Posts From August, 2018

How to Boost Home Performance and Durability with Foundation Vapor Protection

Contribute to Four Essential High-Performance Goals with Targeted Below-Slab Protection
How to Boost Home Performance and Durability with Foundation Vapor Protection
As a member of the EEBA community, you play a crucial role in leading the way towards constructing homes that are high-performing, healthy, and resilient. Now aligned with this objective are the self-educated homeowners and prospective buyers who are demanding high-performance homes. Because of this, builders (as well as the raters and architects who support them) are looking for product solutions that: Add value to their customers’ investments Demonstrate a core commitment to being a “responsible” builder Differentiate themselves in a competitive marketplace Our hope at Stego (and the purpose of this article) is to help provide useful support and education so that EEBA builders can better understand vapor transmission at the first side of the home - the foundation - and the role below-slab vapor barriers play in achieving high-performance goals in new homes. No, we are not talking about commodity 6 or 10-mil poly sheeting. Minimum residential code (2021 IRC... read more
 

High Performance Home Education Happening Around the Country

It’s that time again. All over the nation, school is starting back up and we could not be more excited.
High Performance Home Education Happening Around the Country
And as you know, education is important to us and with the High Performance Home Summit right around the corner, we thought we’d provide you with a preview of additional upcoming classes being offered around the country. Mike Barcik will be back at it again, leading The HERS Associate & Taking the Performance Path. This class, an introduction to the HERS Index and IECC Compliance, will allow attendees to obtain CEU’s for AIA/CES (HSW), BPI, ICC, NARI, NAHB, and NATE, as well as earn the HERS Associate designation. The session will be offered at the following locations, on the following dates: Boston, MA - September 25, 2018 Baltimore, MD - September 26, 2018 Charleston, SC - November 15, 2018 Nashville, TN - December 5, 2018 Andy Oding will be leading the High Performance Mechanicals for Houses That Work session in Boise, ID on October 10, as well as in Portland, OR on November 8. Andy has over 23 years of experience in the residential construction industry and... read more
 

PechaKucha to Celebrate Housing Innovation

Winners of the prestigious DOE Housing Innovation Awards will be awarded during the High Performance Home Summit Luncheon and PechaKucha in October.
PechaKucha to Celebrate Housing Innovation
The Department of Energy recently released their 2018 Housing Innovation Award winners. The program recognizes the best in innovation on the path to zero energy ready homes. Winners are selected for each of five categories and one Grand Winner will be announced from each category during the EEBA High Performance Home Summit in San Diego, October 16-18. You won’t want to miss the Luncheon on Day 1 of the Summit as Sam Rashkin announces the Grand Winners and the Housing Innovation Winners take part in PechaKucha with Alex Glenn. These companies and organizations have designed homes that are independently certified to meet the DOE Zero Energy Ready Home guidelines and hail from all over the U.S. “Every year we see the caliber of winning homes rise. Thrive is honored to be in the company of such great HIA winners,” says Gene Myers, EEBA Board President and CEO of Thrive Home Builders in Denver. Innovation in Affordable Homes winners received recognition for building homes at an... read more
 

Educational Sessions for California Net Zero Mandate

Whether or not you’re ready for it, California is mandating it net zero directive in 2020.
Educational Sessions for California Net Zero Mandate
On May 9, the California Energy Commission voted to mandate advanced efficiency measures and rooftop solar for all new houses, condos and apartment buildings (up to three stories tall), obtaining building permits after January 1, 2020. If a building isn’t suitable for a rooftop array, it will be required to have access to community solar or offset energy usage through alternative efficiency gains. Builders can also take advantage of “compliance credits” by installing batteries like the Tesla Powerwall or sonnenBatterie - and further reduce the size of the solar array. As California builders, raters, analysts, and architects seek methods and solutions to meet this aggressive state policy, part of this year’s High Performance Home Summit will be aimed at putting all the information California builders need in one place, to help you reach the goal of compliance in time. Various classes will be offered revolving around the impact of policy, code, and Title 24 on design and... read more