Georgetown University Energy Prize Webinar

We're proud to sponsor the Georgetown University Energy Prize, and here's all the participants need to know about Home Performance!

How to Frame a Tiny House to Withstand Earthquakes + Hurricanes Simultaneously

Corbett explains advanced framing techniques and components for making as strong and as efficient a tiny home (or any home) as possible! Get a quick tour of anchor bolts, hurricane straps and ties, jack and king studs, headers, top and bottom plates.

And come see the Tiny Lab when it's done on its 20 city Proof Is Possible Tour in 2016: http://ProofIsPossible.com

How to Frame Up a House in Two Days (like a Boss)

Corbett and Grace (assisted by lots of family and neighbors) assembled and erected all four walls of the Tiny Lab in two days over Thanksgiving weekend- watch the process accelerated 100x!
Find out more about the Proof Is Possible Tour and where you can see the finished Tiny Lab at: http://ProofIsPossible.com

Wondering where that snazzy song came from?  You can Shazam it or check it out here: http://cdbaby.com/artist/mysteriam
"Velvet Giver" from the album UNMISTAKABLE

If you really want to dig deep check out the music video starring Lennie Johnson, one of the most amazing performing artist we have ever worked with: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=174LvV_qOeE

Tiny Lab Floor Deck and Anchoring System

Corbett demonstrates the anchoring system that ties the wall framing to the trailer of the Tiny Lab, a touring tiny house on wheels. See also the weird lesson learned with having a trailer that's wider than 8'0", and the solution we went with for our tiny house on wheels.

Tiny House Building Lessons Learned

We've been working on the Tiny Lab for almost a full month now, and there are lots of videos still in the queue, but here are the first few glimpses into the world of building a high performance 200 sq. ft. tiny house on wheels:

The Tiny Lab Begins: a Touring Tiny House on Wheels

Grace and I picked up the 24 foot steel trailer that will become the foundation of the Tiny Lab- a touring tiny house on wheels. We drove it 150 miles to the build site, and in this video we point out many of the features of the trailer's construction that will help make it an excellent base for our future home. It will visit 20 cities in 2016 on the Proof Is Possible Tour- you can find out more at http://ProofIsPossible.com

How the Tiny Lab Tour Idea was Born

Welcome to our mind palace!  Typically Grace has her eyes closed and tipped back deep in magical dreaming and Corbett is intensely trying to figure something out with strong gestures. (as you can see in the thumbnail image.)

We wanted to let you in on how this idea came to be!  Our RocketHub campaign ends on Nov. 30th, and while we actually over sold the cities and blew past our original goal we have so many aspects of this tour that could use your support and funding.  Check out the details HERE- www.ProofisPossible.com please share and make a tax deductible contribution today.  THANKS!

The Pro's Guide to City Sponsorship for the Proof Is Possible Tour

Because nothing like the Proof Is Possible Tour has ever been done before, we get a LOT of questions about it. Which we LOVE answering, so keep them coming! But we thought we'd take the bull by the horns and answer some of the HARD questions about what it is, why we're doing it, how City Sponsors work, and why YOU should participate!

FIRST CITIES ON THE TOUR MAP:
San Diego, CA (City Sponsor: United Infrared/Thermal Imaging Conference)
Atlantic City, NJ (City Sponsor: GreenLife Energy Solutions)
Chicago, IL (City Sponsor: Advanced Energy Services)
Dallas/Plano, TX (City Sponsor: Advanced Energy Solutions)
~CLICK HERE TO ADD YOURS NOW!~

OK, here's an 8-minute crash course in putting your city on the map:

'Home Diagnosis' Finally Puts Home Performance Testing on Mainstream TV

Grace and I have been trying to make a TV show about home performance testing for years- we've tried three times so far!  This is how it works traditionally:

1. You get a network executive to want to see you as a couple onscreen because they think you're quirky or weird or otherwise compelling in a I-can't-look-away kind of way
2. You work with a production company and pay out of your own pocket to shoot a 'sizzle reel' that shows off the personality of the hosts
3. You remind yourself and everyone else that your show is about SCIENCE, not about relationship drama and being quirky or weird
4. They remind you that no one cares about the topic in reality TV
5. You feel frustrated and you throw the whole idea in the garbage because you don't want to play their stupid game

So we've decided to make the show ourselves, without asking anyone's permission. We find that works best for us- whether self-publishing a book (Home Performance Diagnostics) or making a feature film (The Other One), it always seems to work perfectly when we don't have someone breathing down our neck to conform to 'the way things get done around here normally.' Here's the show that will actually make it onto mainstream television: HOME DIAGNOSIS.

In 2014, we pushed hard for a show called PRESCRIPTION HOME PERFORMANCE to get made, but it went exactly nowhere. We went to the national RealScreen Summit, a non-fiction television programming conference (yeah, I know!), met with all kinds of networks to pitch the idea, and finally had Science Channel interested until they finally said, "wait, we don't want to compete with HGTV." And that was that. But you can still see what the show was like here:

And way back in 2009, we worked with our friends and client Sandy Gordon to make OUR GREEN COMPANY, which resulted in all of us being told by the Discovery Green channel that 'green' was a fad. Look at these kids- so young, so fresh, and maybe clueless!

Stay tuned for developments on HOME DIAGNOSIS- at the very least, it'll show on PBS just like This Old House does, and at most, it'll be running 24 hours a day on every channel there is.  Probably it'll be somewhere in between!

If you'd like to participate in the making of this show, please reach out to us about it!

Infinite Toolbox: OCT 2015 Building Forensics Mastermind Webinar

Join Corbett as he shows off the advanced building performance testing and data gleaned from the past month's projects.  This month, focus on simple, inexpensive tools that can help get your brain in shape to master building performance- HOBO dataloggers, theodolite photo app and roomscan app, and a great graphical weather forecaster.
Be sure to SUBSCRIBE! http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=greendreamgroup

How to Fix Summertime Heat on Your Top Floor

Hi Corbett-
Finally, I have two solid quotes for air sealing. I have one new concern, however. My finished attic gets really hot in summer, and the A/C dedicated to this attic rarely is able to cool the space below 82 degrees.  From what I have read, besides implementing some kind of reflective roofing material, the only way to keep an attic cool is plenty of airflow.  So, if we air seal the attic and add insulation (which I have read holds and radiates heat in summer ?), is this air sealing initiative going to make my attic unlivable in the summer?
Thanks!
R.L.

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Hey there R-
First thing to do is stop thinking about your top floor as an attic of any type.  Yes, it used to be an attic, but now it's supposed to be inside the enclosure, so let's call it what it is- your valuable living space.
Not only will airsealing NOT going to make your top floor (finished attic) hotter in summer, it is in fact the ONLY THING that will make it cooler up there.  What's happening is called reverse stack effect: your air conditioners are creating cooler, drier, DENSER air, which sinks to the bottom of the house. All the air conditioning wants to be in the bottom of the house at the same time, so it creates a higher pressure down there, and there's a low pressure at the top of the house.
The cool, heavy air escapes through gaps and cracks in the bottom of the house, and the house now needs air, so it breathes in at the most depressurized (and also hottest) place- at the very top.  So all the air that's in your top floor rooms is coming from the attic spaces and the roof cavity.
Lastly, it's a total myth that attic ventilation will keep an attic cool- #1, attic ventilation is actually for venting MOISTURE, not heat; and #2, you don't actually care how hot it gets in your attic, since it's not part of your house.  The roofing manufacturers used to void their warranties if the attic got too hot, but they don't do that anymore.  You're free!
For a more detailed look at attic airsealing, watch this:

How to Master the Multi-family Blower Door Test

Hello Corbett,
A need to run a Blower Door test at a 3 house complex here in Greece. The houses are in the row, this means that normally I should have three Blower door devices, in order to measure the house in the middle. But I have only one Blower Door!
Additionally, I will need to hand over a written document (report), in order to certify the construction to the Passive House Institute. Do you have any suggestions?
Best and thanks in advance,
Stefanos

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Hey Stefanos-
Great question! You do not, in fact, need multiple blower doors, because you actually want to include the unit-to-unit air leakage.  The measurement of all uncontrolled air leakage to outdoors and to other townhouses is a valuable one, and it should be the goal especially when building to Passive House (or PassivHaus) standards.  Watch this video for a visual explanation: