hundreds of technologies available on the market today that are designed to "green" your home. However, a new market is emerging that takes home energy management to the next level: energy storage. Outside of California, the term "home energy storage" may be unfamiliar: this market segment was nearly nonexistent in 2017. However, by the end of 2019, home energy storage comprised over one-third of the total energy storage market nationally. By 2021, it will become a billion-dollar domestic market. While green tech can improve the efficiency and sustainability of your home's daily operations, no other technology allows you to take complete control over your energy usage and costs like energy storage technologies that allow you to store energy for use when you need it (thus avoiding spikes in electricity costs caused by daily variations in supply and demand). This presentation will walk the audience through the components of a fully integrated home energy storage, management and monitoring system, as well as its standard functions. Audience members will learn how they can utilize home battery technology not only to minimize electricity costs, but also how to protect against power outages, participate in incentive programs, and even connect a battery to home solar or other smart-home devices (smartphone included).
Presentation Slides
Architectural Details of the Control Layers
Tuesday, September 8 | 2:00 pm Central
Steve Baczek - Steven Baczek Architect
This is where the building science rubber meets the architect’s road. Steve uses his many high-performance projects to show how high performance is translated into actual assemblies, with real materials, and with tried-and-true project management done cooperatively with the architect and builder. Steve will have you walking away with Easy-to-Understand solutions he uses every day, that meet the new code while providing the means to a comfortable, durable, energy-efficient, valued building enclosure.
Learning Objectives:
- Recognize thermal management strategies for a High-Performance Home
- Be able to accomplish proper water management of a High-Performance Home
- Take home proper air-tightness strategies for a High-Performance Home
- Embrace proper detailing for a High-Performance Home
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Builder-Provided Extended Warranties and Service Plans: Business Opportunity or Bad Idea?
Tuesday, August 18 | 2:00 pm Central
Todd Usher - Founder & President of Addison Homes
Few U.S. homebuilders offer builder-backed extended warranties beyond one year of coverage. Several builders within EEBA's Builder Benchmark Groups have been brainstorming the business opportunities that such builder-backed warranties, coupled with service plans, likely provide - including referrals, higher customer satisfaction, and the opportunity to ensure that new homes continue to operate and perform as designed after years of service. Join Todd Usher from Addison Homes in an interactive discussion on the pros and cons of builder-backed extended warranties along with some preliminary Clemson University consumer research focused on the subject.
Presentation Slides
Residential Market Update: A Conversation with EEBA and Team Zero and A Preview of Team Zero's 5th Annual Inventory
Tuesday, August 11 | 2:00 pm Central
Ann Edminster - M.Arch., LEED AP at Design AVEnues LLC.; Frank Baker, President, Team Zero; Aaron Smith, CEO, EEBA;
Join us for a conversation on the new alliance between Team Zero and EEBA, and a discussion of the synergies between the two organizations. We will also cover the Gateway to Zero and Ann Edminster will provide an overview of the Team Zero fifth annual inventory of the zero-energy and zero-emissions home stock in the US and Canada, and how joining the inventory helps drive sustainable market transformation.
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High-Performance Homes - A Simpler Design Strategy
Tuesday, August 4 | 2:00 pm Central
Tom Patton - Corporate Brand Ambassador
Building and energy codes are pushing builders beyond traditional minimum code wood-framed construction into a more building science-oriented ‘high-performance’ home that requires testing for verification to meet specific standards. To meet these requirements, the new wood framed wall assemblies require more components and more attention to detail, all of which adds construction time, material, and labor costs. The recognition by building science experts that thermal bridging, poor batt insulation applications, and air sealing issues have a direct influence on performance in the short term and the long term for these homes is noteworthy. Having almost 50 years of experience, plus new comparative wall assembly testing, the insulated concrete form wall assembly should be recognized as a simple passive design solution, utilizing an airtight insulated thermal mass assembly, exceeding energy code requirements in all climate zones.
Presentation Slides
Healthier Homes or Healthy Home Washing?
Tuesday, July 28 | 2:00 pm Central
Joe Medosch - Healthy Building Scientist at Hayward Score
This webinar will cover marketing strategies and upgrades that builders can provide to buyers that actually make the home “healthier” - than one that does not have these installations. Joe will cover the basic concept of healthier products and installations and how you can avoid liability of over-promising.
Learning Objectives:
- Explain what a healthier home benefit is and make it a marketing opportunity
- How technology can make the environment healthier and how to market these features
- Understand how material selection and disclosure make for healthier marketing materials and differentiates from other builders
- How to educate buyers on filtered fresh air, low VOCs, and eliminating Red List materials should be a standard in all homes
Presentation Slides
Revolutionizing Clean Energy Design in Residential Buildings
Tuesday, June 30 | 2:00 pm Central
Geoff Ferrell - Director of Residential Specification Projects at sonnen
Join sonnen and EEBA for a presentation on how new smart, energy management technology is revolutionizing residential design and enabling a cleaner, more sustainable energy future. In addition to enabling net zero, sustainable, and energy efficient design, using solar + sonnen intelligent batteries with the option to pair with home automation to mange how homes produce energy, store energy and use it to reduce energy costs and improve energy security. Gain insights on business models for new communities, like Jasper by Mandalay Homes and Soleil Lofts by the Wasatch Group, that use these technologies to create a blueprint for entire clean energy communities that are financially beneficial for homeowners, developers, and the local utility.
Heat Pump Application & Design
Tuesday, June 16 | 2:00 pm Central
Kimberly Llewellyn - Performance Construction Technical Lead at Mitsubishi
This webinar will focus on sizing and application best practices for variable capacity heat pumps in new construction and low load spaces. We will briefly review fundamentals of heat pump capabilities and product types. We will also review basics of load reports in order to have a solid foundation for a discussion on heat pump applications.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand typical operation capabilities of variable capacity heat pumps
- Review load calculation report for key information necessary for equipment sizing
- Explain common misconceptions about sizing with variable capacity heat pumps
- Provides examples of solutions that work
Tips for Installing a Water Resistive Barrier & Continuous Exterior Insulation (Why & How)
Tuesday, June 9 | 2:00 pm Central
Keenan Watson & Samantha Kambo - Field Development Specialists at DuPont
With codes pushing for higher energy standards, we will explain the why’s and how to correctly install a weather resistant barrier (WRB) with Continuous Exterior Insulation. We will go over the reasons to use continuous insulation, like eliminating thermal bridging and air leakage issues associated with traditional stud framing and cavity insulation. We will also discuss some tips to keep in mind when combining your WRB and continuous exterior insulation - for instance, some of the pros and cons when installing your WRB on top of versus behind the continuous exterior insulation.
The New Normal: Delivering Healthy Air in Every Home We Build
Tuesday, May 19 | 2:00 pm Central
John Bloemer - Executive Advisor & Engineering Fellow at Aprilaire
The Coronavirus pandemic has created a new world; a new way of living, a new way of doing business, and a new way we think about health, safety and the air we breathe. In our industry, high performance builders and IAQ product manufacturers are at the forefront of making the right critical recommendations to the public to best ensure healthy air in every home. The good news is the products needed to Deliver Healthy Homes already exist and are easily applied. This presentation will walk you through the product categories and applications that exist to create healthier environments in both ordinary times and adjust them during unique situations like we see today.