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3398 Washington Road
Atlanta, GA 30344
USA
773.398.5288
corbett@buildingperformanceworkshop.com
Advanced residential construction and home improvement consulting and owner's advocacy in Atlanta, using the latest building performance diagnostic and modeling techniques and tools. Airtightness, insulation, HVAC, ventilation, moisture, and air quality and EMF consulting for homeowners and building professionals alike.
Home performance articles and stories from the field with internationally respected building forensics guru Corbett Lunsford at the Building Performance Workshop. Hear new episodes of the Building Performance Podcast, see new videos from the Home Performance YouTube channel, and learn all about how diagnostic testing (more than an 'Energy Audit') can make home improvement and new home construction a proven process!
Filtering by Category: From the Field
The question: is what I’m smelling hurting me or not? Explore the material science of insulation that smells like cat pee in this fun chemical deep dive with Dr. Alice Delia, laboratory director at Prism Analytical Technologies.
Do this testing yourself at: http://pati-air.com
Support our work exploring the science of homes at: https://Patreon.com/HomeDiagnosisTV
There should not be insulation fibers spilling out around your attic hatch or ladder. Here’s the first thing your contractor SHOULD have done, which is easy to do yourself. Attic insulation jobs have a reputation for being sloppy- they call them ‘blow and go’ contractors, and you should avoid those guys. Plenty of high quality insulation contractors out there who can even test their work with a blower door and infrared camera.
Having to special order parts for construction is always a bit of a gamble- I always seem to run out of something, and have too many of something else when all is said and done. This central vacuum system from Nutone is a little tricky since the guidance on these systems is very sketchy at the advanced level (the install manual isn’t all you need for sure, and even generally helpful online resources aren’t answering all my questions), so I’m using what I know about heat flow, pressure and flow, moisture, and contaminants to customize our system with more immediately available materials!
For our family's performance-tuned home, I’m giving you a deep-dive into the beginning stage of the heating/cooling and ventilation ducting throughout the house. See assembly, fastening, sealing with mastic (the good stuff, not the cheap stuff) for duct boot stacks and outdoor vent hood terminations.
For more on this house, check out: https://HomeDiagnosis.tv/atlanta-homestead
To support our educational videos, become a member at: http://Patreon.com/HomeDiagnosisTV
Our family-designed and -built forever home has some unique arrangements and ventilation flows. Here's a how-to on using a Fantech SER150 ERV in conjunction with a separately-ducted C3000 HEPA filtration system to achieve a wide range of control over a mixed use space.
Subscribe to Healthy Indoors Magazine for free at: http://HealthyIndoors.com
Check out these and other advanced ventilation devices at: http://fantech.net
More on this build at: http://HomeDiagnosis.tv/atlanta-homestead
'Home Diagnosis' co-creator and building science trainer Corbett Lunsford has told many students that supply-only ventilation is dangerous for homes in cold climates- but is that scientifically proven? Watch performance testing that will demonstrate exactly what happens (or doesn't happen) when pressurizing a house with supply ventilation from outdoors.
DOWNLOAD Aprilaire’s excellent 2-page ventilation guide at right ———>
See a full installation of the three simplest and most inexpensive ventilation strategies at: https://youtu.be/bfd69xRbQxM
Subscribe to Healthy Indoors Magazine for free at: http://HealthyIndoors.com
Learn more about simple, affordable ventilation strategies at: http://Aprilaire.com
Check out the book on testing homes: http://BuildingPerformanceWorkshop.com/homeperformancediagnosticsbook
See more about this 1960's home's retrofit process at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsc2-5fAgMq5lgu0U_wVocxzUPoSq_JKM
Become a member and help support this show: http://Patreon.com/HomeDiagnosisTV
Using Cor-A-Vent SV5, a utility knife, and ForceField Seam Tape, Corbett finishes the rain screen on his family's house to make it ready for cladding with Thermory wood siding.
Check out Cor-a-Vent ventilation products at: http://cor-a-vent.com
More on this build at: http://HomeDiagnosis.tv/atlanta-homestead
To control a home's heat bleed, noise pollution, and moisture issues, making the enclosure continuously insulated helps a lot, especially with a rain screen incorporated. See the details on how Rockwool (aka Roxul) ComfortBoard 80 is installed on our home.
To see the cost-benefit computer model that explains the energy side, watch this: https://youtu.be/aSuPieuKWZI
More on this build at: http://HomeDiagnosis.tv/atlanta-homestead
Check out Rockwool options at: http://Rockwool.com
See 475 High Performance Building Supply tapes at: http://FourSevenFive.com
We researched details on attaching a deck securely without sacrificing insulation continuity, and even consulted with Matt Risinger, until we happened on a solution we loved- funny enough, the makers of the Maine Deck Bracket don't even target high performance homes with exterior insulation in their advertising. But it's exactly what we were looking for.
Learn more about the Deck Bracket at: http://DeckBracket.com
More on this build at: https://HomeDiagnosis.tv/atlanta-homestead
Quick preview of the ease of install for Rockwool ComfortBoard 80. See more on this build at: http://HomeDiagnosis.tv/atlanta-homestead
From Serbian building scientist Atila Novoselac (Prof. Civil, Arch, and Env Engineering at University of Texas-Austin) comes reflections on a Sloan study of microbiology in homes from the Stone Age, which are still constructed today in the Amazon rain forest. Hear what makes modern homes different from someone who's been to the other side, and why modernization itself can be a major building performance problem.
Watch this entire series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsc2-5fAgMq4I_Bjpvmb1Z39Y0uEMGEC9
Join the Building Performance Association: http://building-performance.org
Check out the Building Performance Journal: http://homeenergy.org
Learn more about HOMEChem: https://HomeDiagnosis.tv/homechem
Watch the first-ever TV series about the science of homes: https://HomeDiagnosis.tv
Corbett teams up with Fantech's aerospace engineer and radon system expert Hamid Massali to prove the radon mitigation field works, and find out how much airflow the radon fan will need to exhaust to maintain safe air quality indoors.
More on this PFEDK system at: https://shop.fantech.net/en-US/pfedk--rn--diagnostic--tool--kit/p401891
More on radon's health impacts at: https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/substances/radon/radon-fact-sheet
Corbett and Grace are not joking around- they will diagnose the crap out of the forever home they're building. Here's another example of creative testing that can tell us secrets about predicting and preventing failures in the indoor physics, chemistry, and microbiology of homes. Check out the Cirrus smoke tool, and others demo'd here: https://www.trutechtools.com/Cirrus-CWI200-Wind-Indicator
More on this house and the TV show at: https://HomeDiagnosis.tv/atlanta-homestead