Engineering a TOURING Tiny House: HVAC

Tiny home performance is made even more perfect in our third presentation in this tiny house engineering series! Watch as I walk you through the design and engineering of the heating, cooling, dehumidification, bath and kitchen exhaust, fresh air ventilation, and water heating systems in the Tiny Lab.
If you stay tuned to the end, you get to hear me realize I'm a total idiot! Fun stuff!

How to Test a Kitchen Exhaust Hood

Let's do building diagnostics! Watch me demonstrate the commissioning of a kitchen exhaust fan in a big new apartment building. Just because the label says it sucks air doesn't make it so. Proof Is Possible- ask for it. Using a Testo 417 large vane anemometer.

Mystery #1: Solve the Air Conditioner Problem!

Welcome to the new series where you solve it yourself! Watch me demonstrate a common problem happening in a brand new home- will you be able to diagnose the problem and prescribe the solution?  In heating and cooling, airflows and pressures are the most critical and least understood factors for performance.

Engineering a TOURING Tiny House: Airsealing, Insulation, Weather Barriers

Grace and Corbett Lunsford walk through the process of engineering their Tiny Lab, a tiny house taking them on the Proof Is Possible US Tour! Tonight's episode is on designing the barriers to heat bleed, air leakage, and water leakage.
WORKING TINY LAB SPECS: Floor 2x6 with R-21 EcoBatt insulation. Walls 2x4 with R-15 EcoBatt insulation. Ceiling 2x6 with R-21 EcoBatt insulation. Air leakage down to 2 ACH50 or less.

I struggle with frustration, and you might be able to hear it in this presentation.  I'm frustrated that as a relative newbie in the homebuilding industry, I'm constantly seeing work done thoughtlessly, or at least with not as much thought as work deserves. Sorry if I come across as an a-hole, I promise I'm not- I just care a whole heck of a lot, and I spend all day in buildings where my caring comes back to haunt me.

PODCAST #73: Drying Air vs. Drying Stuff

Today Corbett is psyched to again talk with Lew Harriman, the master of dehumidification and author of lots of books on moisture control, about guess what! Lew takes us on a tour of macro-drying philosophy, down to the nitty gritty of ERVs and hairdryers and wet spots on your carpet. Sponsored by Corbett's Fall Fast Track 6-week mastermind course in free market home performance.

To download this episode or hear others, check the show out on iTunes or at BuildingPerformancePodcast.com

What Clients Want: AUGUST 2015 Building Forensics Mastermind

First, let me make the world a better place by saying this: DO NOT BUY AN ATTIC FAN. ESPECIALLY A SOLAR POWERED ONE.  Fans that suck air out of the attic through the roof (not whole house fans) are COMPLETELY THE WRONG THING to fix the problem you're having. No matter what the problem is, it's definitely the wrong thing to use. Now, enjoy learning why!

First Wednesday of every month, I demonstrate all the advanced testing used for last month's awesome clients. I actually re-worked this entire webinar the night before because of a job that day that knocked my freaking socks off- solving a chimney backdrafting problem with some super sucky solar attic fans! A few other jobs are sprinkled in, to add spice.

HOW TO EXPLAIN HOME PERFORMANCE USING 4-3-2-1

For my own company to be successful in the home performance industry, I strive to distill complex concepts and practices to their most essential and basic elements.  This does two things:

1. It enables a professional to keep a cool, clear head when faced with complicated challenges in the field
2. It helps frame the way we talk to our clients about our work (clients, professional or otherwise, tend to tune out when we get technical)

In the interest of keeping it simple, therefore, let's take a tour through all of Home Performance Contracting in a 4-3-2-1 approach. Here it is:

THE 4 ELEMENTS

I describe Home Performance to my clients, and to myself, with four basic elements:

1. Heat Flow (which everyone thinks they understand, though they generally don't)
2. Air Flow & Pressure (two sides of the same coin, which very few building professionals think about deeply, even in HVAC)
3. Moisture (damaging the home's durability more effectively than almost anything)
4. Air Quality and Safety (including carbon monoxide, electricity, and structure)

This list is in increasing order of importance.  You'll notice that the two elements which have to do with energy efficiency are at the least important end of the list.  This is why your title is better defined as a Home Performance Expert than an Energy Efficiency Expert.  People will continue to call it 'Energy Auditing' when you're testing, but if you can keep reminding them that you're doing so much more than saving energy, you make yourself more valuable.

THE 3 STEPS AND 3 RECOMMENDATIONS

Before you whip out your tools and get to work, always remember that your most valuable tool is your own experience and your senses, and taking time to think.  There are three stages to any really valuable activity in this field (or any field, as far as I'm concerned):

1. Inspection
2. Diagnostics
3. Recommendations for Improvement

What you see, hear, smell, and feel in the home (or taste, but please don't let your client see you) is often the most valuable testing you perform, and it can tell you a lot about what you expect to find in the diagnostic stage. Never use your testing tools until you know what you're looking for (for example, if the A/C isn't running well, discovering that the coils are filthy should NOT lead to superheat and subcooling testing- you should clean the coils first).

The diagnostic tests are what separates a pro from an opinion-giver, and the tragedy is that not only are diagnostics seldom performed in the HVAC field, most HVAC techs are not even supplied with the equipment or training necessary!

Recommendations should only be offered once performance diagnostics have been run, so you and your client can be sure that the solution offered will solve a pinpointed problem.

There are generally always three recommendations you'll make in any home:

1. Air Sealing
2. Insulation
3. HVAC (including anything that heats, cools, or moves air)

Air leakage will defeat any insulation or HVAC improvement you make, so make sure to always start there.  Not only that, but it's cheap, straightforward, never needs maintaining or replacing, and doesn't use energy over the long-term.

Insulation, likewise, is inexpensive and efficient, and must be consistent for the HVAC to function properly.

Lastly, the HVAC itself must be properly sized, selected, and installed, AND THEN VERIFIED WITH PERFORMANCE TESTING. Everyone thinks they do good work- most are woefully mistaken.  The pros who know, know because they tested their work before they left. Those pros don't waste money on callbacks.

THE 2 SYSTEMS

As far as the home performance professional is concerned, there are two main systems in any home:

1. The Envelope (air sealing and insulation)
2. The HVAC (anything that moves heat or air within the home)

The important thing to remember is that the Envelope will always defeat the HVAC if they're working at cross purposes.

THE 1 GOAL OF HOME PERFORMANCE

Since we're not talking about energy efficiency, as already mentioned, and we're not talking about sustainability or 'green' stuff, what ARE we talking about? CONTROL.

Control is the goal. If you control all 4 ELEMENTS by using the 3 STEPS to make 3 RECOMMENDATIONS on the 2 SYSTEMS, then you've achieved a high performance home, regardless of what the occupant chooses to do with the space.

And the only way to demonstrate control is with PERFORMANCE TESTING. All building codes across the country will require performance testing (at least of ductwork) by 2017, due to a requirement of the ARRA funding of 2009.

Eventually, homeowners will understand that they can demand a guarantee on any contracting work they pay for, and there will be companies who can continue to profit in that business.  There will also be companies who have never tested their work, and find out that it doesn't pass performance testing- under the immediate pressure of performance-based guarantees, many of those companies will not survive.  Make sure your company does excellent work before your clients ask to see the proof!

PODCAST #72 STUFF TO BUILD WITH: Ken Levenson of 475 Building Supply

Today Corbett talks with Ken Levenson of 475 High Performance Building Supply about Passive House gaining a foothold around the world, what it takes to build for performance, and why the materials and components have to be shipped across the ocean to get to us. Sponsored by Fall Fast Track- the 6 week distance mastermind course for profiting from performance in the private market.

To download this episode or hear others, check the show out on iTunes or at BuildingPerformancePodcast.com

APT Reports Feature Development: SUMMER 2015

Home performance guru Corbett Lunsford shows off the upcoming release of APT Reports 2.0, which goes beyond the performance testing required by the basic BPI and HERS certifications. Biggest leap forward: a simplified heating & cooling delivery test report, which will be shown in use in an upcoming instructional video on this channel!

Holes in the House: JULY 2015 Building Forensics Mastermind

In the past month, I've investigated and tested a lot of homes, and made a lot of home improvement recommendations in each of them- it's always hard to boil it down to 30 minutes of material, but here's this month's crazy fast crash course through a few of my favorite jobs that used scientific testing to help homeowners, architects, developers, and contractors get their homes under control!

Every month's series episode is on the First Wednesday at 1pm Central, and it's always totally free!  Sign up now and be reminded at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/rt/3137914191179677698

Why Fall Fast Track Stands Alone in Building Pro Training

Like anybody else in any other profession, construction pros are expected to learn new things and get better at our work. Dirty secret: some of us don't do that at all. Amazing opportunity: those of us who DO get better and better leave the others in our dust, and we get not only our own loyal clients, we get theirs too.

I love my work, and I get paid to learn every day- it's incredible that there's always more to learn, no matter how deep you dig. When I first trained to become a HERS Rater, my instructor told me on day 3: "You ask too many questions- you just need to shut up and do what I tell you for the rest of the week."

I knew then and there that I would never be that guy. We need to ask MORE questions, not less, and we all walk around pretending we have a handle on what's going on when we usually don't have a clue! That feeling in high school- the one when you know you didn't do your homework and you're about to be found out- many of us live with that feeling every day in our work. It doesn't have to be that way. Now there's FALL FAST TRACK.

Proof Is Possible, and performance testing is the way to get there in buildings. It's a funny thing to be where I am in the construction industry: still a relative newbie at only 7 years in, but also one of the only people with both 7 years experience AND daily performance testing experience, still. Most of my colleagues at this level have primarily taken on management work, and don't actually crawl around in homeowners' attics and crawlspaces. Many home performance experts out there do not lug blower doors around or drill test ports in ductwork- they manage employees who do, or write about it, or make policy decisions for energy efficiency programs. I still do all my own hands-on work every day, and it makes me a better building scientist and teacher.

Which brings me to the free market. My hourly fee is on par with attorneys in many places, and that's because I don't just bring brains to the table- I bring tons of scientific gear, too. Anyone with both can earn a good living in home performance contracting, but you have to get out from under the umbrella of energy rebate programs to do it.

I attended a think tank recently, all about 'how to bring home performance contracting into the mainstream private market'. On the last day, I came right out and asked how many of the 40 building science experts in the room already worked entirely in the private market; and I was the only one. It made me feel both proud and like I must be an idiot for not taking the public money. But mostly proud.

I've learned to help homeowners solve problems and get more control over their homes, and earn a good living while I'm at it. And so can you. FALL FAST TRACK happens just once a year, and is limited to 100 pros. My goal is to have at least one home performance ninja in every market in the U.S., and if it's not you, it'll be your competition. And then there's Australia, Europe, Asia, and Africa to work on. Am I tired yet? Hell no, I'm fired up about it!

All we need to do is get the client, the homeowner/homebuyer, to understand what they should expect from anyone in the construction industry, and they'll naturally seek out the masterminds. It's worked for me. It can work for you. Let's do this.

CLICK TO LEARN ALL ABOUT FALL FAST TRACK NOW!

18th Century Basement Inspection

Welcome to Corbett's oldest basement, a 1798 Boston dual-level nature space complete with open soil, trees, cobblestones, and magical feelings. Home performance is always about solving problems and minimizing risk, and this old house has no problem dealing with the basement's risk without any help at all- so far.