We can change the building code, set higher energy-performance targets, fund workforce development, launch another retrofit incentive program.
Then somebody has to make it happen.
For more than 30 years, I've watched good building science make its way from research to policy, programs and training—and then lose something on the way to the person who actually needs to use it.
I call it the Telephone Game of Construction Knowledge.
I recently wrote a rather long paper about it, The Telephone Game on Site: How Knowledge Breaks Down Between Housing Policy and Construction Practice.
The short version is this:
Good information doesn't automatically become good practice.
The home construction and renovation industry is made up largely of small businesses, subcontractors and people who learn an enormous amount on the job. Formal training systems are important, but they were never designed to reach everyone working in this kind of distributed industry.
And it's getting harder to ignore.
We're asking people to build tighter, manage moisture better, integrate ventilation, meet higher performance targets and make increasingly complicated retrofit decisions.
The knowledge exists.
Getting it to the right person, in a form they can actually use, is the problem.
Training Is Part of the Answer
Sometimes you need a course, sometimes you need a supported cohort, better onboarding, a job aid, a workforce pathway, homeowner education. Or someone to figure out where the wheels are coming off before you build anything. That's capacity building.
BHE already has hundreds of lessons and resources covering building science, construction technology, high-performance new construction, energy retrofits and Energy Advisor competencies. Now we're putting that knowledge to work differently.
We're expanding our work with municipalities, workforce programs, efficiency organizations, utilities, government initiatives and other housing-sector stakeholders that need to build workforce and industry capacity, not simply buy training.
Start with what already exists. Add people and support. Adapt it. Build around it. Or create the missing piece.
The question isn't: What course do you need?
It's: What are you trying to make happen?
We've launched a new Construction Training & Workforce Development Services hub to bring this work together.
If you're working on a housing, workforce or energy initiative, have a look.
And if you have something brewing, talk to us early.
Explore Training & Workforce Services →
Read The Telephone Game on Site →
