EP141 Ventilation, Codes & Comfort: What Builders Need to Know Now with Patrick Nielsen
RESTalk
"As homes get tighter, ventilation isn't optional—it's essential." — Patrick Nielsen In this episode of RESTalk, host Bill Spohn sits down with Patrick Nielsen, Global Technical Products Manager at Broan-NuTone, to discuss the evolving world of home ventilation. With over two decades of experience, Patrick walks us through the major drivers shaping residential ventilation practices today—from tighter building envelopes to the growing emphasis on indoor air quality and energy efficiency. Patrick explains the importance of dwelling unit ventilation (DUV), spot vs. whole-house...
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EP140 The Future of QA at RESNET®: Automation, Oversight, and ENERGY STAR Updates with Scott Doyle
RESTalk
"You can’t manage what you can’t measure." — Peter Drucker In this insightful episode of RESTalk, host Bill Spohn welcomes Scott Doyle, RESNET’s Managing Director of Quality Assurance (QA), for a comprehensive update on what’s ahead in the world of RESNET QA®. Scott unpacks the most significant changes hitting the registry, Chapter 9 standards, and the QA app—all designed to modernize, streamline, and strengthen the QA process. The conversation delves into how these updates will affect HERS® raters and providers, with a major focus on the ENERGY STAR QA/QC program. Scott...
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EP139 Concrete Innovations: The Story of Arizona’s First 3D-Printed Home with Jason Barlow
RESTalk
"Innovation is taking two things that exist and putting them together in a new way." — Tom Freston In this episode of the RESTalk podcast, Bill Spohn sits down with Jason Barlow, former President & CEO of Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona, to discuss a groundbreaking achievement in homebuilding—the first 3D-printed concrete home in Arizona. Jason shares how this innovative project, born from a collaboration with ASU graduates and a German scaffolding company, PERI, pushed the boundaries of affordable housing construction. From overcoming extreme heat challenges to designing...
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EP138 From Learning to Leading: How the ELC Fellows Are Transforming the Industry with Jennifer Goldberg, Dorian Gothard and Alex Haworth
RESTalk
"Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other." – John F. Kennedy In this episode of RESTalk, host Bill Spohn welcomes the 2025 Emerging Leadership Council (ELC) fellows—Jennifer Goldberg, Dorian Gothard, and Alex Haworth—for an insightful discussion on their career journeys, experiences at the RESNET conference, and their visions for the future of energy efficiency and building science. Each fellow shares how they entered the industry, what drew them to the ELC program, and how they apply their knowledge professionally and personally. The conversation covers key...
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Inside RESNET®: Quality Assurance, Collaboration , and Impact with Ryan Moore, Jordi Kimbrough, and Michael Matthews
RESTalk
“Excellence is never an accident. It results from high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction, skillful execution, and the vision to see obstacles as opportunities." – Aristotle (adapted interpretation) In this insightful episode of RESTalk, host Bill Spohn interviews three key members of RESNET's team.: Ryan Moore, Jordi Kimbrough in Quality Assurance, and Michael Matthews in Programs. Each brings a unique background and perspective to their roles, strengthening RESNET’s mission to ensure high-quality standards in energy-efficient home ratings. Ryan Moore, the Quality...
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EP136 Your Guide to RESNET® 2025: Tracks, Events, and Exciting Updates with Clara Hedrick
RESTalk
Networking is not about just connecting people. It’s about connecting people with ideas and opportunities -Michele Jennae In this episode of RESTalk, Bill Spohn chats with Clara Hedrick, Lead Events Coordinator for RESNET®, to discuss the upcoming 2025 RESNET® Conference. Clara shares the event details, which is set to take place from January 26-29, 2025, in Tempe, Arizona. Attendees can look forward to engaging sessions, dynamic networking opportunities, and exciting receptions hosted by sponsors like NAIMA and Knauf. Clara highlights the innovative offerings this year,...
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EP135 RESTalk Rewind 2024: Milestones, Innovations, and the Road Ahead with Bill Spohn
RESTalk
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." – Eleanor Roosevelt Welcome to a special episode of RESTalk: "Best of RESTalk 2024"! This year has been transformative for RESNET® and the residential energy efficiency industry. From setting bold goals to launching innovative tools and forming impactful collaborations, 2024 has redefined what's possible in energy efficiency and sustainability. In this episode, we revisit the year's most insightful and impactful moments, featuring highlights from the conversations that shaped the industry. Join us as we...
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EP134 Boosting Efficiency: How RESNET®’s QA App Is Transforming the Industry with Kiro Bondarev, Kelvin Abong and Billy Giblin
RESTalk
Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning. – Benjamin Franklin In this episode of RESTalk, Bill Spohn speaks with three guests to discuss the RESNET® QA app, an innovative tool designed to streamline the quality assurance process for home energy ratings. Bill is joined by Billy Giblin, RESNET®’s quality assurance field specialist, Kelvin Abong and Kiro Bondarev from The Fourth Dimension (4D), RESNET®'s technology partner. Together, they explore the app’s journey from ideation to execution, its role in harmonizing...
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EP133 Bridging the Gap: The Future of Energy Code Compliance with RESNET® HERS® Raters with Mark Johnson and Steve Baden
RESTalk
Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice. Anton Chekhov In this episode of the RESTalk podcast, host Bill Spohn talks with Mark Johnson from the International Code Council (ICC) and Steve Baden from RESNET® about a new collaboration to enhance energy code compliance. They discuss the growing complexities of energy codes, particularly the challenge of ensuring compliance amid increasing technical and regulatory demands. To address this, ICC and RESNET® are introducing a program to involve HERS raters as third-party verifiers, providing quality assurance and supporting...
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Ep 132 From 360K to 1 Million: RESNET®’s Vision for the Future with Scott Doyle and Ryan Meres
RESTalk
Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of intelligent effort. John Ruskin In this episode of RESTalk, host Bill Spohn is joined by Scott Doyle and Ryan Meres from RESNET® to discuss their ambitious goal of achieving one million ratings annually by 2028. The conversation begins with an overview of RESNET®'s significant progress, which recorded 360,000 ratings in 2023—a 136% increase since 2013. The discussion highlights the importance of quality assurance in maintaining the credibility of the HERS rating system, particularly as RESNET® scales its operations and...
info_outlineThose that educate the market, own the market.
Emily Mottram
We’ve all heard of advanced housing concepts that require little net energy to operate.
Architects, builders, and suppliers in the residential construction industry often get together at conferences and locally and sometimes birth new concepts while challenging others.
What kind of ideas develop when you ignite their passions, crowd source ideas, and marinate for a few years?
What if you aspire to build a Pretty Good House? What does that look like? How do you go about educating others?
Joining us on today’s podcast as Emily Mottram of Mottram Architecture describes for us a passion project that started out of local discussions in her home state of Maine and has branched out into a book, a course, a podcast, webinars and regional events!
Emily describes a Pretty Good House (PGH) as an open-source framework and set of guidelines for building or renovating a home that focus both on its inhabitants and the environment—but keeps in mind that few people have pockets deep enough to achieve a “perfect” solution. The PGH concept respects financial and practical constraints to meet both home owner and environmental needs. https://www.prettygoodhouse.org/
In July 2022, Emily, Christopher Briley, Daniel Kolbert, and Michael Maines began selling a book that organizes and presents the PGH framework: https://www.tauntonstore.com/pretty-good-house
They have also created the Pretty Good House course launching on January 4, 2023: finehomebuilding.com/prettygoodhousecourse
The course will offer eight (8) RESNET Professional Development Credits for Quality Assurance Designees and Instructors.
SPECIAL OFFER: The course offers a special discount code: RESNET100. The code is good for $100 off the course cost. The code expires on the day the course begins.
For details on documenting RESNET Quality Assurance Designee or Instructor Professional Development Credits, contact Scott Doyle, Technical Director, Quality Assurance & Training. [email protected]
Emily, also a HERS Rater, shares her experiences on energy and efficiency in her podcast, E3: Energy and Efficiency with Emily, now in its fourth season: https://www.mottramarch.com/the-podcast
Her podcast focuses on building science, architecture, and female entrepreneurship and stresses teamwork.
Her passion continues to exude as Co-host of the BS+Beer Show: https://www.thebsandbeershow.com/
Link to Emily’s bio: https://www.mottramarch.com/emily-mottram-about
RESTalk: To the RESNET community, we hear you and want to engage.
Learn more at www.RESNET.us
Or for more info on this topic contact RESNET at [email protected]