Blog » building science

Feedback is Good

Shawna HendersonNovember 27, 2014

It's always gratifying to hear that you're doing good things --  Jon Eakes did an article on web-based learning for trades in the November issue of the Canadian Home Builder Magazine that talks about the long-recognized need for more trades training in building science and energy efficiency measures that relates...

Shawna Henderson is Home Energy Magazine's New Canadian Correspondent!

Shawna HendersonOctober 02, 2014

Hey hey -- you are in the virtual presence of the new Canadian correspondent for Home Energy Magazine. Tell me your big reno/new build/zero energy/innovative cold climate house stories, peeps!Will provide news on events and activities around the committees and teams we're involved with at the Net Zero Energy Coalition...

A deeper discussion of deeper energy efficiency measures

Shawna HendersonSeptember 25, 20142 comments

    Here's a good read from Nate Adams from Energy Smart Ohio, on problems associated with energy efficiency programs, single-action bias and low-hanging fruit. It comes with the above GREAT graph showing the fallacy of diminishing returns on energy efficiency measures. The red line indicates what we think happens...

Building Science and HVAC stuff

Shawna HendersonSeptember 16, 2014

There is this disconnect in our industry. It's around building science and the ways that all the systems in the house work together or against each other. It looks like this: evaluators and raters know about house-as-a-system and can look at a house and see some solutions and fixes that...

Explaining Concepts without Using Your Hands.

Shawna HendersonSeptember 11, 2014

There's a fine line to walk between simplifying information and dumbing it down so that it's useless. Concepts need to be understood. That's the challenge for anyone in training, but especially so for on-demand training, where there is no direct contact between a learner and the trainer. In face-to-face situations,...

Producing online training

Shawna HendersonJune 06, 2014

We've been in the depths of production of our own courses for several months now, and we are now working with a few clients on some custom courses. We've ironed out a lot of the kinks along the way. Key to a successful and on-time deliverable? A strong project manager...

ACI 2014

Shawna HendersonApril 30, 2014

Motown is full of building science wonks and home performance fanatics. I'm loving it. X

More Thoughts About Core Competencies in the Value Chain.

Shawna HendersonMarch 25, 2014

How do we draw up guidelines for identifying core competencies in home performance/energy efficiency/building science/green building across the many segments and sectors of the home construction and renovation industry? The other week I posted a down and dirty graphic showing most of the players and the top-level relationships. That chart could use some refinement, but it gives the basic picture. Holy complexity, Batman! X

Why we need good training in building science

Shawna HendersonMarch 18, 2014

There are lots of horror stories out there about mold, rot, stink, decay, health problems and even death associated with energy efficiency measures and airtight houses. Most of them come from the early days of 'live' experiments where good things were done, with all the right intentions but only half of the concept was in place...house-as-a-system was not the by-word of the late 70s/early 80s homebuilding/renovating world. And in many instances where new horror stories appear, it's pretty obvious to those who are conversant in building science that 'house-as-a-system' is ***still*** not the by-word of the homebuilding/renovating world.X

Value Chain and Core Competencies

Shawna HendersonMarch 05, 20141 comment

Training in building science and energy efficiency is essential to moving the house building industry forward into Net Zero Energy, successfully. Many people in our industry do not see the entire value chain. It’s a complicated one – easy to see in this diagram how the home building industry is a hot, fragmented mess of experts and expertise, completely at odds with itself sometimes.

Online training and core competencies

Shawna HendersonMarch 03, 2014

Building a self-directed online training program is a real challenge...it's hard to determine what level of understanding your audience starts out with because you have no interaction with them. Unlike face-to-face training, you have no chance to gear the course to the learners on the fly, or offer other resources or extra explanations. In any case, when you are creating a program for learning, core competencies are what you want to establish and improve. A core competency is fundamental knowledge, ability, or expertise in a specific subject area or skill set. There needs to be a way of benchmarking understanding of the basic concepts so that you can create a foundation for a useful learning program.X

Blue House Energy Launches Building Science Basics Online

Shawna HendersonFebruary 27, 2014

Toot Toot!! We sent out a press release/announcement today launching Building Science Basics, which is now eligible for BPI Continuing Education Credits. The full press release can be found here.Here's the intro...  Building Science Basics course enables builders to hone their knowledge of building science and energy efficiency and lower...

Fragments and knowledge gaps

Shawna HendersonFebruary 21, 2014

BHE is based on translating the knowledge we have about building science and energy efficiency in housing into a format that is accessible to those already working in the home building industry. Labourers, tradespeople, renovators and contractors, as well as those who are less hands-on but still involved in the industry: office managers, internal sales teams etc. As a set of crafts and trades that really grew into a commodity-based industry only after World War II, housing is still finding its feet as a cohesive industry. The many trades and interests that come together to build a house all have their own silos of expertise. As energy prices and environmental concerns have created the need for energy efficiency measures and green building issues, the fragmentation of the industry has continued. Now not only do we have builders, tradespeople, contractors and inspectors, appraisers and mortgage lenders, but a whole layer of techno-weenie evaluators, assessors, trainers, designers, and consultants (yes, I am wearing my appropriate hats). X