It’s an oft-noted conundrum in the North American home performance industry: we know how to build decent buildings, we have a solid network of contractors willing to do competent work on both the new and existing buildings, but we lack the reliable demand that would signal we’re achieving any significant market transformation. In some up-markets, it’s easy to see the outlines of success, but in many regions it feels as if the home performance industry is all dressed up with nowhere to go.

In researching the first of these tools — certification of a home’s performance — we’ve seen that some of most hopeful work is being done by the organization known as Pearl Home Certification, based out of Vienna, Virginia. I spoke recently with Pearl President and COO Robin LeBaron about their organization. I think that their success bodes well for the future of sustainable housing.

Chris Dorsi

Habitat X Journal: Help us understand how the Pearl Certification works in the marketplace. Who buys it and who uses it?

Robin LeBaron: Pearl certification allows homeowners to capture the value of their investments in home performance improvements and renewables at the time of home sale. Pearl has two channels to market: building contractors, and real estate brokers and agents. Contractors can offer Pearl Certification as a new value for their homeowners. For the real estate agent, and their sellers, we provide a marketing package that helps them differentiation the home, and themselves, in competitive markets.

HXJ: It sounds like a great idea to evaluate and certify the performance of homes. Yet we’ve seen over and over that North American homeowners don’t seem to care about the bloody details of their home’s operation. It’s as if data is in long supply these days, but the most folks have a hard time wading through it all. How are you addressing this apparent apathy towards home performance?

RLB: In communicating with homebuyers, our goal is to make our reports as interesting and exciting as possible. We use a lot of color and large photos in our reports, for example, because we’ve found that it appeals to the majority of buyers. We’ve found that homeowners have two buckets for home improvements: things that are sexy and that they think have re-sale value, and things that they just want fixed. Our goal is to get everything related to home performance into bucket #1.

We’ve created a point system of up to 1200 for the perfect home, with sub-totals in several categories — there is a lot of detail in there. But our reports also provide homeowners with higher-level comparative information. So we tell them that they have R-49 insulation in their attic (“what’s that?” many will ask) but also that it’s among the 3% best-insulated attics in the state of Virginia.

HXJ: So much for the simple side. Please tell us more about the difficult details, the technical stuff that professional users can use.

RLB: We build what we call asset detail pages. Each takes up to half a page, with color photo. Some, like HVAC, are longer. We anticipate that relatively few readers will drill down to that, but some will be interested — and the appraisers certainly will. It’s all in there.

HXJ: You’ve mentioned appraisers as a primary target for your service. That has often been a hard industry to reach. How are you doing that?

RLB: For starters, our data can now auto-populate the Residential Green and Energy Efficient Addendum (created by the Appraisal Institute). This allows the appraiser to recognize high-performing home features and incorporate them into their opinion of value. We commissioned an appraiser study, and found that Pearl Certified homes sold for 5% more than comparable homes — IF they used the Pearl marketing package. One case study: a buyer had made a low offer, assuming that the property would NOT appraise, but the seller got the home certified and it appraised at the asking price. The seller captured the value he had created

HXJ: Tell us more about your ties with the real estate industry.

RLB: Last year Pearl was one of fewer than ten organizations selected from hundreds of applicants to take part in the National Association of Realtor’s REach technology accelerator program. It’s been an incredible experience for us — through the program’s mentorship program we learned all sorts of things we didn’t know we didn’t know about the real estate industry. REach has also given us access to the NAR’s leadership and to its million-plus members

HXJ: It’s an age-old question in the business of energy modeling: asset versus operational rating? Does Pearl assess just the installed assets like insulation and equipment, or does it consider actual consumption history?

RLB: At present we are not using utility data. We will be commissioning a study to analyze homes that we’ve certified to see how they perform. We DO take into account some features that contribute to baseload, like the “big four white boxes” (washer, dryer, range, refrigerator), and we know that those will affect the consumption in predictable ways. The fifth box, the old refrigerator in the garage with the beer in it, we still need to incorporate into the system.

HXJ: How does the Pearl Certification relate to other existing certifications?

RLB: We’ve certified homes with HERS ratings and homes built to ENERGY STAR standards: our reports highlight these ratings and certifications when they exist. But homeowners or real estate agents find that they don’t get any marketing support from most other certification systems. We can really make a difference there in highlighting that the home has already received a certification or rating.

HXJ: This is all very hopeful. What’s next?

RLB: We’re rapidly expanding our Contractor Advantage Network and bringing new real estate brokerages into the fold. The winds of industry have changed and are blowing at our backs. We’ve now certified over 1000 homes in six states. We should hit 2000–3000 homes by the end of this year. We aim to certify up to a million in year six, or 1–2% of the homes in the U.S. by 2024.

Robin shared much of this information at the 2018 Habitat X Conference, where he joined a panel discussion to discuss real estate valuation.

Certifying Home Performance was originally published in Habitat X Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

When I work with insulation contractors and I ask them how often they do Grade III work (insulation installed with “substantial defects,” according to RESNET standards), they always reply “never.” Whenever I am a part of or hear these conversations, my mind moves to another conversation, where someone told me that the difference between an apprentice and a master is that a master knows how to mask their mistakes. This makes me wonder, with so many masters of their respective crafts, what is being covered up?

If you ask if a home or building is built to code, you should get a “yes” from the builder. However, if you think about what it means to build to code — specifically the energy code — it’s a minimum standard. That means the builder gets a D instead of an A. Do they still build the best house now?

A quick search through any homebuilder’s website or brochure will reveal all the buzzwords the average homebuyer wants to hear, like “granite,” “tile,” or “hardwood.” It’s easy to know when words like this are a reality — you can see it. A few builders have ventured into using terms like “sustainable” (what does that word mean, anyway?), or “efficient,” but then don’t mention how they plan to be any more sustainable than the next builder. Fewer still are actually sustainable or efficient, and if they are, even fewer will be able to market those features. Of course, it’s tough to make what building science nerds love marketable. You can’t see those features once the house is finished, and some of the most important parts of a house — and trades responsible for that work — are rushed and undercut. Our focus seems to be finish rather than durability or comfort.

Someone told me that the difference between an apprentice and a master is that a master knows how to mask their mistakes. This makes me wonder, with so many masters of their respective crafts, what is being covered up?

I’m not saying that homes today aren’t completely durable. There are millions of old houses across the United States still standing that will stand for decades more. But most of those homes aren’t what they could be. The construction industry seems reluctant to change. We’ve built the exact same way for generations. Sure, we have new tools and new building products, but the actual process remains unchanged. The majority of builders I work with seem hesitant to work with new energy codes, not because they don’t want to build a great house, but because it means that their process has to change to accommodate it. Despite the science and economics behind the code (the requirements of which are the only part of the house that pays for itself), it forces change, and therefore a dismissal of that change and its importance.

Why the hesitation from builders, though? Are they afraid of adding extra cost and not being able to sell those efficiencies down the road when the house is finished? Are they afraid we’ll see a huge increase in time it takes to build? We’ve seen success with affordable multi-family projects in Philadelphia built to Passive House standards for roughly the same cost of a conventional code-built project. All it took was changing the process and how it was built.

Can you imagine building anything else the way that we build homes?

I’m going to build you a car. When you buy a lot in a subdivision where other “cars” are being built, and you pick the design and type of car you want, I’ll go to work on your site: a muddy field. For the next couple of months, I’ve got different contractors in and out. They’re masters of their craft, I’m told, so there is nothing to worry about.

But then there’s an accidental scheduling conflict, so one contractor has to undo and then redo another contractor’s work — but we are still moving forward. My contractor who does exterior finishing hit a delay, so the shell of the car is left exposed to ultraviolet rays and rain for three weeks longer than the manufacturer’s recommendation, but it eventually gets covered and looks good. Everything leading up to this point is just to satisfy code anyway before we get to what really brings in the money: leather seats and a cool touchscreen in the dash.

Sounds pretty ridiculous, doesn’t it?

Of course it does. Cars are built on an assembly line in a factory, like many other consumer goods we use every day: pens, televisions, ovens, and those Yeti coolers that everyone goes on and on about.

Enter production building

No, not the type we’re used to seeing. I mean in a factory. Call it panelized, modular, pre-fab, site-assembled, or whatever else you want, there has been an uptick in interest in the last couple of years and we are starting to see more and more of it in the market. Just last year, Marriott Hotels increased their use of modular builds by 13%. Along with Marriott, other players, such as Katerra and Phoenix Haus, have entered this market segment, and some established builders, like Vermod, have been given new life.

This type of building has major benefits: in a controlled factory environment, you can have greater quality control. Building assemblies can be built with fewer people, and if they don’t pass the manufacturing standards, they don’t leave the facility. With an in-line and repeatable manufacturing process, companies can reduce material usage and thereby reduce their overall waste, reducing the need for on-site dumpsters emptied every week during a build. Since a lot of the actual construction work is done inside, it ultimately takes less time to construct the building in the field.

Panelized construction is one reason the Passive House projects in Philadelphia were able to reduce cost. Wall assemblies that already had utilities, mechanicals, and insulation in place showed up on site and were put together with fewer workers — in days instead of weeks. Once in place, they were ready to install the roof — a portion of a home that has been built in factories for years now — and begin finish work. Just like that, one project showed a scalable example of changing the way we build for greater efficiencies, and did so in a faster timeframe, despite the current labor shortage.

Shipping these pre-finished panelized assemblies, however, can be expensive. The thicker the wall, for example, the more insulation you can add, but since most insulation works by trapping air, you would be paying to ship more air in those assemblies. So there could be geographical cost-effectiveness limitations.

There is also the potential issue of grading the building. RESNET, LEED, the International Living Future Institute and many others certify the efficiency of homes and buildings based on several criteria in the field. But despite regional limitations, pre-fab construction could benefit production builders in major metropolitan areas, and with a certification for production — e.g., knowing what is in the walls — field verification could actually be sped up over conventionally built homes.

If pre-fab construction begins to take off in the US, what will our tradespeople do?

The construction industry doesn’t really like change, so these shifts could take years. There is still plenty of room to grow our skilled labor numbers, though, and advance the industry to be on the forefront of positive change. The new “starter home” is still unaffordable to many in my generation, and fewer buyers are willing to “trade-up” to a new home. Because of that, there has been steady growth for the last several years in remodel and DIY spending, and those numbers are expected to grow.

There are approximately 137 million existing homes in the US built to yesterday’s standards that could use a little more than a facelift. My generation (Y) and the one coming up next (Z) are beginning to care more and more about indoor air quality, efficiency, and sustainability. If I were a contractor or a builder, I would look at expanding my remodel portfolio by educating myself on how the house works as an entire system. Beyond air-sealing attics and dense-packing walls, there is tremendous opportunity for education and sales in remodels: removing dropped soffits and recirculating range hoods for exhausting hoods in kitchen remodels, moisture removal in bath remodels, and rainwater management for deck, patio, landscaping or roof work. The list goes on. We are on the front of a perfect storm for retrofit and remodel contractors to expand their business and be MVPs in their respective markets.

Pre-fab and site-assembled construction can greatly reduce waste, energy consumption, and alleviate several construction woes, but it will be a long time before it takes over the ever-expanding US housing market — if ever. Even if pre-fab were to start taking chunks out of our housing market, custom and regional builders will still have a presence. No matter how this all shakes out, we still need to advocate for tradespeople, and champion proper building science and construction education to move our industry forward. There is no magic bullet for products or process just yet. The best ideas and products are useless if they are not installed or executed properly by tradespeople who are willing to not only do the right thing, but to continue to learn and grow in their career as new information and technologies become available.

Clint Shireman is a 2018 Habitat X Fellow.

How Assembly-Line Innovation Can Shape the Future of Sustainable Housing was originally published in Habitat X Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Building science efforts applied to the residential construction industry to date have largely helped those who can purchase high-performance options to lower energy bills and increase comfort. Occupants of affordable housing are often neglected due to these additional costs, which is unfortunate since low-income residents include some of the most vulnerable members of our society, such as families with children and senior citizens. These people need affordable, comfortable and healthier places to live as much as anyone. This article will present ideas for higher-quality affordable housing by sharing successes and challenges from the SystemVision program administered by Advanced Energy in North Carolina.

Over the years, many affordable and low-income housing projects have been built throughout US without much consideration for tighter envelopes, ventilation, or other health, energy and comfort measures. When these projects do require increased building performance, contractors who bid on them often do so without knowing the standards, which sometimes causes them to under-bid. This can make it difficult to pass inspections conducted by HERS Raters or other third-party auditors.

Basic living costs such as utilities make up a considerable portion of the total income for low-income residents. These people need higher-performing homes more than anyone, not only to save money, but to live comfortably and improve air quality. Children and seniors are especially sensitive to the effects of an unhealthy and uncomfortable living environment on their respiratory systems. In addition, healthy homes offer the potential save occupants money in medical expenses and reduce the burden on our healthcare system.

A model that works

One affordable-housing program that has shown positive results is SystemVision. Operated by Advanced Energy in Raleigh, N.C., since 2001, it includes participants across the state. Currently, SystemVision is the only guaranteed-energy and comfort program for affordable housing in the nation. It has roots in the Build Back Better campaign that Advanced Energy conducted after the devastating floods left by Hurricane Floyd in 1999.

For almost two years, Advanced Energy taught builders and local officials how to dry and safely renovate flooded homes, and how to build high-performance, low-energy new homes when the buildings could not be saved. This experience showed that affordable-housing builders and developers were looking for ways to improve the quality of their houses and make them more affordable, prioritizing energy efficiency. They needed clear standards, technical assistance with modifying construction processes and, of course, a financial incentive. Greater comfort and better indoor air quality became a positive side effect of building more energy-efficient homes.

In 2002, the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency became the major partner in SystemVision, providing the program with access to more than one-third of the affordable units built in the state. More importantly, NCHFA committed the financial incentive builders and developers needed to participate. Today, that partnership has resulted in the construction of over 5,125 affordable high-performance homes. (The current rate of construction is approximately 300 per year.) Statewide, more than 60 affordable-housing developers participate in SystemVision, including Habitat for Humanity affiliates, local governments, community development corporations and a host of nonprofit organizations. According to Advanced Energy, an analysis of energy billing data in 2008 showed that the average savings per home was approximately 15% of the total bill, or about 30% of heating and cooling compared to code-built homes.

More than 80 percent of the homes financed by NCHFA through its community-based homebuyer assistance loan pool programs are SystemVision certified. NCHFA provides gap financing to low-income homebuyers through special mortgage products. The term “gap financing” refers to a short-term loan to meet an immediate need until sufficient funds to finance the longer-term financial need can be secured. Through SystemVision, NCHFA also provides a $3,500 to 4,500 reimbursement to nonprofits and local governments for each home developed through the loan pools that meets SystemVision guidelines. Homes that receive a second approved green-building certification are eligible for an additional $1,000.

Issuing the guarantee

Energy Usage

Using RESNET-approved software, Advanced Energy conducts a plan review on each house plan to estimate energy usage for heating and cooling. For two years, Advanced Energy guarantees the energy required to heat and cool the building will not exceed this usage, which generally falls between $25 and $35 per month. If a home exceeds its guaranteed usage at the end of the year — which is rare — Advanced Energy pays the homeowner the difference.

Advanced Energy also guarantees the comfort of the homeowner for two years. Comfort is defined as a temperature differential of no greater than plus or minus three degrees from the thermostat location to the center of any conditioned room within the zone. Should a comfort question arise, an Advanced Energy agent — either staff or a trained local contractor — will evaluate the situation. If one or more of the trades are determined to be responsible, they will pay to remedy the situation. If the program is found to be responsible, Advanced Energy bears the costs of remediation.

Standards

SystemVision standards are derived from national standards developed by Advanced Energy for Masco’s Environments for Living program, and represent a blend of state-of-the-art performance and real-world requirements for the homebuilder and trades. Standards cover airtightness and framing, ventilation and moisture management, insulation and windows, HVAC sizing, installation and duct tightness, pressure balancing, combustion safety and appliances. As building codes are updated, SystemVision evaluates and revises program standards to stay ahead of codes.

Technical Assistance

One clear lesson that Advanced Energy has learned in almost two decades of helping builders build high-performance homes is that most builders need substantial technical assistance to make required changes to their purchasing, construction and warranty processes. Through SystemVision, Advanced Energy operates an ongoing training program that ensures newly enrolled builders have access to a local infrastructure of subcontractors and raters who can help them meet the standards. Advanced Energy staff works closely with new builders to ease the transition and then turns over the relationship to that local infrastructure as quickly as possible.

Quality Control

Quality control, training and technical assistance are purposefully blurred throughout the course of planning and construction, with Advanced Energy staff and local infrastructure involved at every step. Advanced Energy also provides a statewide database to help raters perform the quality control functions required by SystemVision and ENERGY STAR. Having a small number of experts working to improve standards, processes and training materials is a large part of what makes this program successful. Builders fill out a concise checklist before inspections and send it to their inspector or HERS Rater. The inspector uses the same checklist while on-site. Processes like this help keep everyone on the same page.

Now what?

Like most programs, funding is the largest hurdle. North Carolina is fortunate to have the NCHFA as a funding partner, but those funds can only go so far. Other stakeholders can also benefit from contributing to affordable-housing programs. Energy Efficiency for All, a collaborative project between several national energy and housing stakeholders, has published several documents that explain various ways utilities can get involved with affordable housing. Regulators typically require energy-saving measures from utilities to some degree, and it makes sense to target the residential sector to shift or shave peak consumption. Utilities could partner with existing affordable-housing efforts to help fund initiatives and increase success.

Health insurance providers represent another possible stakeholder. As previously stated, a healthier home for a low-income resident typically can result in fewer trips to the doctor or hospital, resulting in fewer payouts from health insurance companies. However, many affordable-housing residents do not have health insurance. This could open up an opportunity to partner with other government funding sources outside of HUD that focus more on health.

The main frustration that arises when it comes to improving performance in affordable housing is profit, or lack thereof. At this point, it is not a large income generator for bidding contractors and subs. To be successful, it typically requires careful, deliberate program management and coordination by people who truly care about outcomes for participants and understand the economic and societal advantages of high-performance affordable housing. The focus must remain on the occupants’ quality of life. To push the movement forward, program managers must think outside the box when it comes to finding partners to help fund a building-science-based affordable-housing program and make it work for everyone involved. Fortunately, SystemVision offers a tried-and-true certification model with nearly two decades of success in bringing the benefits of building performance to those who need it most.

Sam Myers is a 2018 Habitat X Fellow. He would like to give special thanks to Maria Mauceri and the SystemVision team at Advanced Energy for their assistance with this article.

SystemVision: Where Building Science Meets Affordable Housing was originally published in Habitat X Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

One in four Americans listen to podcasts. Of those who do, almost eighty percent are between the ages of 18 and 54. Over forty percent have less formal education than a bachelor’s degree. Bill Spohn, president and CEO of the instrument-supply house TruTechTools, hosts the Building HVAC Science podcast on the Blue Collar Roots Media Network, a “collective of high-quality podcasts and other media related to blue collar professions and hobbies.” Through the art of conversation, Spohn succeeds at exactly what the title of his show suggests: infusing the HVAC trades with building science in a convenient digital format.

Griffin Hagle. Engineer, tool expert, businessman, podcaster: can you walk us through your background and how it led to the fourth role on this list?

Bill Spohn. I always loved tinkering with things, taking them apart, and (occasionally) putting them back together such that they function normally. I worked as a page in our small town library during high school. At break time, I’d grab a glass bottle of Orange Crush from the soda machine (for a dime), several issues of Popular Science from the Periodical Room, and head outside to pour through every page. My teenage dream was to be an editor for PopSci. Maybe I’ve arrived there in some regard.

I was really good in math and science in high school, and especially liked physics. I had no idea for a college major, yet my middle-class parents (secretary and letter carrier) insisted that all four of us kids get a college degree — perhaps a mark of family achievement for them, as we were second-generation U.S. citizens, with all four grandparents emigrating from Sicily to the U.S. between 1901 and 1907, searching for the American Dream.

I found mechanical engineering to be most in alignment with my interests. Hence, I followed through to get (bachelor’s and master’s degrees) in Mechanical Engineering and a Professional Engineering License.

In my second, career job, I got good exposure to lab test instruments at Fisher Scientific. As I rebounded from a layoff at Fisher, I got picked up as a design engineer at Bacharach, where I stayed for nearly 10 years. There, I got my exposure to HVAC test and measurement products, and the “new” weatherization market. I recall being there at a meeting when the formation of BPI was being considered. I went to one of the first RESNET conferences and one of the first ACI conferences, now called the (Home Performance Coalition) Conference.

During my fourth career job at Testo, I continued my focus on the crossover of the HVAC and weatherization test instrument markets. It was there that I met Jim Bergmann, who was captivated by the power of good test instrument data (and) came to work with Testo. In early 2007, he founded TruTechTools with his dad as a retirement hobby.

They immediately invited me in as a consultant to help shape their business concepts. Our joint efforts lead to a tenfold growth in sales the second year and a thirty-five-fold growth from inception in the third year. At that point, it was more than a hobby, and Jim Sr. wished to sell his shares, which I gladly purchased. I left Testo to work full-time managing TruTech.

Through hard work, persistence, patience and luck, my current business partner, Eric Preston, and I have grown the business to a projected $10+ million this year with 10 employees working with us.

Over the years, I’ve been fascinated with data analytics and the power of networking in the field of marketing. Social media has struck a resonating chord within me as it embodies these characteristics.

GH. What is the BlueCollarRoots network and how did you become involved?

BS. In the fall of 2016, a young HVAC contractor and business owner named Bryan Orr approached me at TruTech to sponsor his fledgling podcast and website called the HVACR School, a free educational resource for HVAC techs. I didn’t fully grasp and appreciate all of this until I met Bryan in person at the (Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigeration) Expo in January 2017. I immediately realized we needed to work together.

During the summer of 2017, Bryan wished to expand the reach of his podcast by creating The BlueCollarRoots network, a collective of 4–5 different podcasts, each with different hosts and topics. He asked if I would join and do a podcast on topics near and dear to me. I like taking little risks and trying something new, so after a little coaching, the Building HVAC Science Podcast was launched on September 12, 2017.

GH. How did the idea for Building HVAC Science come about? Why not a podcast focused strictly on building science?

BS. Since I started with Bacharach, I’ve been involved with people and topics in both building science and HVAC. I also believe that building science and HVAC should work seamlessly together. Plus, HVAC systems are usually in the middle of many building science challenges and designs. So I inserted HVAC into the term “building science,” like I think it should be.

Additionally, it’s a play on words (that suggests) Building Your HVAC Science. I’m not strictly about (building science), and this show is a projection of my persona, so it has to include HVAC.

GH. Who is your typical listener?

BS. It’s a little hard to say, as I don’t get a ton of feedback. But I have heard from HVAC techs, consumers, (building science) techs, and manufacturers alike.

GH. Your topics tend to swing between the big picture (e.g., Ep. 24, “Building a Thoughtful Home, Career and Life” with Chris Dorsi of Habitat X) and the technical (Ep. 20, “Super Tight Walls and Ducts” with Bryan Barnes of Aeroseal). What is the advantage to this approach?

BS. The episodes flow like my thoughts: all over the place! The advantage is that it is not too hard to do. It is often stream-of-consciousness and very authentic. There is no scripting. I’m just chatting with my friends!

GH. America’s trade workforce is aging — the National Association of Home Builders estimates the average construction worker is 42 — and one in four Americans listens to podcasts. How do you see this new media format contributing to the renewal of the blue-collar workforce?

BS. I think it is absolutely essential to reach people where they hang out. And now, a lot of people “hang out” in podcasts. Techs and contractors often spend a large part of their days going to their work. I’ve found a lot of these folks are very thoughtful people and are tired of music, talk radio and shock jocks. They are eager to learn — or at least have their opinions challenged — and put their brains to work listening to podcast during windshield time.

I’ve found a lot of these folks are very thoughtful people and are tired of music, talk radio and shock jocks. They are eager to learn.

GH. You’ve had several Habitat X-ers on the show: Larry Zarker, Steve Baden, Chris Dorsi and others, and you, of course, are a longtime attendee and supporter. What is the secret sauce that keeps you coming back to Habitat X?

BS. The secret sauce is the people, and the people make the agenda pretty much in real-time in front of your eyes. (There’s) nothing else like it. And Chris Dorsi is the best emcee there could be for an event like this.

GH. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

BS. Steve Baden liked his interview so much, I am now contracting with RESNET to produce the RESTalk podcast, which launched on June 11!

New Media, Timeless Knowledge was originally published in Habitat X Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

It’s with great pleasure that we publish this fourth edition of the Habitat X Journal. It’s been a satisfying and fun journey over the recent years as we identified a need, gathered authors, and found a voice for this publication. Our intent is to foment a discussion about housing and how we provide it for our people. I expect that the stories we present here are only the beginning of that conversation.

This is also the first edition of The Journal to be published in a digital-first format. For helping us making that transition I have to thank managing editor Griffin Hagle, whose enthusiasm for sustainable housing is somehow happily matched by his penchant for storytelling. Griffin has spent years above the Arctic Circle, where climate enforces the gathering of people around the fire to share heartfelt ideas, plans, and hopes for the future. I envision the two of us in a similar situation here at the Journal: teasing out knowledge from the past, taking stock of ourselves in the present, and making plans to get housing right in the future.

Our masthead tasks us with, “Reporting from the Intersection of Housing, Culture, and Environment.” It’s an apt set of marching orders for this publication, because we know for certain that no one of those three entities can stand alone. Housing is our focus to be sure, since many of our readers are tasked with the design, funding, construction, and management of residential shelter. But cultural expectations and identity always figure into the way we house ourselves, and housing created without cultural reference is often a place no one wants to live. And the environment? Surely this matters more now than ever as we each take on the tasks needed to create a sustainable future on this planet. Our housing can be a positive addition to our communities and the planet, but only if we create it with the future in mind. Figuring out exactly how to do that is one important goal of this publication.

We skim the tops of many topics here, dipping into the knowledge of an impressive gathering of sustainable housing professionals. They come from a wide range of experience and industries and philosophies. But almost to a person, they have in common being a part of the Habitat X Conferences. Held in Montana each year, this hybrid think-tank and strategic-planning group has maintained a cohesive, productive, and forward-looking presence for the last seven years. Many of these articles were born at this event, and many of our authors will return there for the next level of guidance and inspiration. We hope that one day you might join us.

— Chris Dorsi

An Editor's Welcome was originally published in Habitat X Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Ryan Miller, founder and executive director of the North Carolina Building Performance Association, has advocated for green building in the Tar Heel State and beyond since 2014. He’s launched not just one, but four statewide trade associations in the Southeastern U.S., and was recently awarded the National Association of Home Builders’ Best in Green “Young Professional of the Year” at the NAHB International Builders’ Show in January 2018. Here, he discusses creating value for association members, getting young people interested in trade careers, and how he defines building performance — and why that matters.

Interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Griffin Hagle — How did you get started in building performance?

Ryan Miller — I spent about four and a half years working for the Electric Cooperative Association out in Texas. When I was there as a business process manager, I just got personally interested in renewables, mostly, and then learned a little bit about energy efficiency. So when I made a personal decision to move to North Carolina, I wanted to be in what I thought was going to be the renewables and clean energy industry, but not having any kind of experience in solar or an engineering degree, there really weren’t any available jobs for me at the time. This was back in 2010.

I started working for a home performance contractor in Durham called Green Horizons and was the operations manager there. … That lasted for about a year and a half, until I sort of had to fire myself. We weren’t making enough money, and I ended up going over to Advanced Energy here in Raleigh, a non-profit, just doing some project management and program management. That’s how I got started.

GH — What is your association’s slogan, #ThatsBuildingPerformance, intended to capture about the industry’s spirit and culture?

RM — The reason we came up with that was because, for the first time, we really were trying to bring together residential and commercial industry professionals to one conference and show them what the building performance industry can do together, and what opportunities we have.

When we put air-sealing and load calculation and automation and different types of insulation and things like that on a piece of paper or on a poster … building performance is sort of the bigger umbrella for it.

The last part of that is just saying (that) all of those benefits of energy savings, water savings, durability, increased market value, health safety, comfort … we’re branding all of those things as a result of building performance.

Energy savings, water savings, durability, increased market value, health safety, comfort … we’re branding all of those things as a result of building performance.

The slogan that we’re working on (for workforce development) is “Another Way to 70k,” meaning jobs in the trade — our trade specifically — can get you a salary of $70,000 to spray insulation, or audit homes, or do home energy ratings, or do building efficiency testing.

GH—Federal data show the average trade worker is now in their 50s. What will take to interest young people in careers in high-performance construction?

RM — That’s a great question. I don’t think that our industry is really facing anything all that different from traditional construction industries. I really enjoy watching “This Old House” on PBS on the weekends. Earlier this year, they had three apprentices on the program, and were teaching them masonry, and carpentry, and branding, and all those kinds of things.

Mike Rowe from “Dirty Jobs” has great information and he’s very passionate about this … The only thing that I see a difference in is that we don’t have anybody leading those efforts, again, at the national level, and then a network to push them out at the state level.

The homebuilding industry — for example, NAHB — is well aware the number one issue for them right now is lumber pricing. The second issue is a lack of skilled labor. They pushed those issues down to state organizations. State homebuilders’ associations have been pushing down to local organizations. They have skilled working programs, and job training, and things like that. Our industry doesn’t have those resources already.

You’ve got very spot instances: Connecticut, (and) the retrofit apprenticeship program that you guys have there in Alaska, which is amazing. We’d like to bring those resources to North Carolina, and do that in a way that we could share how we did that with other states. That information is not even available. So for our industry to be successful, we need to start acting like traditional trades and mirroring the same resources, and projects, and policies that they’re working on that they’ve been successful.

For our industry to be successful, we need to start acting like traditional trades and mirroring the same resources, and projects, and policies that they’re working on.

GH — In March you released possibly the most comprehensive high-performance home sales analysis performed to date in the country, on three North Carolina metro areas. Why is proper market valuation so critical to scaling performance?

RM — Well there’s maybe a couple pieces to it. The one that we’ve been speaking to the most lately is the new construction residential building industry. The homebuilders are very concerned about the upfront cost of energy efficiency or high performance. They think those things cost too much money.

What we showed them in that data was, OK, admittedly in some cases you’re going to have pay a little bit more for another HVAC system, more insulation, more third party verification, something like that. But when you do that in the Raleigh market, you’re going to be able to sell that home for 22% more than a code-built home. Across those three markets together, it averaged out to 9.5% that you saved. Smart builders who are interested in this market can see that and say, “All right, well I’m going to put maybe $5,000 extra into the home, but on top of that $5,000 extra, I’m going to get a 9.5% premium on the total sale price,” which is not 9.5% on $5,000, it’s 9.5% on $275,000 for an average home sale.

On the builder side, I think that we needed to show them that there is more value in high-performance homes. On the consumer side, we needed to show them that if they are going to invest in upgrades at their home, they’re going to have tangible benefits being returned to them over time for the life of their time there, hopefully.

GH — You’ve launched and helped manage three sister associations, in Maryland, South Carolina and Georgia. When do you sleep?

RM — The ongoing joke with my industry friends is I’m either half robot or half X-Man. What is really comes down to is I’m very passionate and interested in this work. … Personally, I’m still enjoying my time doing it.

GH — Was it easier after riding out the learning curve in North Carolina?

RM — It definitely was. … There was already a group (in Georgia) that … ended up being the Georgia Building Performance Association. It really did come together pretty quickly. We ran that one for about nine months or so, and then ended up hiring a part-time executive director. We followed the exact same model when we set up Maryland for the fourth one.

Unfortunately, that’s what’s not worked out for us in South Carolina. It’s a small market. (There are) not a lot of contractors there. The construction market is not as strong as it is in North Carolina. Just today, we made an announcement to our membership that we were merging with the South Carolina Clean Energy Business Alliance.

I do see that there’s a tremendous opportunity to have these types of building performance associations in other states. We’ve had great conversations with folks in Texas that are interested in it. There used to be a home energy rating organization there that didn’t work out, so there’s still a lot of interest. Virginia would be a great one … Anywhere there’s either a strong enough state market, or maybe a regional market of a couple of states (working) together, I think those are tremendous opportunities.

GH — NCBPA has about 250 members. What’s your typical pitch to a potential member company?

RM — Selling membership is best done in person … It’s just not enough of a clear value proposition when you put something like that in an email, or even call them. A lot of our membership recruitment — and how we find out about people, and how they find out about us — is by just going to meetings, and going to events, and hosting events of our own.

While we all might acknowledge that energy code, and regulatory work, and maybe incentives and things like that are important, our members do not pay us for policy. We incorporate some policy work into their membership dues, which is right now an average of about $300 a year per company, but we also cover workforce development. We cover educating their staff. We cover giving them leads referrals and lead generation.

Generally, what gets them the most interested is seeing that there’s a very direct return for their investment, as opposed to, “Here’s $300, go fight the good fight.” We have some people that do that, but it’s really quite rare for us.

Generally, what gets (our members) most interested is seeing that there’s a very direct return for their investment.

GH — North Carolina is represented particularly well at this year’s Habitat X Conference. What makes that state such fertile ground for energy efficiency leadership? Is it because it’s a punching bag for hurricanes?

RM — Oh, you’re funny! I do have a theory about this. I don’t think anybody knows for sure, but there (are) two sides to it. The market side is that North Carolina has had a really strong construction market, (particularly) for the last ten years. We made it through the recession pretty well, and folks that work here know that green and energy efficient homes sold better … (When) we started the association, it was a really good time to do it in North Carolina.

The other thing about North Carolina is that with Advanced Energy having been around for 35 years or so, there has been a lot of training on building science for a long time, and that is credit to John Tooley, and Keith Aldridge, and Brian Coble, and Bruce Davis, and a lot of people that came before me and that have been organizing a lot of these initiatives. … We had this pool of educated contractors, hard working folks, that knew each other and knew that something else needed to be done. It just really took one person jumping off the bridge and saying, “Who’s coming with me?” I was that one person.

It just really took one person jumping off the bridge and saying, “Who’s coming with me?” I was that one person.

GH — What is your favorite type of hands-on project?

I really like repurposing used materials … so building a screened in patio out of pallet wood and taking an old fridge from a horse farm in Chapel Hill and doing raised garden beds in my garden. I think that’s really fun.

The work that I really like seeing done from an industry perspective is whatever work is really going to help solve someone’s health problems. … You just see the most reward in those kinds of situations. Saving energy is great, and adding insulation has its benefits of course, but when our members are able to help people live better (and) be more healthy, I’m really always happy to hear about those kinds of stories.

Ryan Miller will attend the 2018 Habitat X Conference, where he’ll join a panel discussion on energy-efficiency policy and politics in the U.S.

That’s Building Performance was originally published in Habitat X Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

If you work in residential energy efficiency, it’s pretty hard to ignore headlines like this: “I Tried to Make My Home Energy Efficient and It’s Ruining My Life.”

If you work in housing finance — or even if you simply carry a mortgage — this one, too, might have sent a tingle up your spine: “America’s Fastest-Growing Loan Category Has Eerie Echoes of Subprime Crisis.”

Both pieces, which appeared in Vice and the Wall Street Journal, respectively, in December and January of last year, chronicle horror stories from unwitting homeowners reportedly preyed upon by contractors armed with a slick new sales tool: property-assessed clean energy financing, commonly known as PACE. The Journal adopted a particularly critical stance toward PACE, publishing a series of six articles focused on, among other things, increasing default rates and federal agencies’ interest in the business practices of Renovate America, the largest PACE provider in the U.S.

The PACE model, pioneered by the city of Berkeley, Calif., in 2008, enables property owners to pay for green-energy upgrades through an assessment on their tax bill. Unlike conventional loans, PACE stays with the building, so borrowers don’t pay for benefits after they sell. But because collection of property taxes is prioritized over mortgages in the event of foreclosure, PACE faces considerable opposition from the mortgage industry and its allies.

Outside of California, Missouri and Florida, no residential PACE programs are currently active. But their rapid growth — as of June 2018, R-PACE programs have financed 220,000 projects worth over $5 billion, and created a reported 42,000 jobs — has placed them on the radar of both climate-action advocates and critics who say they don’t offer strong enough protection for consumers.

But despite the limited geographic footprint of R-PACE to date, its colossal financial footprint represents a tantalizing policy solution for jurisdictions considering how to meet ambitious energy and decarbonization goals while promoting economic growth. Most R-PACE dollars (58%) are applied to energy-efficiency improvements, while renewable-energy and water-conversation measures comprise 37% and 4% of average project costs, respectively. Still, several more states have passed legislation enabling PACE than have actually seen programs established and projects funded.

Criticism of PACE centers almost exclusively on residential programs, which collectively dwarf the $647 million securitized by commercial PACE projects. C-PACE programs are far more numerous, with projects funded in well over a dozen states, suggesting that under the right conditions, PACE can and does work, and that the core issue remains homeowner protection. Because commercial property owners are generally better equipped for the diligence required to protect their interests, C-PACE likely presents less of a potential headache for regulators — and less of a political liability for elected officials.

However, clean-energy advocates have not let criticism of R-PACE go unchallenged. In a March 2017 blog post, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy acknowledged that its “meteoric rise … has been surprising even to those working in clean energy finance,” but dismissed the comparison to subprime loans as a misrepresentation of its scale and impact on borrowers’ ability to keep up on their mortgages. More recently, CleanTechnica assailed the Journal’s reporting in a scathing piece alleging its embrace of “the mortgage banking lobby’s anti-PACE talking points.”

So where does this leave sustainable-housing practitioners? Between ethical obligations and the need to move good projects forward, there is an increasing burden on them, especially those who operate in markets where R-PACE is available or may be in the future, to thoroughly understand the fundamentals of home-improvement financing in general and the limitations of particular means and methods for individual projects and borrowers.

Those concerned with the trajectory, image and human impact of the building-performance industry as a whole should be especially vigilant as they navigate the world of ever-expanding retrofit financing products in their day-to-day work, and approach the apparent win-win offered by R-PACE in full view of the alternatives and their tradeoffs. While its transferability and relative ease of client qualification may offer significant upside in some cases, options such as on-bill financing, where available, home-equity lines of credit or even lower-cost conventional loans should be thoroughly explored first.

If the only tool you have is a hammer, as the saying goes, it’s tempting to treat every problem as if it were a nail. At the end of the day, conscientious home-performance firms and advocates should recognize PACE for what it is: a shiny new tool, perhaps, but far from the only one in the box.

Hero or Villain? A Reckoning with R-PACE was originally published in Habitat X Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Ed Matos is going electric.

The former Habitat X Fellow is in good company. Even after a raft of cancellations, over 450,000 people still held reservations for a Tesla Model 3, the vaunted automaker’s long-awaited mass-market sedan, at the end of the first quarter of 2018.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has focused the company on fulfilling orders for the vehicle, heralded as a milestone in the future of sustainable transport, as fast as humanly — and robotically — possible.

“What Elon’s been able to do is incredible. When you start to hear some of the numbers, how they’ve rolled this thing out is pretty incredible,” Matos said. “It was almost word-of-mouth between other Tesla owners.”

That word spread to Matos from his boss at Brightcore Energy, former New York Ranger and Stanley Cup Champion Mike Richter, who owns a Tesla Model S sedan. Brightcore specializes in LED lighting conversions for commercial properties.

“One interesting thing about Tesla is there’s this community. They all talk about charging and batteries, and there’s this aspect of planning out the charging (stops),” Matos said.

Three states, including California, New Jersey, and Matos’ current home state of New York, recently announced investments totaling $1.3 billion in EV infrastructure over the next several years. Much of that funding will support rapid charging in public locations along major interstate travel corridors, at airports, shopping centers and in residential areas. The expansion could ease concerns over driving range — over a third of potential EV owners in a recent nationwide survey cited so-called range anxiety as a factor in their reluctance to ditch internal-combustion technology — and help remake the American travel and commuting landscape.

For Matos, who expects to take delivery of his Model 3 in January 2019, that build-out can’t come soon enough. He sees a coming shift in the fabric of cities as enterprising property owners install charging stations in commercial and community centers to lure new customers. But mostly, he’s just excited to lay his hands on the slick new set of wheels that will take him into that future.

“I would be happy never setting foot in a gas station again,” he said. “The hope is that — and maybe (they) will become cleaner and more user-friendly than gas stations — if they start getting put in all these business places, people should be able to charge their car while they’re working, or staying at a hotel. … It’s all about simplicity right? If people can start making the connection, it’s easier, better, simpler.”

Ed Matos is registered for the 2018 Summer National Conference, where he’ll co-moderate a session on emerging professionals in energy efficiency.

‘Easier, Better, Simpler’: Why This Habitat X-er’s Next Ride Will Be a Tesla was originally published in Habitat X Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Our friend Larry Zarker, the successful and well-liked CEO of the Building Performance Institute, is not afraid to bite off big vocational tasks. But when he’s ready for some time off, he knows exactly how to take time, relax the mind, and have some fun. One of Larry’s favorite avocations is fishing in the productive waters of Chesapeake Bay, a few miles east of his home in Kensington, Maryland.

I got wind recently of a friendly tussle of sorts between Larry and our shared friend Peter Troast, the cheerful proprietor of Energy Circle who makes his home on the chilly coast of Portland, Maine. Apparently Peter saw a social media photo of Larry showing off what Peter thought was a too-small fish. Larry and his wife Leslie pointed out that said fish had filled their frying pan nicely in a time of need. But Peter, in mock defensiveness, claimed that Maine fish are bigger than those of Chesapeake Bay. And Larry said, etc., etc……..

So you get the picture: a friendly example of fish stories run amok among friends. It’s all a pretty harmless case of point and counter-point, but I was charmed by this friendly tête à tête and thought you’d like to hear the details directly from the sources. And as a bonus, Larry has shared a recipe with us at the end of the article.

Chris Dorsi

Chris Dorsi. Larry, I’ve heard that you have a habit of going fishing on your days off. Where do you like to go?

Larry Zarker. I really like the Northern Neck of Virginia where our friends Kim and George Haddow have a place. It is where the Potomac River meets the Chesapeake Bay. It is an amazing place at dawn when the sun rises over the Bay and the reed islands in front of the house.

CD. In the great debate between boating versus shore fishing, where do you stand?

LZ. I always prefer the boat but will fish from shore when dinner depends on it. In the boat, I like chasing seagulls. When they are diving, you know the Striped Bass (what we call Rockfish) or Bluefish are pushing bait fish up to the surface. That is an electric moment when you know the fish are converging on one area.

CD. I know you were raised in Kansas. Do they have fish there, and did you learn how to catch them?

LZ. I grew up lake fishing in the Midwest and caught a lot of Crappie, Largemouth Bass, and Perch. It was fun but was not as exciting as fly fishing or searching for stripers in the Bay.

CD. What do you think about catch-and-release fishing?

LZ. I totally respect C&R as it relates to fish that are endangered. We had an issue with overfishing of Striped Bass in the Chesapeake Bay back in the 1980’s. That led to a moratorium on keeping them. The population is back and is better managed now. I support the Native American notion of using what you catch and not wasting it.

I’m also a big fan of fly fishing and do that whenever I can. My favorite fly fishing trip so far was near Bend, Oregon on the Deschutes River.

The Controversy

CD. I’ve heard that our friend Peter Troast has occasionally made fun of your fishing exploits. Is this true? Do you have a plan to put him in his place?

LZ. Striped Bass have an amazing annual journey that includes early season spawning in the Chesapeake Bay and a short season of trophy size catches before the fish move up to New England. There they fatten up before migrating back south again for trophy fishing in the late fall in our part of the world. New England has a lot of sand eels to help fatten up the fish for their Fall migration back to the temperate climates in the Chesapeake Bay.

LZ. So the story is that it was late, late afternoon in November at our favorite spot in the Northern Neck of Virginia, on the Bay. We had no main course for dinner, and it was a 20-minute drive to the nearest store. I stayed out surf casting long enough to catch dinner. Leslie posted the photo on Facebook and Peter responded by saying “Is that even legal?” A cute post but it hardly mattered since we had a wonderful dinner given the circumstances and I did not have a boat to get out into the Bay to go out for the larger fish.

LZ. This was Peter’s response.

LZ. After this incident, we traveled to Cape Cod with friends and fished off the coast in my friend’s boat near Chatham, Maine. We caught some excellent Striped Bass who were fattening up on New England sand eels. Peter saw the photo on Facebook and responded, “Now that’s a fish! Let the record show that you needed to come to New England to not catch minnows.”

It’s a silly accusation since my friend Ben regularly fishes Chesapeake Bay and comes home with some amazing 30–36” Striped Bass both in the spring and the fall.

Peter Troast’s Defense

CD. Is there a reason that fishing your piece of coastline is inherently superior to Zarker’s tidewater haunts?

PT. The Chesapeake and Maine are the beginning and end of the striper migration, so we’re hugely dependent on Zarker’s nursery to spawn fish and send them our way. I’m not sure if I can blame Zarker’s fish slaying prowess for this, but we need more fish coming our way. It’s been tough going the last few years as fewer numbers get to us, and those that do are dispersed as water temperatures on the coast of Maine continue to rise.

My whining aside, I’d love to spend a morning with Larry showing him Small Point, Ragged Island, Sagadahoc Bay and the mighty Kennebec River. Stripers hate light, so fishing the coast of Maine means being on the water before the sun rises. Greeting the day in a small boat on the rocky coast of Maine is about as good a way to get things going as I could imagine.

CD. Do you and Larry ever fish together? Why or why not?
We haven’t yet, but Larry has a standing invitation to see what it’s like when your fish wraps the line around a lobster pot.

The Recipe

CD. Larry, if you were to cook something like a Striped Bass for dinner, how would you prepare it?

LZ. My favorite recipe for Striped Bass (our Rockfish) is to filet it and bake on a canola sprayed oven rack with aluminum foil underneath at 300 degrees F for about 15 minutes. Then prepare a mix of olive oil/melted butter/fresh garlic to spread over the fish. Turn the oven to high broil and broil it for about five minutes until the top surface is browned. Eat it immediately.

Larry Zarker: Tidewater Fisherman was originally published in Habitat X Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

We’re checking to see to how sustainable housing professionals build things when it’s their own project

I’ve worked with a lot of construction professionals over the years: carpenters and contractors and laborers; architects and designers and building scientists; energy auditors, building inspectors, program managers, and even a few tool pushers. Heck, I get to work alongside people who invent the tools. It’s a wide range of people. But I notice that they all have very specific ideas about the best ways to build things, and plenty of consternation for those builders who get it wrong (For god’s sake, what were they thinking?).

I also know that talk is cheap, and opinions are hard to verify. So I’ve set out to identify how some of the most well-placed housing professionals actually house themselves. What kind of shoes does the cobbler provide for his own family?

For me, the thing we call high performance housing should encapsulate all that is good about the human race: a safe and sane and sustainable place to live out our lives. These interviews are the first in a series of stories that strive to tell us just how close a few individuals come have to achieving that ideal.

— Chris Dorsi

Casey Murphy

Location: Dunkirk, Maryland
Home Size: 3240 SF above grade
Designer: Shell design: Casey Murphy. Floor plan: DK Designs, Inc. HVAC: Energy Vanguard and Simmons Heating and Air.
Builder: The North Star Companies and Casey Murphy
Estimated date of completion: July 31, 2018

Kevin Brenner

Location: Bedford, New York
Home Size: 3,575 SF
Designer: RH Designs in association with Jill & Kevin Brenner
Builder: Brenner Builders
Estimated date of completion: August 15th, 2018

Bill Spohn

Location: Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Home Size: 2500+
Designer: J. Gardner, CPHC, AIA
Builder: EcoCraft Homes
Estimated date of completion: August 2019

THE INTERVIEWS

Chris Dorsi. How adequate was your background in preparing you to tackle a project like this?

Kevin Brenner. I have been at it for 30 years. Having said that…I learn something new every day and always look forward to new ideas and techniques.

Casey Murphy. In general, I was very well prepared for this. For 20 years, I worked at, and eventually became the owner of, a framing company. For the past dozen years, I worked in the home performance industry supporting ENERGY STAR and utility programs.

Bill Spohn. I have heard a lot of the better-building buzzwords across the span of my career, but never paid very close attention to them as they did not often intersect with the “tool space” that I have built my career on. Interesting stuff, for sure, but not a focus beyond casual purview.

CD. Did you act as a general contractor ​or trades person ​on this project?

KB. Both. I’m a full-time general contractor but I really love being a tradesman as well. I personally did the HVAC work including the Zehnder ERV, central vac, and majority of the drainage. I assisted in the finish and rough carpentry. In addition, all the “miscellaneous” ended up in my lap.

CM. I acted as both the co-general contractor and trades person. I was fortunate to know a local builder who offered me the flexibility to manage the trades and processes that I wanted to manage, and who would manage the others. I managed HVAC, framing, insulation, siding/trim, windows, and interior trim. The builder took the lead on concrete slabs, plumbing, painting, sheetrock, and excavation.

BS. I will act as neither on my project. I respect the professionals that I plan to hire. But I will bug them with questions and ask for explanations all the way along. The fact that my training is in mechanical engineering, and that I “know enough” construction science to be dangerous, does set me up to be a customer who will try the patience of my pros!

CD. How much time did you take to plan your project before breaking ground? How much time do you recommend that others take?

KB. My wife and I spent about 2 years planning the project. I recommend about the same amount of time for an endeavor of this type — you could probably do it in a year if it was your sole focus.

CM. My wife and I spent a decade or more looking at different home plans. Once we put an offer to purchase the land, we had about 3–4 months to select our plans and customize them.

We had one closing for both the land and construction loans. As a result, we had to finalize our budget prior to purchasing the land. We also had a 12-month window for the interest-only construction loan, which established our construction timeline. We closed Aug 15th, 2017 but had a delay in clearing the land. Between September and November we crashed the schedule to get under roof before the snow started in late November. If you are working with a builder and you are a good planner, I’d recommend going as quickly as you can — the quicker you go you, the higher quality you get (ironically).If you are managing the project and have the financial ability, take two years to get it done. Create some natural breaks.

BS. Our planning phase will last about a year. When we decided on general region we were going to build, we spent about month searching for property — with a vista as a key attribute. We committed to the the property in March 2018, and do not plan to break ground until the start of the construction season in 2019.

CD. Did you build this house to meet any beyond-code standards such as Energy Star or Passive House? How well did you adhere to those standards?

KB. The house is scheduled to be LEED-Silver, Net Zero Energy, EPA Indoor airPLUS, and ENERGY STAR. We have adhered to those standards without compromise.

CM. My goal is net zero. As a means to get there, I wanted to build a Pearl Platinum home and a home that met DOE’s Zero Energy Ready requirements. By definition, it also had to meet ENERGY STAR, Indoor airPLUS, and meet certain criteria of WaterSense. I took special care to review and redline the HVAC contractor’s traditional contract. I had to ensure they were willing to become credentialed, as well as provide QI related documentation.

BS. We are tentatively planning to build to Passive House standards. Time will tell how well we adhere to those standards.

CD. How close did you come to achieving the ideal design you had envisioned? What concessions did you make? What items were you un-willing to give up?

KB. I wanted the house to be under 3,000 sq ft with 2 bedrooms. My wife wanted 4 bedrooms. She won. That pushed the square footage to about 3,500 sq ft. Other than those marital bedroom quantity differences, we did not make any significant trade-offs or concessions. I was not willing to give up the Net-Zero goal, or Energy Star label.

CM. “Ideal” is a pretty high bar. But our home has achieved and exceeded our initial expectations, up to this point. The real test will be when we move in: indoor air quality, thermal comfort, sound comfort, low or no energy bills. Our trade-offs:

• My “ideal” was different from my wife’s. I wanted a 100% electrified home with an induction cooktop. She wanted a gas (propane) cooktop. She and I both agreed that her idea is better.
• Initially I wanted ductless mini-splits for the whole home, and a dedicated ERV/HRV system for IAQ. I gave up partly based on fears of high costs, but mostly for lack of professional guidance.
• There were a lot more “exotic” ideas I had wanted to implement, but it was analysis paralysis and a fear that I was violating the KISS principle.
• I wanted a zoned system for both of my HVAC systems. To lower costs, I was convinced to keep one system on a single zone, and have a 2-zone system on the other.
• I was unwilling to give up on program compliance. I could have (and maybe should have) kept the water distribution system simpler and not met WaterSense requirements (and ergo ZER requirements).

BS. I’m still struggling with the desire and/or need to go 100% passive.

CD. How successful were you in communicating your needs and interests to sub-contractors, code officials, and suppliers? How would you recommend that others approach project communication?

KB. Experience helped here. I told all the subs and vendors that this was the way I wanted it done, gave them a brief explanation why and mentioned that if they wanted to dig deeper, I would be happy to “educate” them a little further or at least until they got bored. I met a little resistance at first from the framer who was used to everything at 16” o.c., but he was sold on 24” o.c. after the first floor walls. The plumber was fascinated by the waste water heat recovery unit. The electricians loved the whole house LED lighting approach. They were a little confused on how I wanted to configure the sub- panels but when I told them it was for power monitoring purposes that got it. The code officials were happy to see that I was exceeding local building codes. The suppliers could care less about any of this as long as I was buying their stuff.

CM. I took different approaches.

• Code official: I tried not to communicate at all. He was old school, and I was far exceeding county requirements. My biggest challenge was to de-emphasize what I was trying to do. I did encounter a significant delay when he failed me at the insulation inspection. That led to a 3–10 day delay.
• Suppliers: I had no significant challenges. The roof truss manufacturer was familiar with “energy heels”, and most other suppliers did not factor into my unique design.
• Concrete wall contractor: had consternation about footer/wall capillary break. He didn’t want me to backfill because he thought the walls would “slip off” the footer.
• Concrete slab contractor: we struggled with how to deal with thermal breaks. We (I) missed creating thermal break at walkout doors (a failure on my part).
• Framers: they are me and I am they. But even so, I failed to create enough spacing between rim and the next parallel joist, making it very difficult to properly install insulation. It took persistent supervision to ensure that details were being followed (such as applying glue on exterior OSB panels).
• Insulators: egad we had lots of problems. They started installing faced insulation when it should have been unfaced. They missed rim joist areas. They had lots of internal company miscommunication. My sense is that they are so beaten down on cost that they fly by the seat of their pants. This reinforces the need for HERS Raters, and makes one wonder about quality control for HVAC contractors.

BS. N/A: not yet built.

CD. How well did you meet schedule and budget?

KB. We are right on schedule. Budget….not so much. One of the goals of this project was to keep all materials as maintenance-free as possible. The exterior has three components: stacked stone veneer, copper panels, and Shou Sugi Ban vertical boards. The stone and copper will last way beyond my lifetime and since the Shou Sugi Ban has a 50-year warranty, that also is way beyond my lifetime. None of those items are cheap. I am also pleased that the exterior materials can easily be recycled or repurposed. I did, however, make one budgetary choice. Originally, we wanted thermally broken steel windows and exterior doors. The quote came in at about $325,000. Yes, for one 3,500 sq ft house. I was actually considering it until the Pella architectural series came in at $75,000. Aluminum clad exteriors with prefinished wood interiors. Are they the same as the steel windows? Absolutely not. Would it have been worth an extra quarter of a million dollars? Absolutely not. In summary, we came in about 40% above our original budget all-inclusive.

CM. I wanted to move in at the end of April 2018. It’s June, and I’m a month away.

The budget was always a bit theoretical. First, we needed a quick and realistic budget to get to closing. Second, we always knew the budget would significantly vary based on 1) when we purchased materials from certain sources, 2) the use of recycled insulation, 3) items we could purchase at auctions, and 4) the strength of Casey’s working relationship with framers and other tradespeople.

Our originally construction budget (without land acquisition and without builder payment) was $460,000. About $60k of that was lot clearing. compliance with stormwater management, and the septic system. In the hustle-and-bustle of trying to create the budget for the construction loan, there were several variances:

• HVAC installation assumption was $18,000. I had assumed that I could save money on a simpler HVAC system since my shell was awesome. But with the ERVs and a SEER 19 / variable compressor Bosch system, it was $29,000.
• My labor costs for installing my shell design far exceeded my estimates. In fact, I don’t even know how much because my rainscreen design changed significantly when I switched from a low-weight siding to a heavy weight material. I then had to change my continuous insulation assumption to add structural integrity to the siding.
• If I had to guess, my new (and much higher quality) exterior added $15k to the costs. At least half of that cost was related to exterior painting ($0 vs. $8k). But the other $7k related to modifying the rainscreen structural integrity and installation of the siding itself.

BS. N/A: not yet built.

CD. How well did your family understand and support your project? Any advice on this part of the job?

KB. I am very fortunate that my wife and I see eye-to-eye on this. This is our third new home together so we know what works for us. My kids have said that they will miss the house they grew up in but understand why we are building this home.

CM. My wife Desi Avila has been incredibly supportive. It’s also an awesome opportunity to teach your kids about STEM, and just about life.

BS. Marilyn, my wife, is 100% onboard. Our 6 adult children are at various levels of comprehension of the details, but supportive over all. Our friends and relatives are slowly learning what we are after and why.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Kevin Brenner

Build the tightest thermal envelope as you can afford to build.
Build with the best material and subcontractors you can find.
Most importantly, enjoy the process.

Casey Murphy

So you want to build your own home?
Do you know how lucky you are to even consider answering that question?
Things will go south — deal with it by putting your life in perspective!

Bill Spohn

Think about those things you must have and be clear about them.
Communicate and explain to others what you are doing and why.
Stick with this process and you’ll better understand yourself and get closer to the house you want.

We’ll check back in with Kevin, Casey, and Bill, and publish an update on their projects, in conjunction with the 2023 Habitat X Summer National Conference.

The Cobbler's Home: How the Best Builders House Their Families was originally published in Habitat X Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.