Foam Free Airtightness and Efficient Ventilation: Best Practices For Future-Proofing Buildings

August  24, 8am-noon Pacific Time. Lunch + Q&A at noon-1pm;

THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST. THIS EVENT IS AT CAPACITY. CONSIDER OUR NEXT EARTH ADVANTAGE EVENT ON OCTOBER 5th: Make It Tight – Enclosure Airtightness Training.

Earth Advantage 623 SW Oak Street 3rd Floor Portland, OR 97205
CEs: 2 AIA HSW; 1 BPI; 4 Series B CCB (pending approval)

Summary:

This half-day training event is tailored for EA Sustainable Home Professionals and residential builders, designers, and engineers. It covers advanced best practices in foam-free airtight building enclosures and decentralized high-efficiency ventilation. Building assemblies will be addressed as whole systems, considering energy balance, moisture control, material safety, occupant health, and comfort, with a focus on long-term, deeply sustainable solutions.

Presenter:

Lucas Johnson is the Western Region Solutions Consultant for 475 High Performance Building Supply. Lucas’ offers the unique ability to speak from a variety of perspectives, drawing from his past roles as a custom green builder, energy retrofit contractor, utility programs manager, and corporate sustainability consultant. Lucas is a dynamic presenter, whose excitement and passion for the green building field is contagious. He continues to be inspired by collaborating on many projects all over North America that cost-effectively reach the highest levels of sustainability.

“I have managed BCRA’s Lunch & Learn program for many years and have seen literally hundreds of speakers… Lucas stands out as one of the best.”

– Nancy Smith-Lorenz, Process Manager at BCRA Design, Tacoma, WA.

Full Description:

In this 4 hour comprehensive look at achieving safe reliable airtightness, understanding material considerations, and installing efficient ventilation, attendees will gain detailed knowledge about:

•      Why an air barrier is critical to high-performance construction – From energy efficiency, to health, to prevention of moisture damage, the essential importance of airtightness is one of the best kept secrets in construction today and this session will unravel the myths and provide clear explanations, with a strong emphasis on building science.
•      Design considerations for the envelope – Should the air barrier be outboard or inboard? How are the walls connected to the roof? How do windows connect to energy balance? Get clear-cut high performance building design answers that can be used on a project today.
•      Operation and sizing of decentralized heat recovery ventilation – A high performance alternative to centralized, ducted systems: as buildings are being renovated or built airtight to meet greater demands of low-energy, high-comfort, toward Passive House and similar buildings – they need to be properly ventilated. Often centralized systems are not ideal given equipment and ductwork space requirements.
•      Raising the bar on material safety and occupant comfort – We look at the tools and methods for testing airtightness and delivering quality assurance. The future demands that professionals combine the lessons of building science research to deliver on long-term health, safety, performance, and design efficiency that truly addresses the climate crisis.