EP254 Mold, Moisture, and Missed Details: Lessons From the Building Science Trenches With Kohta Ueno (January 2026)
Release Date: 01/23/2026
EP262 “RTFM” and Real-World HVAC Confidence: Why Callbacks Drop When Training Improves With JT Stewart (February 2026)
Building HVAC Science
Episode Quotes: “Airflow isn’t good. It’s measured.” “Most pushback isn’t ‘I won’t.’ It’s ‘I’m afraid I’ll mess it up.’” “This is a people industry, by people, for people.” JT Stewart joins Bill Spohn and Eric Kaiser to talk about how he went from long-term care nursing to HVAC, thanks to a red Chevy Ventura van, a ladder on top, and a “let’s go fix some stuff” invitation. Today JT is an HVAC consultant at Slipstream, working with utilities and state programs to build real-world training that goes beyond “heat pumps are hot” and into the...
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EP261 From Journeyman to Trainer: What Actually Works and Why With Don Gillis (February 2026)
Building HVAC Science
“Listen first, talk last.” “Integrity costs something, you’ve got to be willing to pay it.” “If I’m going to fail, I’m going to go down fighting.” In this episode of the Building HVAC Science Podcast, Bill and Eric sit down with Don Gillis, a longtime industry pro with a career spanning roles as an installer and service tech, service manager, outside sales, corporate training, and now building technical training within a smaller nonprofit environment. Don shares the real story behind the resume: high-volume service management, the stress and health toll of living in “two...
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EP260 Live From AHR 2026: Tools, Tactics, and Trade Stories From the Show Floor (February 2026)
Building HVAC Science
Quotes from the episode: “If you’re not measuring, you’re just arguing with opinions.” “The tools got better, but what really changed is the technician mindset.” “We used to diagnose systems one reading at a time. Now we see the whole story live.” Recorded live at 9:00 a.m. on Day 1 of the AHR Expo 2026 in Las Vegas, this episode of the Building HVAC Science Podcast captures the spirit of the industry in real time. Bill and Eric kick things off reflecting on their decades of AHR attendance, the miles walked, vendors visited, and friendships built along the way....
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EP259 Donkey Wrangler to HVAC Whisperer: Brad Adcox on Fundamentals That Win (January 2026)
Building HVAC Science
Pithy quotes “Your product can be great, but if you’re hard to work with, nobody’s going to buy it.” “Take a deep breath, go back to the fundamentals, and ask: what’s the biggest value I can add today?” “You’re allowed to say, ‘I don’t know. I’ll figure it out for you.’ People respect that more than the runaround.” Brad Adcox joined the Building HVAC Science podcast with Bill and Eric and, within minutes, earned the unofficial title “donkey wrangler” after sharing a story about his donkey. The laughs kept coming, including a side quest into hobby-farm...
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EP258 Live From AHR 2026: Tools, Tactics, and Trade Stories From the Show Floor With the Team from TruTech (February 2026)
Building HVAC Science
“AHR isn’t just a product show, it’s where you see the future of the trade taking shape in real time.” “Training, technology, and community are finally moving at the same speed.” “Exhausting in the best possible way, that’s how you know it was a great show.” Fresh off the floor of AHR Expo 2026 in Las Vegas, the TruTech Tools team jumps on the mic to share firsthand impressions from one of the HVAC industry’s biggest gatherings. From Ginny’s perspective as a first-time attendee navigating miles of booths and crowds, to seasoned takes from Eric, Sue, Billy, and you, the...
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EP257 From Rockets to Heat Pumps: Shreyas Sudhakar on Scaling Quality HVAC (January 2026)
Building HVAC Science
Pithy quotes “We do our job well if the homeowner forgets about us, because the system just works.” “The bar is so low in some homes that doing a quality install can genuinely change someone’s life.” “The best way to learn is crawling in the crawl space behind a great technician and handing them tools.” Semi-famous quote that fits our theme “Stay hungry, stay foolish.” © Steve Jobs Shreyas Sudhakar joined the Building HVAC Science podcast to talk about his path from rocket propulsion engineering to building high-quality heat pump installs in California. Bill and...
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EP256 The Woodstock of HVAC: Why This Symposium Hits Different With the TruTech Team (January 2026)
Building HVAC Science
Episode quotes: “What you put into this, you get out of this in multiples.” “It’s not about sales. It’s about learning, relationships, and leaving your ego at the door.” “Use AI responsibly, but keep the humans involved. The humans are what keep it honest.” In this episode of the Building HVAC Science Podcast, Eric Kaiser, Bill, and the TruTech Tools crew (Billy Spohn, Ginny Hebert, and Josh Crawley) recap their trip to the 7th Annual HVACR Training Symposium in Ocoee, Florida. Josh and Ginny share first-timer impressions: early-morning booth setup, instant attendee engagement,...
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EP255 Beyond Manual J: The Heat Balance Future of Residential Load Calculations With Tony Amadio (December 2025)
Building HVAC Science
Notable quote from the episode: Make it as simple as possible, but not simpler. In this episode, Eric Kaiser sits down with mechanical engineer Tony Amadio, the founder of True Loads, to talk about what actually makes residential load calculations succeed or fail in the real world. Tony shares how his work is split between builders, architects, project managers, and HVAC contractors, and why the biggest early battle was simply getting people to trust results that pointed to smaller equipment. He explains how he quickly learned from feedback loops in production housing, including what happens...
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EP254 Mold, Moisture, and Missed Details: Lessons From the Building Science Trenches With Kohta Ueno (January 2026)
Building HVAC Science
QUOTES from the episode: “Most building failures aren’t mysterious. They’re just ignored fundamentals.” “If you demand museum-level humidity, you’re no longer building a house. You’re building a museum.” “Moisture meters don’t solve problems. They show you patterns. The thinking solves the problem.” In this episode of the Building HVAC Science Podcast, Eric Kaiser is joined by Kohta Ueno, principal and co-owner of Building Science Corporation, for a wide-ranging discussion on building failures, moisture, HVAC, and the practical realities of diagnosing real-world...
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EP253 The HVAC Trust Gap, and the Directory Built to Close It With Kevin R. Hart, Huff Hoffmaster & Darren Reuter (January 2026)
Building HVAC Science
Quotes from the episode: “Better isn’t a goal, it’s a direction.” “HVAC can feel like a house of mirrors for homeowners, and the cure is transparency plus measured results.” “We’re not trying to find the perfect contractor. We’re trying to find the contractor who keeps learning and won’t get complacent.” In this episode of the Building HVAC Science Podcast, Eric Kaiser flips the script and brings Bill Spohn on as a guest alongside Kevin Hart from Better HVAC and Darren Reuter and Huff Hoffmaster from Rewiring America. The group lays out a shared problem:...
info_outlineQUOTES from the episode:
“Most building failures aren’t mysterious. They’re just ignored fundamentals.”
“If you demand museum-level humidity, you’re no longer building a house. You’re building a museum.”
“Moisture meters don’t solve problems. They show you patterns. The thinking solves the problem.”
In this episode of the Building HVAC Science Podcast, Eric Kaiser is joined by Kohta Ueno, principal and co-owner of Building Science Corporation, for a wide-ranging discussion on building failures, moisture, HVAC, and the practical realities of diagnosing real-world problems. Kohta shares his unconventional path into building science, from small remodeling jobs and a PBS NOVA episode to decades of forensic investigations alongside Joe Lstiburek, one of the field’s most influential voices. The conversation quickly moves from origin stories into what really matters: how buildings fail, why those failures are often predictable, and how much cheaper it is to solve problems on paper than after construction.
A major theme is moisture management, especially in high-performance and multifamily buildings. Kohta explains how seemingly small details, like window sill slope, back dams, airflow settings, and interior air seals, routinely separate durable buildings from expensive failures. He also highlights a growing perfect storm in modern construction: oversized HVAC equipment, high ventilation rates, poor commissioning, and limited dehumidification, particularly in smaller units. The result is mold, humidity complaints, and systems that technically run but fail to control moisture.
The episode closes with a practical look at diagnostic tools and methods. Kohta emphasizes pattern recognition over single-point measurements, combining moisture meters, thermal imaging, pressure diagnostics, and blower door testing to understand how air, heat, and moisture actually move through buildings. He encourages listeners to use freely available Building Science Corporation research and Joe Lstiburek’s Building Science Insights as foundational resources, reminding the audience that most building failures are not mysterious. They are repeatable, understandable, and avoidable if the fundamentals are respected.
Kohta’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kohta-ueno-472a4/
Links mentioned in the episode:
Our Current HVAC Mess
Experts discuss problems with residential HVAC systems as a first step toward defining solutions
https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/our-current-hvac-mess
Proposed Solutions for Residential HVAC Problems
Experts suggest ways to improve the quality of residential heating, ventilating, and cooling equipment installations
https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/proposed-solutions-for-the-residential-hvac-industry
A presentation on my investigations of multifamily humidity problems:
Multifamily Humidity Control Problems: Muggy Mayhem
I have done a presentation on the diagnostic tools I use in my buildings forensic work; here’s the slide deck:
NESEA BE19 Tools of the Trade for Building Diagnostics
March 14, 2019
2019-03-14_NESEA_BE19_Ueno_Tools_Trade_Diagnostics.pdf
And here’s a YouTube video:
Tools of the Trade for Building Diagnostics with Kohta Ueno
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCZIJFXDl9Q&t=2978s&ab_channel=TheBSandBeerShow
The complete rundown of Joe Lstiburek’s columns:
And some of the research reports we did under Building America:
This episode was recorded in January 2026.