EEBA Academy

Energy, climate, materials, and health: What is the connection? And why is it important? Insulation and air sealing are two cost-effective ways to increase the energy efficiency of a home. However, the chemicals that are found in some of these products or used during their production can negatively impact the health of the people who manufacture and install products, as well as those who ultimately live in these buildings. We need a better system of policies and regulations that are protective of human health, but for now, we need professionals equipped with the knowledge and skills to make informed decisions about the materials they use. Building professionals who specify and install materials have the opportunity to make significant impacts on health and the environment by choosing healthier materials.

This course is currently under development

Once homebuyers purchase new homes often based on infatuation with community and design, bad home performance experiences can negate all the hard work earning customer satisfaction. It is critical to get high-performance right. This course begins that process with lessons-learned from decades of experience as a residential architect and work with thousands of home builders while serving as national director for ENERGY STAR Certified Home and Zero Energy Ready Home. The resulting framework for high performance homes includes five key strategies and over 40 best practices for applying them with substantial cost savings. Most importantly, this framework has been intensively researched, vetted, and refined over five years with hundreds of housing industry executives. The goal is not to dogmatically impose one solution for all, but to engage housing professionals to high-performance as a journey and how to get on their own path. 

A subject of conversation amongst builders as we come out the back end of the COVID era, is how we build healthier homes.  The reality, however, is that much of what builders are currently doing is already creating a healthy home. Most just don’t know how to talk about it and/or market it. In this podcast style live conversation join Joe Medosch, Healthy Building Scientist at Hayward Score, and Robby Schwarz, BUILDTank, for a conversation on Healthy or Healthier Homes.  We will explore all the great things builders are already doing and how to communicate those things to buyers. Then we will move forward to what is next that could make our home healthier.