Energy Vanguard Blog

I buillt a house out of structural insulated panels (SIPs) before I'd ever done—or even watched—a blower door test. It turned out to be pretty dang airtight, too, despite my lack of air sealing experience at the time. If I'd stick-built the same house, I'll bet my air leakage measurement would have been at least twice what I got with SIPs. How airtight was it? Keep reading.

Labradors? James Brown? What do either of those have to do with the RESNET conference?! Be patient, my friend. All will be revealed shortly. The 2013 RESNET conference just ended, and it was fantastic. It and Building Science Summer Camp are my two favorite events of the year, and this year it was better than ever.

A couple of years ago, my friend Steve Byers of Energy Logic wrote an article about how to get the most out of your conference experience. In it, he included a link to a paper titled 15 Tips from Keith Ferrazzi: Conference Commando (pdf), which I believe every conference goer should read. With the RESNET conference coming up next week and many more following throughout the year (Building Energy, Greenprints, ACI, SIPA, Building Science Summer Camp, EEBA, GreenBuild...), you need to be as prepared as the Energy Avenger (see video below).

I've been going to the RESNET conference at the beginning of each year since 2009. I also went in 2004, and I can tell you that it's a great learning and networking opportunity if you're in the home energy industry. Are you on the fence about coming to the RESNET conference this year? Are you not on the fence but just haven't registered yet? Even if neither of those apply, see my list below and you may find a reason that you hadn't considered.

I'm a white male. I know, I know. You saw my name and thought I was woman. It's not the first time that's happened. My 10th grade biology teacher refused to believe that I was Allison Bailes on the first day of class when she called roll. It wasn't until a friend of mine confirmed it for her that she accepted the reality that Allison is a name that could actually be given to a male.

At the Passive House Conference in Denver this past week, Dr. Joe Lstiburek gave the keynote address at the opening plenary (or plenum, as Henry Gifford would say) session. His words, clever as always, added some nice historical perspective to what the Passive House folks are doing but also caught some people off guard. Read on, and I'll tell you more about that.

As I sit here getting ready to head for the airport, a lot of thoughts about what I've experienced and heard here at the Passive House conference are swirling around my head. They haven't really congealed into a coherent body yet, but I thought I'd write this quick report of the conference to give you a feel for how it went—and what you missed if you weren't here.

This weekend I bought my ticket to Denver for the Passive House conference at the end of September. The program has intrigued me since I first found out about it in 2007, but I haven't gotten involved with it yet. That may be changing now.

OK, so 2 years ago I wrote that I didn't need no stinkin' Building Science Summer Camp. I lied. Summer Camp doesn't stink at all. In fact, it's a really nice event where I learned a lot and got to hang out with some of the smartest and most experienced people in the business. Since I'm relatively new to the field (only 11 years in, really) and not as smart as some people think I am, that's a pretty good deal.

The 2012 Building Science Summer Camp began last night as people from around the US and Canada arrived in Westford Massachusetts for what is officially called the Westford Symposium on Building Science. I got in at about 7 pm and got a chance to catch up with several people I know and meet a few new ones. A couple of people, including Joe Lstiburek, told me how much they enjoyed reading about the Turbo Thermo-Encabulator Max. Mostly, though, I was a listener.