Tag: Building Science

November 2, 2016

ThermalBuck Goes Rogue with Austin Builder Matt Risinger

Texas has always been famous for cowboys, gunslingers, and rodeos (not to mention the best steaks and BBQ you’ll find anywhere). But you may not have realized that it’s also the home to one of the fastest growing construction industries in the U.S.

Led by multi-family housing starts, construction growth is fueled by an increasing population, a healthy housing market, and a strong environment for investment. Drive anywhere across this beautiful state and you’ll witness construction cranes, and rapid building progress in all shapes and sizes.

WATCH: Risinger Goes Rogue featuring ThermalBuck 

Matt Risinger

Where construction is booming, you’ll find award-winning homebuilders. At the recent Energy & Environmental Building Alliance (EEBA) Conference in Dallas, TX, ThermalBuck had the good fortune to cross paths with the most famous builder to call the Lone Star State home, Matt Risinger. Not only a well-known builder, Matt is also a respected media personality in the building industry. Matt was the closing speaker for the 3 day event held at the end of September, 2016. The close-knit and collaborative nature of this particular conference invites plenty of opportunities to interact with attendees, presenters and manufacturers alike. Matt’s keen interest in emerging products and new technology brought him to ThermalBuck on the trade show floor, where he spent some time with our president, John Brooks.

Risinger Homes

To meet Matt in person, is to realize right away that he is the real deal. Smart, humble, hard-working and passionate about good building science, Matt has earned a considerable following of nearly 34,000 subscribers to his You Tube channel, Build with Matt Risinger. Since it’s launch in 2008, Matt’s building videos have earned him nearly 10 million views. Pretty impressive for this full-time builder and owner of Risinger Homes, and part-time marketer.

Matt has earned his reputation for excellency the old-fashioned way, through years of hands-on construction work, and the innate desire to do things the right way.

“I build homes that are dramatically more energy efficient, durable, healthy, and comfortable than most new homes in America.”

Risinger Homes is doing just that – building some of the finest homes in Texas. Combining Matt’s work ethic with his passion for technology, easy manner and marketing savvy, Matt has crafted a great reputation as a building science expert.

Risinger Goes Rogue

Not only does Risinger Homes build multiple high-end homes a year, he also spends countless hours appearing at building events and trade shows, as well as creating videos for Risinger Goes Rogue. Matt maintains a strong presence on social media, building his audience through his natural presentation ability, straight-talk and credibility. His strong family values, faith, and outlook on life are a bonus to those who seek out his expertise. Followers of Matt’s social media accounts can watch day-to-day progress of the homes he is working on, and learn proper building techniques along the way.

Risinger Goes Rogue recently featured ThermalBuck, a smart, simple solution to the challenges builders face when installing windows with continuous insulation.

We appreciate Matt sharing ThermalBuck with his avid followers, and look forward to collaborating with Risinger Homes in the future. One thing we can be certain of, is that we will learn a thing (or two).

Risinger Homes started building exclusively for architects in 2005. Matt’s building science expertise has been documented in Fine Homebuilding, The Journal of Light Construction, and Custom Home Magazine, to name a few. He is also an award winning blogger, the two-time winner of the JDR Best Blogger Award. Enjoy the beauty and craftsmanship of Matt’s work through his instagram account, twitter, or facebook. The Texas building statistics sourced for this post were found at investopedia.com.

September 9, 2016

Building Codes – Get Into the Zone

Building codes provide the minimum requirements for what all builders have to do (in order to follow the law, that is) when constructing and maintaining buildings.The variances between building codes in different states or even different regions within states has everything to do with one main consideration – the climate.

Climate has a significant impact on building codes, energy codes in particular.

What makes perfect sense for good moisture management in one climate varies wildly from that of another region. It can even be quite different within one state. California is the most varied state – Marine, Hot-Dry, Mixed-Dry, and Cold. Builders really have to understand the particular climate they’re working with in order to follow good building science principles.

ICC Climate Zone Map

Surprisingly, prior to 2004 there was no universal climate zone map for the U.S. for use with building codes. At that time, ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) used 38 different climate groupings, while the IECC used 33 different zones based on county boundaries. That’s a lot of climate chaos.

Recognizing the need for an easier way to define climate, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (in conjunction with Building America) prepared a simplified map, and the 2004 IECC Supplement was the first model energy code to adopt this new climate zone map (map from ICC shown above).

Temperature & Humidity

Temperature and humidity are the two primary factors that influence the 8 climate zones in the U.S. Each of the eight zones are further divided into five climate “categories”:

8 Subarctic (Alaska only)
7 Very Cold
6 Cold
5 Cold
4 Mixed Humid or Mixed Dry
3 Hot-Humid or Hot-Dry (some Marine)
2 Hot-Humid or Marine
1 Hot-Humid

If you’re a true building science guru, you’ll want to better understand something called “degree days”, or accumulated temperature calculations. The Energy Vanguard Blog has an excellent piece by building science expert Allison Bailes III, that dives deeper into temperature and moisture divisions.

Climate-Based Resources for Builders

Considering that several states are in multiple climate zones, the DOE Building Best Practices Series issued the “Guide to Determining Climate Regions by County”, a helpful resource for builders listing every county within that state, and which climate category to follow in each county.

There are multiple climate-based Best Practices guides available for builders through the DOE Building America Program, which focus on real-world case studies that demonstrate solutions to improve whole-house energy performance for new and existing homes in the five major climate regions.

For a direct link to these climate-based case guides for all climates, visit energy.gov.

The DOE Building Technologies Program works to improve the energy efficiency of buildings in the U.S. through educating builders on better building practices, and technological advancements in materials and techniques. Energy-Star and Zero-Energy Ready are just a a few of their recognizable efforts in place and on track to meet significant goals by 2020.

April 25, 2016

Two Premier Building Publications Take Notice of ThermalBuck

It’s a great day when the largest residential construction magazine finds your product, and writes about it.

ThermalBuck had that good fortune on April 1st when Scott Gibson, former editor at Fine Homebuilding, wrote “An Alternative to Wood Bucks “, which was also featured as “Green Building News” at greenbuildingadvisor.com on April 4th.

Scott covered the basics of using bucks, and compared the benefits and features of ThermalBuck with the drawbacks of using wood, which had really been the only material choice until now. He also reviewed the product components, dimensions, and purchasing information. The piece finished with a mention of ThermalBuck receiving recognition at Greenbuild 2015 as one of the “Top Ten Greenest of the Green.”

Fine Homebuilding has been a sought-after resource for over 30 years for individuals focused on residential homebuilding, remodeling, and design. It’s content includes in-depth best practices, along with industry trends, tool and material reviews, and interviews with key figures in the building industry. Nearly 20,000 paid subscribers look to finehomebuilding.com for information, and circulation for the print edition tops 160,000.

Green Building Advisor is for the reader more focused on building science expertise. Designing, building and remodeling high-performance, energy-efficient homes is a niche that continues to explode, and this digital-only publication provides easy access to the latest advancements. With a highly active social media platform, and a number of blogs with dedicated followers such as “Musings of an Energy Nerd” , Green Building Advisor is an excellent resource, packed-full of accurate, reliable information.

Both sites offer unique conversational interaction with subscribers, allowing comments and Q&A’s at the end of each piece. What a great way for ThermalBuck to answer readers questions and concerns on the spot, and it also provided us with some excellent feedback to consider as our product develops and evolves.

Fine Homebuilding and Green Building Advisor are both publications of Taunton Press. Their editors are former builders, remodelers, and designers, offering real experience and in-depth knowledge on a full complement of information. For subscription information for Fine Homebuilding, click here. For a free trial membership to GBA, click here.

March 10, 2016

Building Science Tradition Carries On in Happy Valley

The welcoming staff of the Pennsylvania Housing Research Center (PHRC) organized an excellent line up of presenters and exhibitors for the 24^th Annual Housing and Land Development Conference, held on March 2-3, 2016 at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel in State College, PA as part of the 2016 Industry Education Week. ThermalBuck™ was proud to be one of the sponsors of Housing Day, and enjoyed the chance to catch a few of the outstanding presentations throughout the conference.

Theresa Weston, Ph.D, a member of the DuPont™ Building Knowledge Center, presented “Choosing an Insulation Strategy“, a highly-informative discussion about what factors really count when planning an insulation strategy, and how to compare and contrast the products available with the specific needs of each project. Example wall systems were reviewed, as well as the criteria for an effective R-value. Cost components and criteria are major factors, but not just immediate investments of materials and labor. Long-term costs are a significant factor, in both regards to performance, and reliability.

Our next session was entitled “Energy and Heat Recovery Ventilators (ERV/HRV): Design + Installation Best Practices for Balanced Ventilation Systems in Houses and Apartment Buildings.” Mechanical ventilation in a structure has traditionally been limited to kitchen and bath exhaust fans, to help with spot control of both moisture and odors. With the continual advancements in building techniques and materials focused on tighter building envelopes, and the updates in the 2012 IECC, the demand for whole-house ventilation has become much more significant.

Presenter John Semmelhack of Think-Little, focused on two specific whole-house mechanical ventilation systems, ERV’s and HRV’s. John’s in-depth presentation showed us how to navigate the challenges of understanding exactly how ERV’s and HRV’s work, what the difference is, and how to decide which ventilation system would be the right fit for a structure. Once a decision is made, the costs and functions of each different product available on the market can be significant. John’s extensive knowledge of the variables of these systems was extremely helpful, and also reinforced the benefits of utilizing experienced consultants for specific aspects of a project. One of the most beneficial pieces of information was a comparison of product certification labels attributed to each system, through both the Home Ventilating Institute (HVI) and the Air-Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration Institute (AHRI). While both of these well-respected organizations certify products, knowing how to analyze the specific data on the labels is crucial to achieving the performance outcome that is desired.

Nothing is quite as costly as a lack of experience when making decisions, and these two presenters truly showed the value of gathering input and research, the importance of due diligence in understanding how to evaluate products and systems, and the need to make project-specific decisions for the best possible outcome.

The PHRC is truly an excellent resource for builders, architects, engineers, contractors, manufacturers, anyone involved in the building industry in Pennsylvania. If you haven’t yet been to one of their conferences, or participated in one of their webinars, we recommend you becoming a member, and including them as a valuable resource for building science advancements in the future.

For another great resource on “Whole-House Mechanical Ventilation Code, Safety and Performance Considerations” for low-rise residential buildings, please visit homeinnovation.com.