EEBA's High Performance Home Blog

Industry events can, at times, be predictable. Same speakers, same topics, same format. And while presenters are grasping for an opportunity to create an atmosphere of authenticity in their presentation, there’s rarely enough time left for a good discussion afterwards. Last year’s conference in Atlanta not only offered PechaKucha, but also the first EEBA Innovation Summit. Assembling a panel packed with diverse backgrounds and expertise, Colby Swanson and Calvin Trumbo of Momentum Innovation Group, joined forces with Mike Hess of Panasonic CityNow, and Aaron Holm of Blokable to give attendees a taste of project and product innovation happening within the industry. Hess explained how Panasonic is utilizing technology to build the smart city of tomorrow. Holm, an ex-Amazon exec, described the housing issues they are trying to help solve at Blokable, and Swanson and Trumbo went into detail about areas inside and outside the industry that are pushing the boundaries of... read more

EEBA will be offering the new HERS Associate course ("An Introduction to the HERS Index & IECC Compliance") in Atlanta and Raleigh during the month of May, and in June in Denver. The class is geared towards (but not limited to) builders, realtors, designers, architects, new home salespeople, manufacturing representatives, and sustainability students who are not certified HERS Raters. Mike Barcik, Technical Principal at Southface Institute, will lead the day-long, 3-part course introducing attendees to the HERS Index and exploring how it’s used to comply with the building code. "I really enjoy teaching this class. It covers the basic content of the energy code and demonstrates methods of compliance," says Barcik. "It also demonstrates how the HERS index is determined and how the Rating industry can help builders achieve code compliance and receive credit for beyond-code measures." Each class will begin with basic Building Science principles and how they relate to the... read more

At this year’s High Performance Home Summit in San Diego, we'll be bringing back the highly rated PechaKucha. Last year's standing room only session gave attendees a chance to get a quick glimpse of multiple presentations. PechaKucha is a style of presenting aimed at quickly and creatively conveying a message. Presenters have under seven minutes to keep the audience engaged through 20 slides while being as concise and informative as possible, and ending with a short Q&A. Luis Imery presents during PechaKucha at the 2017 High Performance Home Summit in Atlanta (Click to View Video) Winners from the Department of Energy's Housing Innovation Awards have participated in the last two PechaKucha events at EEBA's High Performance Home Summit. Facilitator and EEBA Board Member, Alex Glenn, hopes to see more industry leaders and innovative thinkers get involved this year. "I like PechaKucha for many reasons, including how many ideas can be presented in such a short amount of... read more