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Sales and Marketing

Shawna HendersonSeptember 22, 2014

It's a hard thing sometimes, to wear so many hats. Contractors and trades people are often the brains, brawn and bean counters of their small businesses. Who has time to do sales and marketing? And how do you sell what you do? And when do you find the time to...

Hold the phone...Infrared camera?!?

Shawna HendersonSeptember 04, 2014

This video demonstration by Ben Gromicko at InterNACHI shows a very cool addition to an iphone...an infrared camera. $350 cost, about 1/10 the cost of an IR camera (without the training). Flir is marketing them to the DIY market, but I think it would be fantastic for use to qualify...

Program Driven Staged Retrofits

Shawna HendersonApril 09, 2014

Mike Rogers, OmStout Consulting, started a conversation a few weeks ago about staging deep energy retrofits -- a very interesting conversation has been so far. I'm all about staged retrofits, myself. The opportunity to move many existing houses closer to low energy/net zero in a few affordable phases is much...

Hiss and Poop -- Abnormal Phenomenon!

Shawna HendersonApril 01, 2014

Beware! Heat pumps sound a heckuva lot like Canada Geese when they are unhappy. There's a lot of hissing and pooping. I had no idea. Anyone been in a house with a heat pump where pieces of the wall, carpet, furniture, cloth, cigarette, and cosmetics adhere to the unit? Sure...

More Thoughts About Core Competencies in the Value Chain.

Shawna HendersonMarch 25, 2014

How do we draw up guidelines for identifying core competencies in home performance/energy efficiency/building science/green building across the many segments and sectors of the home construction and renovation industry? The other week I posted a down and dirty graphic showing most of the players and the top-level relationships. That chart could use some refinement, but it gives the basic picture. Holy complexity, Batman! X

Why we need good training in building science

Shawna HendersonMarch 18, 2014

There are lots of horror stories out there about mold, rot, stink, decay, health problems and even death associated with energy efficiency measures and airtight houses. Most of them come from the early days of 'live' experiments where good things were done, with all the right intentions but only half of the concept was in place...house-as-a-system was not the by-word of the late 70s/early 80s homebuilding/renovating world. And in many instances where new horror stories appear, it's pretty obvious to those who are conversant in building science that 'house-as-a-system' is ***still*** not the by-word of the homebuilding/renovating world.X

Just in Time Training...what does that mean?

Shawna HendersonMarch 13, 20142 comments

Just in Time Training = giving people the training they need when and where they need it. The people who are actually carrying out the building and renovating, labourers, framers, insulators, those folks don't often (never) get invited to sit through days of in-class training to improve their understanding of building science and how to apply that understanding to what they are being asked to do on site. Why? Because they are so very valuable on site. If they are in class, the site shuts down. Or someone needs to step into their role for the days they are in class.  X

Online training and core competencies

Shawna HendersonMarch 03, 2014

Building a self-directed online training program is a real challenge...it's hard to determine what level of understanding your audience starts out with because you have no interaction with them. Unlike face-to-face training, you have no chance to gear the course to the learners on the fly, or offer other resources or extra explanations. In any case, when you are creating a program for learning, core competencies are what you want to establish and improve. A core competency is fundamental knowledge, ability, or expertise in a specific subject area or skill set. There needs to be a way of benchmarking understanding of the basic concepts so that you can create a foundation for a useful learning program.X

Blue House Energy Launches Building Science Basics Online

Shawna HendersonFebruary 27, 2014

Toot Toot!! We sent out a press release/announcement today launching Building Science Basics, which is now eligible for BPI Continuing Education Credits. The full press release can be found here.Here's the intro...  Building Science Basics course enables builders to hone their knowledge of building science and energy efficiency and lower...

Survey @ Low Energy Housing Technology Costs

Shawna HendersonFebruary 24, 2014

I'm working with the Net-Zero Energy Home Coalition to deliver a survey for Natural Resources Canada. The aim of the survey is to get a better sense of cost-effective design and construction of Low Energy Houses (near NZE, NZE-ready, NZE, any program or standard that you are involved in). Survey...

Construction Instruction

Shawna HendersonFebruary 22, 2014

We love this app. It's juicy, it's easy to use and it's built by a trio of fellahs we respect a lot: Gord Cooke, Mark LaLiberte, Justin Wilson. The app is designed for use by builders, contractors, architects and designers, D-I-Yers. It's all about building products and their proper use...

Fragments and knowledge gaps

Shawna HendersonFebruary 21, 2014

BHE is based on translating the knowledge we have about building science and energy efficiency in housing into a format that is accessible to those already working in the home building industry. Labourers, tradespeople, renovators and contractors, as well as those who are less hands-on but still involved in the industry: office managers, internal sales teams etc. As a set of crafts and trades that really grew into a commodity-based industry only after World War II, housing is still finding its feet as a cohesive industry. The many trades and interests that come together to build a house all have their own silos of expertise. As energy prices and environmental concerns have created the need for energy efficiency measures and green building issues, the fragmentation of the industry has continued. Now not only do we have builders, tradespeople, contractors and inspectors, appraisers and mortgage lenders, but a whole layer of techno-weenie evaluators, assessors, trainers, designers, and consultants (yes, I am wearing my appropriate hats). X