First
Austin "Houses That Work" Seminar a Huge Success
"Houses That Work" provided participants with a good overview from
building-science expert, Gord Cooke, P.E., about how to design and
construct homes in the specific climate of Central Texas, to ensure comfort,
efficiency, durability, health and safety.
Almost a third of the attendees were affiliated with the Green Building
Program. Mark Lind, a designer with CG&S Design Build was gratified that his
company sent six people-the workshop record. According to Mark, it's critical
that everyone in the company understand the value of building science
principles and how to apply them. "You don't have to go by rules-of-thumb, as
we've commonly done in the past," Mark said. "With current software, we can
do accurate calculations and test the results in the field."
Alex Wolniewitz, of Constructora y Diseno, said that his company will be
making changes in how they install flashing on their projects. They have
already contacted their mechanical contractor to let him know that he will
need to be part of design team meetings in the future.
Giving the perspective of the mechanical
contractor, attendee Michael Scher, of All
Year Heating & Cooling, was excited to have architect
and builder attendees hearing about how they need to design
and build so that a good mechanical system is even possible.
As a strong proponent of installing mechanical equipment and
ductwork within the thermal envelope, Michael was glad to
have someone besides himself-i.e. the out-of-town expert-promote
sealed attics as an excellent solution.
After finding out the hard way how much
of the information promoted nation-wide as the correct way
to build turned out to be completely wrong for our hot, humid
climate, attendees welcomed information based on sound science
and field testing. Given the pent-up demand in our area for
this kind of training, we hope EEBA
will bring "Houses That Work" to Austin again in the coming
year.
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