'On The Level' Trainings (2022 Series)

Join Earth Advantage & BetterBuiltNW for a three-part training series on envelope building science, installing exterior insulation, and ERV/HRV design best practices. 

Back by popular demand, we've launched another series of ‘On the Level’ on-demand trainings with new topics to enhance your high performance building knowledge. Initially offered as live webinars, this series was one of our most attended trainings these pat 2 years and has been designed to provide tangible design principles and construction practices that can be integrated into your building process.

NW building professionals are continually looking to improve the design and construction of their homes. At the same time, the OR & WA building codes advanced in 2021 and many are still looking for info and insights on how to select appropriate design features and assemblies according to their unique project objectives. Each session will also cover the new OR & WA code pathways so you can consider the benefits of these approaches and make well-informed decisions. This is essential info that will help you keep pace with the building code trajectory, stay ahead of homebuyer expectations, and increase the energy efficiency, comfort and durability of the homes you're building. 

Attend these online trainings to gain field-tested recommendations from building professionals and ample opportunity for Q&A on the following critical topics:

       Using Building Science to Inform Envelope Design

           Trainer: Stephen Aiguier, Green Hammer Design Build

       Practical Solutions for Selecting & Installing Exterior Insulation

           Trainer: Josh Salinger, Birdsmouth Design-Build

       Design & Quality Control Best Practices for ERVs/HRVs  

           Trainers: Waylon White, Earth Advantage & Alex Boetzel, Green Hammer Design Build

           (Read more and sign up for each individual training below.)
 

Session Descriptions

Using Building Science to Inform Envelope Design

Trainer: Stephen Aiguier, Green Hammer Design Build
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1-hour training on the design considerations for science-based optimization of building enclosures. 

Join Earth Advantage’s long time SHP instructor, Stephen Aiguier, as he discusses the fundamental laws that govern the dynamic flows within a building in order to understand the interconnectedness of house systems. 

Attendees will hear different approaches and best practices for managing thermal, air, and moisture flows that affect the performance and indoor air quality in a home. You'll also analyze the field-proven benefits of different advanced insulation and air sealing options, and review moisture management strategies to gain an understanding of how to integrate these building envelope details into plans and specifications. 

Explore how properly designing and constructing a building's envelope (or thermal and moisture barrier) is essential for a comfortable, healthy, durable, and energy-efficient home.

Gain these building science fundamentals that are necessary tools to use when making design, construction and operation decisions that affect the long term resiliency of projects. 

What you’ll learn:

1. Review the natural laws that drive the thermal, air, and moisture flows through a home.
2. Apply the understanding of thermodynamics to evaluate different enclosure assemblies to best manage heat, air and moisture flows.
3. Connect design and material considerations to building a comfortable, healthy, durable, and energy-efficient home.
4. Select appropriate design features and assemblies according to project objectives.

Practical Solutions for Selecting and Installing Exterior Insulation

Trainer: Josh Salinger, Birdsmouth Design-Build
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1-hour training exploring the how-to’s behind adding exterior insulation to wall assemblies. 

Join Earth Advantage’s SHP instructor, Josh Salinger, as he discusses the pros vs. cons of different approaches and practical in-field installation elements.

Attendees will gain the necessary knowledge to understand the building science, durability, energy efficiency, and installation details that will need to be considered. These principles and practices will include wall design, insulation strategies, air sealing, product selection, and construction. 

Exterior wall insulation provides a solvable challenge and a significant opportunity for building pros to increase the overall energy performance of their projects. Energy code requirements to install building envelopes with less heat loss and gain, build greater resiliency, and reduce thermal bridging are leading builders and tradespeople to evaluate new wall designs and insulation strategies. When considering different code measures or pathways, the integration of exterior insulation into wall systems provides a large UA reduction (average heat transfer of wall assemblies) that can open new doors to code compliance.

The strategies that will be covered during this session will assist builders in both meeting new codes and in building homes that will produce comfort at the lowest home operating cost. (For more info, you can check out the ‘Continuous Exterior Insulation Fact Sheet’ that was recently launched by BetterBuiltNW and will be discussed during this training.)

What you’ll learn:

1. Review the science behind how adding exterior insulation makes for a more durable, energy efficient wall assembly
2. Review various common types of exterior insulation and their individual characteristics 
3. Understand the challenges, opportunities, and practical solutions for applying exterior insulation onto various wall types
4. Understand how and where to locate and integrate the other three control layers of bulk water, air and vapor into the thermal control layer of exterior insulation
5. Select appropriate design features and assemblies according to project objectives

Design & Quality Control Best Practices for ERVs/HRVs

1-hour training covering the spectrum of Good, Better & Best practices when designing and QC’ing heat recovery ventilator (HRV) / energy recovery ventilator (ERV) systems. 

Join Earth Advantage for this session and hear from in-the-field experts as they exchange ideas and drill down into the everyday implications and opportunities that all building professionals need to know when overseeing the proper design and installation of ERV & HRV balanced ventilation systems. 

Presenters will discuss the practical and necessary solutions that will help you ensure these systems are designed, installed and performing as expected, as well as provide insights to help you streamline your design and building practices to ensure efficient, effective ventilation systems.

Hear from EA’s Senior Manager of Green Building Technical Services, Waylon White, and Green Hammer’s Director of Operations and Sustainability, Alex Boetzel, as they each bring their unique backgrounds to the discussion: Waylon has extensive in-the-field knowledge of the types of barriers and solutions that builders face on a daily basis when pursuing Earth Advantage Home Certification, and Alex has developed an impressive quality control system for ventilation system design, installation and commissioning on Green Hammer projects.

As energy codes advance across the Northwest, requirements to install higher performing balanced and properly distributed HVAC systems inside the conditioned spaces are leading builders and tradespeople to evaluate new ERV & HRV equipment, designs and installation strategies. 

Benefit from this info that will help you meet new codes and build homes that will improve the comfort, healthy indoor air, and energy efficiency. 

What you'll learn: 

1. Identify ERV/HRV approaches along a good, better & best spectrum of building best practices
2. Identify ERV/HRV field-proven technologies that are currently available and provide code-compliant efficiency ratings
3. Understand the process steps at various stages of construction for designing, installing and commissioning an effective HRV or ERV system
4. Gain valuable installation insights and tips & tricks that will ensure effective system operation