2-Part TRAINING:

Thursday, March 12th, 2020 from 3:30 - 7:30 PM
& Thursday, March 19th, 2020 from 3:30 - 7:30 PM

Location: Center for Technology, Essex, VT

Cost: $237.50*

*The regular fee for the course is $475; however, either a scholarship form Burlington Electric Department or a grant from the High Meadows Fund will help offset the cost to keep it affordable for builders.

The Sustainable Energy Outreach Network (SEON) is now offering this training to builders in northwestern Vermont to develop high performance building skills. The Basics of High Performance Building is designed to advance the knowledge and skills of current builders in new and retrofit construction, all with a special focus on high performance construction and building science principles.

This course is the foundation course for SEON’s Certified Level I High Performance Builder program, which is a program to educate and mentor the next generation of high performance building professionals. This program offers trainings, mentorship, on-site assistance, and more.

COURSE DESCRIPTON:

UNIT I: Think Like Air, Think Like Water: Building Science Principles Related to the Enclosure

This course gives participants an introduction to specific strategies used to achieve durable and energy efficient enclosures. Participants will take away:
1) skills to describe the air tightness strategy used in a specific high-performance system
2) the ability to discuss strategies for proper moisture management given real world examples

The course will be taught by professionals in the field and will emphasize real-world applications. Classroom learning will be balanced with hands-on experience, and evaluations will reflect these methods.

Course Topics and Competencies:

• Explain the concept of heat transfer (convection, conduction and radiation)
• Explain/identify the drainage plane system on doors and windows.
• Explain the moisture transport of liquid
• Identify transitions between water and air
• Explain convective air transport due to pressure differences from the three basic sources or forces that drive this: stack effect, wind, and fans of any sort (spot-exhaust, unbalanced ventilation, leaky forced-air space conditioning.
• Identify proper material selection (IAQ, thermal mass, moisture)
• Identify assembly drying potential
• Identify air sealing and framing sequencing
• Control layers and the flow of heat, vapor, water air and solar gain through building components
• Understand hygrothermal analysis and the ability to predict the flow of heat and moisture across enclosure assemblies using computer software.

UNIT II: The Big Picture: Integration of the Whole Building System

This course gives participants an overview of the building as a whole system. Students will take away:
1) skills to identify components of high-performance homes
2) the knowledge necessary to compare and contrast high-performance homes with code minimum conventional construction

The course will be taught by professionals in the field and will emphasize real-world applications. Classroom learning will be balanced with hands-on experience, and evaluations will reflect these methods.

Topics and Competency Levels

• Apply knowledge of the thermal envelope by identifying on plan sets
• Demonstrate understanding of simultaneous consideration of energy, durability, comfort, and IAQ
• Convey understanding of integrated design and construction
• Identify air barriers and explain their importance. Identify and explain for each of the three basic barriers: air, thermal, and water.
  
• Identify the various heating plants and explain impact on the system including where it penetrates the envelope.
• Identify ventilation systems
  
  

For an overview of the Certified Level 1 High Performance Builder program, visit http://www.seon.info/bhpb/.

Instructor: Peter Yost

Peter brings more than 30 years experience in building, researching, teaching, writing, and consulting on high-performance buildings to his twin roles as vice-president of building performance for BuildingGreen, and technical director for Taunton Press’s GreenBuildingAdvisor.com. His expertise ranges from construction waste management and advanced framing to energy efficiency, indoor air quality, and building durability.

Peter has been called upon to provide this building-science expertise to leading building industry high performance efforts, including USGBC's LEED for Homes and REGREEN, EPA’s WaterSense, DOE’s Building America, and IWBI’s WELL programs. Peter is a Lecturer for Yale’s graduate program in Forestry & Environmental Studies, an instructor for the Boston Architectural College's Sustainable Design Certificate program, and Research Associate with the University of Massachusetts Department of Building Construction and Technology program. A LEED AP, he is a past co-chair of the USGBC's LEED for Homes program, and a certified instructor/course author for the NAHB Advanced Green Building: Building Science certificate program. Peter’s work for BuildingGreen, Inc. includes both academic and vocational instruction, field research on building products, building investigations, construction document review, and technical research and writing.

Peter recently completed certification as an Accredited Building Enclosure Commissioning Process Provider (BECxP)/Commissioning Authority+Building Enclosure (CxA+BE) – University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering and Department of Engineering Professional Development (2016).

Finally, you are bound to discover this anyway, but Peter is a certified wingnut.

Questions about registration? Please contact SEON at 802-376-9262 or admin@seon.info.