“He who has health, has hope; and he who has hope, has everything.” Thomas Carlyle Bill was honored to welcome Dr. Stephanie Taylor to the podcast where she shares the fascinating story of her career path from medicine to architecture to crusading for better building health by bridging these professional silos. He had a great time interviewing Stephanie, plumbing the depths of her knowledge and experience. We discuss many aspects of IAQ and focus in on the impact of humidity on human health. A k...
Nov 27, 2020•35 min
“The family is one of nature’s masterpieces.” George Santayana Bill is joined Marty and David Indursky, a father and son team that have built Encon, an award winning, NJ-based HVAC/building solutions company. Hear how David has reinvigorated the company by implementing modern technology techniques after he took it over from his father who founded ENCON in 1968. They share best practices and what sets ENCON apart. We also hear about and what David envisions for the future of the industry. You can...
Nov 20, 2020•28 min
“I grew up thinking that a research scientist was a natural thing to be.” Stephen Hawking There’s physical science. And there’s a kind of science as to how the mind works and how people achieve their dreams. Blend one-part plasma fusion physics with one-part commercial real estate and stir this in an open and creative mind and you have Peter Capuciati, the Chairman and Founder of Bluon and the guest of today’s podcast. Starting in 2011, Peter has led the team at Bluon to develop a true solution ...
May 01, 2020•37 min
“The only think I have learnt over the years is that if you enjoy your work and put in best efforts it will show. If you follow this process, things work out. But if you go chasing a formula, success will elude you.” Mahesh Babu While building his own house, John Semmelhack’s innate curiosity grew as he researched the best was to design and build a home. This lead him to start his own business, Think Little. The name of his business is deceptive as John is truly a big thinker, who acts in quiet ...
Mar 06, 2020•34 min
“True genius lies not in doing the extraordinary things, but in doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.” General Louis H. Wilson, Jr. Building science principles are few and fairly straightforward; ordinary, perhaps. HAM: A lot of it amounts to control the flow of Heat, Air and Moisture. But, like so many things in this world, the devil is in the details. Listen in as I chat with my good friend Nate Adams (a true genius) to get an update on his extraordinarily execution of ordinary measures ...
Aug 30, 2019•55 min
May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house. George Carlin Yep, Radon is force of evil. Pure evil. Colorless. Odorless. Deadly. But sneaky. It’s deadly over decades. My good friend Dick Kornbluth joins me to unravel the intricacies of all aspects of Radon – a colorless, odorless, poisonous radioactive gas. Dick explains how and where radon is formed, how it gets into the air we breathe and the health impact it has on us. He reveals where the famous 4 picocuries per liter expo...
Aug 23, 2019•38 min
I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination. Jimmy Dean While we picked a specific topic, this is a wide-ranging episode with my friend in the industry, Eric Stromquist of Stromquist.com – 2nd generation controls distributor based out of Atlanta, GA. We discuss our thoughts and opinions on: How hard it is to actually get access to people – cold calling is basically dead Closed vs. open architecture in building automation systems C suite exec...
Aug 16, 2019•36 min
To keep the body in good health is a duty…otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear. Buddha HVAC and building performance contractors are seeing more homes built or retrofit to tighter levels. Blower door test outs like 3, 2, 1 ACH50 or less. What do you do when the “house can’t breathe?” Hopefully, you see the humor in that statement. Of course - you build it tight and ventilate it right! (Credit for that phrase likely goes to Earle Perera and Lynn Parkins as the title fo...
Aug 09, 2019•46 min
In this age of high technology and Jedi Knights, we often overlook the need of personal involvement, but we do so at our own risk. William H. McRaven (American Solider) Attention all HVAC Techs: Soon someone will be looking over your shoulder. Not it’s not the Homeowner, with severe coffee breath and a million little questions, it’s going to be a Home Energy Rater giving a grade to your HVAC installation. What???!!! Yes, like it or not, this will happen. And it is justified. It’s because the wor...
Aug 01, 2019•52 min
Looking to be a better HVACR Tech? One key aspect is keeping up to date with changing equipment, products and techniques. And that is no mean feat. In order to do so, you need to help yourself to training and education where ever you can get it. Like this podcast… especially because it is on a lesser known topic: HVACR Chemicals and sealants. Mike Walton of CoolAir Products in Maryland, joins us on this episode to focus on 2 of the products he has brought to the US market: AC SmartSeal External-...
Feb 11, 2019•23 min
Today we turn the tables and your host becomes the guest! As you may or may not know Marilyn and I are building a new high-performance home this year (2019). Even though I have been involved in home performance for 30 years, it was in the narrow field of test and measurement, not in construction detail and aspects. And because it is our home and our money, everything about it is personal and I have a real hunger for the details which tends to complicate decisions! So, I asked my thoughtful pal, ...
Feb 04, 2019•47 min
I’ve never thought about entrepreneurship when it comes to trade associations. I just thought they always existed. Well, in the nascent world of building performance, I should have known better. Listen in as we chat with Ryan Miller, the founder and executive director of the North Carolina Building Performance Association, as he describes his vision for the future of building performance. He believes poor building performance is one big problem to solve and he aims to do it in his state by conne...
Jan 28, 2019•35 min
Some of our listeners have likely heard of the term Home Performance. But have you heard of Home Performance 2.0? Michael Housh and Neil Comparetto join us to describe how they are helping to develop this new approach to serving customers with total home performance. This is a systems being developed by Nate Adams and Ted Kidd. They describe a well performing home as one that is healthy, comfortable, safe, durable and, as a side benefit, uses less energy. Michael and Neil are both trained and ex...
Jan 21, 2019•43 min
You may know the answer to this question: “Why would I want to use an air flow hood?” You might not know the answer to this one: “How do I find a good air flow hood?” Steve Rogers, President and Owner of the Energy Conservatory, joins us to answer both of these questions as well as provide a rich background to his company and his career. We hear how a customer ride-along stimulated a multifaceted investigation into the critical parameters involved in making great residential airflow measurements...
Jan 05, 2019•35 min
Smartphones are great communications tools for contractors and techs. But how do you organize and effectively share the right photos at the right time? Listen in as Luke Hansen, former roofing contractor and inventor of the CompanyCam App, explains his journey from concept to successful business. His low-cost service allows techs to share rich photo information without clogging up their photo library. Rich info accompanies each photo: date, time, GPS location, user info and mark-ups & notes ...
Jan 04, 2019•33 min
How can an IOT (internet of things) based device help home dwellers and home performance contractors? Listen as our guest Jacques Touillon, inventor of the foobot describes what got him started on the journey from a concept to a successful product sold around the world. Jacques’ describes his vision of a future homes that has “invisible” sensors control systems to maintain superb indoor air quality. We discuss the importance of data and data processing, as well as recent environmental events (th...
Dec 21, 2018•37 min
Curious about what it takes to be an entrepreneur? Well, so are these three guys. Listen in as business owners Tersh Blissett ( Icebound HVAC & Refrigeration ), Bryan Orr ( Kalos Services ) and Bill Spohn ( TruTechTools, LTD ) discuss what it means to them to run their own businesses. This wide-ranging discussion produced many good nuggets of info as we discuss visionaries, idealism vs. realism, and breaking from the status quo amidst tons of other topics. You can reach these members of the ...
Dec 14, 2018•44 min
We veer a little off the technical path in this episode as we discuss with Bryan Orr his educational missionary work in Haiti. For the past 2 years, Bryan has led a small team of volunteers to first scope out and recently (November 2018) begin delivering basic trade education to native Haitians as young as 8 years old. We hear about the leap of faith he has taken and how it has proven out in the overwhelmingly warm feedback from the people he has touched. Learn how he addresses the logistical, p...
Dec 09, 2018•36 min
You’ll note no last names in this episode title, as I know Grace & Corbett so well. And I think you need to know them better, too. Grace McPhillips Lunsford and Corbett Lunsford have embarked on a road to change the culture of how home performance is perceived by homeowners and galvanize them into action. A major section of this road opens in January 2019, where their TV Show, Home Diagnostics launches on PBS. You can help spread the word on this topic by asking your local PBS station progra...
Dec 01, 2018•53 min
In this episode, Bill chats with James Childre, founder of RedPointMontana.com, a home performance specialist. James shares with us his enthusiasm for the field and describes his persuasive persistence in preaching home performance in his role as a rater and a home inspector. James discusses his approach with contractors and consumers as well as where he looks for improving at his trade. We explore the topic of making change happen and not losing faith in spite of the apparent slow movement in t...
Nov 18, 2018•33 min
After 31 years in business, 3 major career changes and 10 products (and counting) later, John Pastorello shares with us how, and more importantly why he built his business, Refrigeration Technologies. John shares with us how growing up in the Atomic Age spurred his curiosity about the atom and yearning to be a nuclear physicist. Fast forward 30 years later and John has managed to create a successful family owned and operated specialty chemical business focusing on all aspects of the air conditio...
Sep 07, 2018•30 min
Blake Reid shares with us the challenges and rewards of doing home performance work in Hawaii which has the most expensive energy, 12 climate zones, no energy code, an active volcano, and an aggressive state climate goal. As a knowledgeable, ethical and honest “wiz kid” contractor, Blake made a huge decision and moved his family from Ithaca, NY to Hawaii to “set up shop” as a home performance contractor. Listen to Blake describe some of his motivations to move as well as why he choose the name w...
Sep 01, 2018•38 min
What is LEED? Who is involved in LEED? Why should I care about LEED? In today’s episode, Bill Spohn welcomes one of the leaders in the green building industry, Charlie Cichetti, Owner of Green Building Education Services ( www.GEBS.com ) and the Sustainable Investment Group ( www.SIGEarth.com ). Charlie covers the history of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) as well as recent changes and where things are headed in the future. We hear about the shift in focus from buildings to ...
Aug 17, 2018•36 min
What will housing look like in the future? Who are some of the leaders? What are some the topics driving this industry? Bill Spohn welcomes back Chris Dorsi, contractor, educator, author and founder of HabitatX.com to give an overview of all the great discussions held at the 2018 HabitatX conference. We discuss the human aspect of housing which ties in intimately with the nature of this conference; it’s about the people. We take a walk through the 3 days of the conference* discussing how the str...
Jul 05, 2018•50 min
Bill Spohn welcomes Chris Dorsi, contractor, educator, author and founder of HabitatX.com. Chris describes the current arc of his career which he describes as serial interventions starting with cutting timber for housing. Chris shares with us his very thoughtful, respectful and practical perspectives on the housing industry, with a focus on building better habitats for people. We discuss passive houses, factory-built homes and the lost cost of space that no one wants to live in. You’ll also be a...
May 19, 2018•48 min
Show notes AirQuest 4 In this episode, Bill Spohn continues where he left off in Episode 3 of his AirQuest series, discussing airflow measuring methods and techniques. Bill covers vane anemometers as well as the garbage bag method (bag inflation device or BID) For a free copy of the ANSI standard mentioned in this episode go to www.bit.ly/RESNET-380 If you’d like to see a BID in action, the EPA Energy Star program created this explanatory video which can be viewed at this link: www.bit.ly/380-BI...
Apr 18, 2018•20 min
Show notes AirQuest 3 In this episode, Bill Spohn continues where he left off in Episode 2 of his AirQuest series, discussing airflow measuring methods and techniques. Bill Covers the TrueFlow measuring grid, air flow capture hoods and thermal (hot wire) anemometers. For a 4 part video lesson by Bill, start with lesson one on YouTube, at this link: http://bit.ly/AirFlowVideos If you are interested in learning more, you can contact Bill at Bill_Spohn@BlueCollarRoots.com
Apr 09, 2018•22 min
Today Ed Kisiel of EKABuild Corp. joins us to discuss the way he goes about constructing super tight homes using standard construction techniques. Ed describes his process and his respect for the House as a System concept: that is the envelope, mechanicals and architectural design all need to work together in harmony. He’s an open minded civil engineer turned builder who has a thirst for learning more about building science, building materials and modes of construction. Some of Ed’s favorite res...
Mar 13, 2018•42 min
Bryan Barnes of Aeroseal, LLC joins us today to discuss two revolutionary technologies that greatly impact Building Performance: AeroSeal for sealing ducts from the inside out and AeroBarrier for sealing a building enclosure in the same manner. We hear about the science behind Aeroseal and the dramatic performance increases in comfort, energy and the health of the environment. Their smart-liquid sealant turns into an aerosol in their machine and actual finds and seals holes and gaps up to ⅝” in ...
Mar 09, 2018•35 min
In this episode Bill chats with Ted Kidd and Nate Adams, two people who share an extreme passion for making better home performance the norm and not the exception. Our conversation gets tough on state energy programs, utility-based programs as well as BPI where we develop out the pros and cons. You can learn more about their aspirations and get some great tools and free resources by visiting www.NateTheHouseWhisperer.com You can reach Ted through Nate by emailing at Nate@EnergySmartOhio.com or c...
Mar 01, 2018•1 hr
