2024 Building Excellence Award Winners

The 2024 Building Excellence Awards were presented at the High Performance Home Builder Summit in Salt Lake City, an awards banquet that truly showcased the unwavering dedication, innovation, and sheer talent driving the construction industry forward. This awards banquet is a testament to the remarkable projects, brilliant minds, and tireless efforts that have shaped our built environment over the past year. We are thrilled to congratulate this year's winners, whose work not only sets new standards in building science, sustainability, and energy efficiency but also exemplifies excellence in high-performance home construction. Their achievements are helping to shape a more sustainable and resilient future for all of us. Volunteer Award: Theresa Gilbride Congratulations to Theresa Gilbride, a building energy efficiency researcher at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The EEBA Volunteer Award recognizes Theresa who selflessly gave her time, energy, and skills to make a ... read more
 

Empire Communities Becomes First Residential Builder in North America to Achieve ASHRAE 241’s Clean Air Requirements for Indoor Health with ERTH360 Air

An Empire Communities Blog
Empire Communities Becomes First Residential Builder in North America to Achieve ASHRAE 241’s Clean Air Requirements for Indoor Health with ERTH360 Air
Achievement highlights significant advancement in residential construction, ensuring cleaner, healthier living for homeowners Empire Communities, an award-winning residential homebuilder in Canada and the United States is proud to announce that its standard home model featuring ERTH360 Air enhancements has achieved the rigorous clean airflow requirements of ASHRAE Standard 241 — the new high bar for infection resiliency. This first-of-its-kind achievement is a testament to Empire’s commitment to providing homes with the highest standards of indoor health and sustainability. ASHRAE Standard 241, Control of Infectious Aerosols, is a landmark standard published in July 2023 and applies to all building types, commercial and residential. The clean air performance of Empire’s standard home with ERTH360 Air was evaluated and verified to meet the standard’s targets using a new test method that ASHRAE Standard 241 introduced to the industry, known as ‘air tracing’. Poppy, a... read more
 

Electrification and Inverter Technology: The Key to High-Performance Building

By Karl Pomeroy - A Daikin Blog
Electrification and Inverter Technology: The Key to High-Performance Building
Between government regulations and evolving consumer preferences, it’s no surprise many industries are making a conscious effort to meet the increasing demand for eco-friendly products and sustainable solutions - the HVAC industry is no exception. There are two innovative core solutions propelling the industry closer to high-performance and net zero buildings: electrification and inverter technology. What is Electrification? Electrification refers to the shift from traditional fossil fuel equipment to electricity-fueled equipment. Electrification is a key component in sustainable building practices, offering increased energy efficiency and decreased carbon emissions. For example, electric heat pumps can operate at up to 500% efficiency as they move heat from one location to another, instead of simply generating heat directly, further driving down costs and consumption. What is Inverter Technology? Inverter technology allows HVAC systems to operate at higher efficiency... read more
 

The Fresh Air Dilemma: HRV or ERV?

A Fantech Blog
The Fresh Air Dilemma: HRV or ERV?
Balanced ventilation is a critical concept in modern building design, referring to ensuring equal amounts of incoming and outgoing air in a home. Balanced ventilation systems mitigate the common issues associated with exhaust-only or supply-only systems, such as pressure imbalances and uneven temperature distribution. By ensuring a balanced approach, these systems help maintain a healthier and more comfortable indoor environment. Fresh Air Appliances with heat (HRV) or energy recovery (ERV) are types of balanced ventilation systems that provide controlled and equal airflow, enhancing indoor air quality and energy efficiency. A Technical Examination into Humidity, Location, and Optimal Choices When building new or renovating existing homes, selecting between a Fresh Air Appliance with heat recovery and one with energy recovery is a critical decision that impacts indoor air quality and energy efficiency. This article gets into the Fresh Air Appliance with heat recovery... read more
 

Unlocking the Power of High-Performance Homes: A Marketing Coordinator's Take on Building Science Education

Noyes Development
Unlocking the Power of High-Performance Homes: A Marketing Coordinator
Noyes Development, based in Oregon, is a high-performance home builder and EEBA Member Builder who is empowering their staff to learn about building science and advances in sustainably constructing better homes through the EEBA Academy. Founded in 1993 by Peter Noyes, they have secured a solid reputation over the past 30 years by building high-quality, classy, and innovative homes while setting the leading standard in home building. Alex Vidal, their Marketing Coordinator, is one of their staff dedicated to deepening his knowledge and has completed over 10 EEBA courses and designations - which he displays in his office. Tell us about your display! I initially had a blank wall in my office, but after hanging up my first certificate, followed by the second, and then the third, I felt compelled to continue. Not only does it serve as a personal achievement, but it also showcases the expertise of our team when visitors, whether current homeowners or prospective ones, stop by our... read more
 

Build water-smart and maximize returns!

Hydraloop Graywater Systems
Build water-smart and maximize returns!
Florida Builders, General Contractors, Architects, and Plumbers – we have big news for you! Water conservation will continue to be a topic in 2024 with Florida water shortages. We at Hydraloop, arereaching out with a unique opportunity that promises to elevate your developments while at the same time doing your part in securing water sustainability. The state is now offering a tax rebate of up to $4200 USD and a 25-35% density bonus for properties implementing graywater recycling. Homes certified under the Florida Water Star Program that are built with graywater recycling can receive an additional cash rebate, depending on the county. Hydraloop devices are at the forefront of this initiative, providing a cutting-edge solution to water conservation challenges. By recycling shower, bath, and laundry graywater, each home can save over 10,000 gallons of potable water usage annually, with minimal maintenance and no consumables. Discover how integrating Hydraloop technology... read more
 

A Builders Guide to Net Zero Homes

EEBA 1st Vice President Doug Tarry Jr. Releases Book
A Builders Guide to Net Zero Homes
"From Bleeding Edge to Leading Edge: A Builders Guide to Net Zero Homes” is a ground-breaking new book by Doug Tarry, whose company has certified more Net Zero / Net Zero Ready homes (500 and counting) than any other builder in Canada. Written in plain language and infused with humor and storytelling, this book is a must-read for builders, renovators, architects, municipal officials, industry stakeholders and home buyers - anyone interested in the future of home building. It will help builders and their teams get to Net Zero in less time, with far less cost and pain. Grab the Book! About Doug Tarry Doug Tarry is the President of Doug Tarry Homes (DTH), a multi-award-winning home building company established in 1954 and located in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada. Recently DTH celebrated being the first builder to build and label 500 Net Zero Ready homes in Canada under the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) Net Zero Program. Since 2019, all new homes constructed... read more
 

How Thrive is Forging the Path Towards Carbon Neutral Building

Sunnova Case Study
How Thrive is Forging the Path Towards Carbon Neutral Building
With the building sector contributing 20-40% of global emissions, homebuilders have an opportunity to reduce their impact. Award-winning Thrive Home Builders proves carbon neutral building is possible today. This compelling case study chronicles Thrive Home Builders’ journey towards carbon neutrality and reveals their step-by-step process for calculating, reducing and offsetting emissions to achieve certified carbon neutral homes. Real-world solutions like solar and battery storage installation, home performance upgrades, offset purchases and more enabled Thrive Home Builders to create an actionable net-zero framework. The case study details practical steps any production builder can take right now to start decreasing their carbon footprint and building healthier and higher performing homes. Key Takeaways Building more energy efficient is the logical first step to reducing your carbon footprint. Carbon-neutral building practices appear to give Thrive an... read more
 

How to Boost Home Performance and Durability with Foundation Vapor Protection

Contribute to Four Essential High-Performance Goals with Targeted Below-Slab Protection
How to Boost Home Performance and Durability with Foundation Vapor Protection
As a member of the EEBA community, you play a crucial role in leading the way towards constructing homes that are high-performing, healthy, and resilient. Now aligned with this objective are the self-educated homeowners and prospective buyers who are demanding high-performance homes. Because of this, builders (as well as the raters and architects who support them) are looking for product solutions that: Add value to their customers’ investments Demonstrate a core commitment to being a “responsible” builder Differentiate themselves in a competitive marketplace Our hope at Stego (and the purpose of this article) is to help provide useful support and education so that EEBA builders can better understand vapor transmission at the first side of the home - the foundation - and the role below-slab vapor barriers play in achieving high-performance goals in new homes. No, we are not talking about commodity 6 or 10-mil poly sheeting. Minimum residential code (2021 IRC... read more
 

Embodied carbon for homebuilders... made easy!

HomebuildersCAN
Embodied carbon for homebuilders... made easy!
The challenges homebuilders face seem to grow every year. In addition to the business of designing, constructing and selling homes, there is a constant need to keep up with code changes, new regulations and consumer demands. Climate change is bringing additional pressures to build for efficiency and electrification and now, embodied carbon is yet another aspect homebuilders must factor into their business model. Change is necessary and there are a multitude of economic, performance, and emissions-reducing benefits builders stand to gain by tackling embodied carbon. And help is on the horizon. This April, RMI (founded as Rocky Mountain Institute) is launching the Homebuilders Carbon Action Network (HomebuildersCAN), with the primary purpose of helping homebuilders understand embodied carbon and learn how to measure and reduce it in a productive and profitable way. HomebuildersCAN was conceived as a “community of practice” where homebuilders and energy raters can engage with... read more