Episodes

In this episode, Bill chats with James Childre, founder of RedPointMontana.com, a home performance specialist. James shares with us his enthusiasm for the field and describes his persuasive persistence in preaching home performance in his role as a rater and a home inspector. James discusses his approach with contractors and consumers as well as where he looks for improving at his trade. We explore the topic of making change happen and not losing faith in spite of the apparent slow movement i...

After 31 years in business, 3 major career changes and 10 products (and counting) later, John Pastorello shares with us how, and more importantly why he built his business, Refrigeration Technologies. John shares with us how growing up in the Atomic Age spurred his curiosity about the atom and yearning to be a nuclear physicist. Fast forward 30 years later and John has managed to create a successful family owned and operated specialty chemical business focusing on all aspects of the air condit...

Blake Reid shares with us the challenges and rewards of doing home performance work in Hawaii which has the most expensive energy, 12 climate zones, no energy code, an active volcano, and an aggressive state climate goal. As a knowledgeable, ethical and honest “wiz kid” contractor, Blake made a huge decision and moved his family from Ithaca, NY to Hawaii to “set up shop” as a home performance contractor. Listen to Blake describe some of his motivations to move as well as why he choose the name...

What is LEED? Who is involved in LEED? Why should I care about LEED? In today’s episode, Bill Spohn welcomes one of the leaders in the green building industry, Charlie Cichetti, Owner of Green Building Education Services (www.GEBS.com) and the Sustainable Investment Group (www.SIGEarth.com). Charlie covers the history of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) as well as recent changes and where things are headed in the future. We hear about the shift in focus from buildings to th...

What will housing look like in the future? Who are some of the leaders? What are some the topics driving this industry? Bill Spohn welcomes back Chris Dorsi, contractor, educator, author and founder of HabitatX.com to give an overview of all the great discussions held at the 2018 HabitatX conference. We discuss the human aspect of housing which ties in intimately with the nature of this conference; it’s about the people. We take a walk through the 3 days of the conference* discussing how the s...

Bill Spohn welcomes Chris Dorsi, contractor, educator, author and founder of HabitatX.com. Chris describes the current arc of his career which he describes as serial interventions starting with cutting timber for housing. Chris shares with us his very thoughtful, respectful and practical perspectives on the housing industry, with a focus on building better habitats for people. We discuss passive houses, factory-built homes and the lost cost of space that no one wants to live in. You’ll also be...

Show notes AirQuest 4 In this episode, Bill Spohn continues where he left off in Episode 3 of his AirQuest series, discussing airflow measuring methods and techniques. Bill covers vane anemometers as well as the garbage bag method (bag inflation device or BID) For a free copy of the ANSI standard mentioned in this episode go to www.bit.ly/RESNET-380 If you’d like to see a BID in action, the EPA Energy Star program created this explanatory video which can be viewed at this link: www.bit.ly/380-BI...

Show notes AirQuest 3 In this episode, Bill Spohn continues where he left off in Episode 2 of his AirQuest series, discussing airflow measuring methods and techniques. Bill Covers the TrueFlow measuring grid, air flow capture hoods and thermal (hot wire) anemometers. For a 4 part video lesson by Bill, start with lesson one on YouTube, at this link: http://bit.ly/AirFlowVideos If you are interested in learning more, you can contact Bill at Bill_Spohn@BlueCollarRoots.com

Today Ed Kisiel of EKABuild Corp. joins us to discuss the way he goes about constructing super tight homes using standard construction techniques. Ed describes his process and his respect for the House as a System concept: that is the envelope, mechanicals and architectural design all need to work together in harmony. He’s an open minded civil engineer turned builder who has a thirst for learning more about building science, building materials and modes of construction. Some of Ed’s favorite res...

Bryan Barnes of Aeroseal, LLC joins us today to discuss two revolutionary technologies that greatly impact Building Performance: AeroSeal for sealing ducts from the inside out and AeroBarrier for sealing a building enclosure in the same manner. We hear about the science behind Aeroseal and the dramatic performance increases in comfort, energy and the health of the environment. Their smart-liquid sealant turns into an aerosol in their machine and actual finds and seals holes and gaps up to ⅝” in ...

In this episode Bill chats with Ted Kidd and Nate Adams, two people who share an extreme passion for making better home performance the norm and not the exception. Our conversation gets tough on state energy programs, utility-based programs as well as BPI where we develop out the pros and cons. You can learn more about their aspirations and get some great tools and free resources by visiting www.NateTheHouseWhisperer.com You can reach Ted through Nate by emailing at Nate@EnergySmartOhio.com or c...

In today’s episode, Terje Gronas tells us about his 2-year struggle to get the healthy, comfortable and energy efficient home he wanted for his family. He discusses the heavy study and personal interventions he had to make to get what he wanted and paid a premium for. “T” talks about the big picture for contractors and techs: the air in a home can greatly affect you're families health and even, perhaps, health care costs overall. As more and more technicians take pride and care in their work, Te...

On today’s show, Bill welcomes Matt Rivers from Onset Computer, manufacturer of the world famous line of Hobo Data Loggers. Matt describes their three main markets: Indoor, Outdoor (Weather) and Water Quality. We hear of the long list of parameters that can be logged that allow technicians, engineers and researchers to collect meaningful time stamped data to do better work. Also discussed is the positive impact of BlueTooth connections, cloud-based data services as well as cellular and gateways ...

Today we learn about how Amanda Hatherly has morphed the traditional approaches of technical training into something much more interactive and interesting. Over the last 8 years she helped to develop the Energy Smart Academy at the Santa Fe (New Mexico) Community College. She described some really cool online tools that help people understand the invisible and confusing aspects of heat and moisture flow in a building. Check them out for free at www.SimBuilding.info You can connect with Amanda by...

Bryan Orr and Bill Spohn spent 3 busy days learning, listening and absorbing the vibe at the world’s largest HVACR trade show, the AHR Expo which took place in Chicago at the end of January 2018. Come walk the auditory aisles with these two friendly nerds and see where the market is headed as a whole and with specific products.

On this episode, Bill Spohn welcomes Bethany Profaizer and Amy Beley from Pearl Certification (www.PearlCertification.com). Pearl has created a unique and very cost effective, third party certification for the major “invisible” elements of a home: building shell (or envelope), HVAC/mechanical systems, energy baseload, home management and photovoltaic (PV) solar. Contractors actively working in any of these are disciplines are eligible to apply. Now active in 6 states and the District of Columbia...

Joe has worked for for CLEAResult (www.CLEAResult.com ) for over 10 years. His company is a fast growing, highly focused implementer of utility-based energy savings programs. Joe discusses the ins and outs of building an energy savings program for a utility, especially those aspects that involve HVAC and building performance contractors. Joe mentions the Home Performance Coalition’s conferences as a great place to learn and network (www.homeperformance.org/conferences/). He also discusses inspir...

Today we talk with Marko Bruinsma, President of Testo, inc. Marko gives us an overview of how his background from destructive testing in labs, to work with rockets and propellants to repping instrumentation shaped his career and lead to his current leadership role with testo. We also learn about the history of testo, the worldwide scope of the organization and the breadth of product lines – some lines that all listeners may not be aware of. Some handy links from the conversation: Email testo at ...

Today Bill speaks with JWest, a building performance practitioner and educator. J can be reached at JWest@hph2tc.com (his consulting business) or at JWest@CEDAnet.org (the community action agency in Chicago that he works for as Training Director.) We learn about The House at Cornell Tech Center on Roosevelt Island near NY City, which is the tallest and largest residential Passive House high-rise in the world. J discusses the HabitatX Conference as something listeners should investigate (www.Habi...

Today Bill speaks with Gary Reecher, a dedicated HVAC/R technician from day one. Gary discusses how his background in the US Air Force as an Environmental Systems Technician helped shaped his interest and approach to HVAC/R. Gary is very active in the Refrigeration Service Engineers Society (www.RSES.org) and encourages listeners to look at attending a local, regional or national meeting, subscribing to the journal or looking at the excellent training books and webinars that they produce. Gary d...

Today Bill speaks with Griffin Hagle, Weatherization Manager of the North Slope Borough in Barrow (Utqiagvik), Alaska. Griffin discusses what lead him to live and work above the arctic circle, as well as some of the challenges and rewards in doing so. In the show Griffin mentions the HabitatX Conference (www.HabitatX.com) and an article on the unhealthy air in rural Alaska homes, featuring the work of Griffin’s friend and collaborator, AJ Salkoski, who works with the Alaska Native Tribal Health ...

Today’s guest is Larry Zarker, CEO of BPI, the Building Performance Institute. BPI is the nation’s premier organization for certification and standards-setting for home performance professionals. You will find them on the web at www.BPI.org which is also the site for building performance professionals. The BPI standards for home performance work can be found at www.bpi.org/standards. There is a separate site for homeowners at www.bpihomeowner.org with a blog for consumers found here: http://www....

Today we interviewed Steve Baden the founder and present day executive director of RESNET: The Residential Energy Services Network. There are now 2 million US homes that are energy rated from Alaska to Puerto Rico. Listen to Steve discuss his background and motivations for starting RESNET, a home energy rating system that benefits consumers and builders. There is also good potential for enterprising HVAC Contractors who might add home energy rating on to their business. Links to topics discussed...

In AirQuest part 2 Bill shares his depth of knowledge on airflow and measuring airflow including mass flow rate, CFM and much more..