BPI and Industry News
Building Performance News and Discussion
By BPI
Spero Update
BPI's new database system known as Spero has now been launched and we are getting great feedback from you! Keep it coming! A few points about the new system: BPI will continue to work on improvements to increase communication, boost performance, and better your user experience. Thanks for everyone’s input and patience during this time. If you need any assistance with the new system, please reach out to us at (877) 274-1274 x292.
Get Information on Healthier Indoor Environments
Healthy Indoors Magazine is a valuable resource for anyone interested in improving their indoor environments. The magazine offers a free, monthly digital edition filled with a variety of information on indoor air quality, building performance, and sustainability topics for industry professionals, along with a new consumer section that contains helpful reading for homeowners, too. Industry professionals can also elect to receive Healthy Indoors quarterly print edition. You can sign up for your free subscription to Healthy Indoors Magazine HERE. Healthy Indoors Magazine is proud to be a media partner with the Building Performance Institute, and to provide informational resources for its shareholders.
A Collaborative Pilot to Improve Quality of Life for Asthma and COPD Patients
In the March edition of Healthy Indoors Magazine, please look for an article by our BPI CEO, Larry Zarker and Judy Olsen of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. The article highlights a collaborative healthy homes pilot program in Tacoma-Pierce County, Washington that has offered some promising health and quality of life outcomes for asthma and COPD patients.
The Healthy Home Evaluator (HHE) and contractors make weatherization and health improvements to the systems and structure of the home. The County's Community Healthcare Workers (CHWs) work with the family to help manage any medications and other aspects of their asthma or COPD action plan.
The print version of Healthy Indoors Magazine will be distributed at the HPC National conference in Chicago, April 1st-4th. You can also subscribe to the magazine for free. If you go to the HPC National conference, please visit us, the BPI staff, at booth # 708!
The Green Collar Jobs Act
BPI Building Analyst and Policy Co-Chair of our partner organization, the Home Performance Coalition, Leticia Colon de Mejias, gave testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy in support of “The Blue Collar to Green Collar Jobs Act of 2019.” The bill aims to support training for employment in clean energy industries, including residential energy efficiency and renewable energy. According to the 2018 Energy Efficiency Jobs in America report, issued by E4TheFuture, more than 2.25 million Americans work in the energy efficiency industry, including 57% in construction and repair work. Still, companies are struggling to find trained, qualified workers.
“We need to help train our existing employees, keeping them up to date on emerging technologies and health and safety practices,” Colon de Mejias said. “We need a comprehensive, nationwide program to improve education and training for workers in the efficiency and clean energy industries, including manufacturing, engineering, construction, and building retrofitting jobs. This is exactly what the Blue Collar to Green Collar Jobs Act of 2019 would create.”
To read Ms. Colon de Mejias’ complete testimony, click HERE.
Energy-Efficient Home Design Trends 2019 Report
BPI’s CEO, Larry Zarker, participated in a Fixr.com survey on what industry experts see as the upcoming trends in home design and building for 2019. The resulting report focuses on energy efficiency. The experts were chosen from the U.S. construction industry and are building, designing, manufacturing or publishing content relevant to the field.
Key findings include:
• Most homeowners are personally motivated to save energy in order to also save money.
• Homeowners have a significant environmental awareness, which is driving their purchasing decisions.
• Sealing ducts and envelope penetrations are two of the most cost-effective energy saving measures..
Fixr.com provides cost guides, comparisons, and term “cheat sheets” for hundreds of remodeling, installation and repair projects. Here is the full report.
2019 National Home Performance Conference & Trade Show
The 2019 National Home Performance Conference and Trade Show is coming up in the heart of Chicago, April 1st - 4th, 2019. The conference promises to be a great experience, from some of the best educational sessions in home performance and weatherization to wonderful networking opportunities. There is still time to register HERE.
Stump the Chump
Let's Play Stump the Chump!
By BPI
Our Fall Stump the Chump recieved eight responses. Dan Wildenhaus solved it!
To refresh your memory, a customer in northeastern New York had called to request an inspection of their home for uneven temperatures throughout the house in both the summer and winter. Upon inspection, there were three problems: negative CAZ depressurization, uneven airflow, and a five-year-old clean air filter.
Dan Wildenhaus of CLEAResult™ said, “Multi-position furnaces often have 'punch outs' or removable panels on both the bottom and sides of the blower compartment to allow for installation of a supply/return plenum, base can, or filter box at multiple positions. In this scenario, likely the furnace has been oriented as an 'upflow' and both the bottom and side panels of the blower compartment were removed (one by the installer on the side, to connect the filter box and return plenum and one factory-removed on the bottom). By placing the entire furnace on the patio blocks, they effectively created a very easy pathway for return air to be sucked into the bottom (open blower compartment, two inches off the ground). This easier pathway resulted in likely three issues – uneven heating, clean filter, and high negative pressure in the combustion zone. The open blower cabinet bottom would not effectively pull return air from the house for re-heat, thus creating uneven temps. The fact that the large opening is pulling directly from the utility/mechanical room means it is both creating a combustion safety hazard with strong depressurization, as well as creating a delightful bypass for air to travel with very little traveling through the filter. This would never be apparent from a simple visual inspection of the system. If, however, the blower compartment panel were removed, it would be clear as day that you could see the concrete floor and patio blocks through the opening from the missing panel.”
Thank you to everyone who submitted a response!
Send in a Stumper and Earn Two BPI CEUs!
The Stump the Chump segment in BPI’s newsletter is the most popular part of the publication. If you submit a Stumper, you'll get: an opportunity to share your technical knowledge, free individual and company advertising with a link to your company website, and two BPI CEUs. For more information, please contact marketing@bpi.org.