By Mike Berry, Apex Technology
Last year, the E-Council held a number of seminars and lunches to educate participants on specific technologies, products and techniques related to energy efficiency and building science.
Some of those topics included hybrid heat pump water heaters, spray foam, solar photovoltaics, mini-split heat pumps and sealants. These are great technologies and worth learning about, but the real challenge is putting it all together.
A house is a system and when implementing new strategies and techniques, it is critical to consider carefully how a change may affect other aspects of the house.
We should be asking questions like “Do I need a new HVAC system if I spray foam my attic?” or “What happens to my indoor air quality if I make a house more air-tight?”
For example, google “the history of peeling paint” and learn how adding insulation to houses in the 1930s (definitely a good idea) resulted in painters refusing to paint insulated houses because the paint would peel.
So, in an effort to keep you informed and keep problems and lawsuits to a minimum, the E-Council along with Parksite and DuPont Tyvek is sponsoring a training seminar by Steve Easley in June.
Last year, Easley spoke at an E-Council seminar giving us tips and techniques for building energy-efficient homes. Easley is an internationally recognized construction consultant specializing in solving building science related problems and educating building industry professionals and their trade partners.
His work focuses on increasing quality of construction, sustainability, performance and reducing costly mistakes that lead to construction defects and call backs.
This year, Easley will be presenting a seminar entitled “Understanding the house as a system,” and he will discuss the relationships between choices in windows, heating, air conditioning, ventilation strategies, insulation systems and indoor air quality.
We will learn how selecting the wrong window coating can increase energy costs, how replacing interior doors might cause a water heater to back draft deadly fumes into a home, and how poorly installed ducts can cause fireplace back drafting.
We will also learn about building loads, foundations, framing, building science fundamentals, weather barriers, exterior cladding systems, windows, insulation, roof and attic systems, HVAC, electrical and plumbing systems and interior finishes.
The seminar is 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Thursday, June 11, at NEFBA.
For more information about the seminar, contact David Reed at JEA ([email protected]), and RSVP your intent to attend to Palmer Kuder at [email protected] or call (904) 725-4355.