EEBA Academy

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.

Once homebuyers purchase new homes often based on infatuation with community and design, bad home performance experiences can negate all the hard work earning customer satisfaction. It is critical to get high-performance right. This course begins that process with lessons-learned from decades of experience as a residential architect and work with thousands of home builders while serving as national director for ENERGY STAR Certified Home and Zero Energy Ready Home. The resulting framework for high performance homes includes five key strategies and over 40 best practices for applying them with substantial cost savings. Most importantly, this framework has been intensively researched, vetted, and refined over five years with hundreds of housing industry executives. The goal is not to dogmatically impose one solution for all, but to engage housing professionals to high-performance as a journey and how to get on their own path. 

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. This presentation will include detailed installation instructions for any wrap and foam wall assembly.

In this webinar, we will teach attendees about the specifics of pre-drywall inspections and testing. We will discuss the value of third-party pre-drywall inspections and testing for builders and raters, and how they can result in reduced callbacks. We will also examine how this aspect of the rating process has become increasingly important for consistency and defensibility for builders who choose an ERI Path for code compliance.