Distinguished Lecturer Series: Building Science - Adventures in Building Science
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN commenters cite it as an authoritative, entertaining source on building science, such as insulation placement and why LEED point priorities miss the mark.
What it is
A Berkeley Lab Distinguished Lecturer talk on building science, with an expert covering control layers, insulation and vapour barrier placement, and how buildings fail. The delivery is humorous.
Recommended by 2 HN commenters across 2 different months, 2019 to 2021.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec recuter · 2020-08 · on “Semi-transparent solar panels allow concurrent production of crops and power”
You got the gist of what I was saying which is physics is at play and the answer is always "it depends". But people don't like that. Hence, AC off I'm a good person. Green roof I'm a good person. 'etc. > I agree to a certain extent with his points, but found his tone incredibly condescending and offputting That kind of says it all, doesn't it? Personally I found it good natured tongue-firmly-in-cheek conspiratorial humour. Considering he is an actual authority on the subject and has seen a lot of incredibly idiotic behaviour and expensive and downright dangerous mistakes I think you can forgive him if his comedy schtick is not to your taste as long as the info is good. This talk is even bett
Recommends throw0101a · 2019-01 · on “On whether changes in bedroom CO2 levels affect sleep quality”
A house should not breathe. A catchy mantra I've run across is "seal tight, ventilate right": * [LINK] Mold is not a ventilation problem, but rather a moisture control problem. Keep the humidity down (especially with whole house dehumidifiers), and eliminate condensation points (by eliminating thermal bridging), and it goes away. While the above video, which is from the really good channel by Matt Risinger, is a good introduction, I recommend you also check out the building science stuff put out by Joseph Lstiburek for a more science-y explanation: * [LINK] On the "perfect wall": * [LINK] Presentation on control layer (especially starting around 15m): * [this video] Good webinar: * [LINK]
Cites throw0101a · 2019-11 · on “Passivhaus Detailing and Design”
Not necessarily. Mold grows in certain conditions: food availability, right temperature, water/moisture. Ideally you would want your insulation outside of vapour barrier: * [LINK] * [this video] * [LINK]
Cites throw0101a · 2021-04 · on “Does LEED Certification Save Energy? Evidence from Federal Buildings”
> Certain building materials need to breath. As explained in the linked video, they actually need to dry . This does not need to happen to the outside environment. IMHO, using the two terms (dry/breathe) interchangeably is causing confusion, as each has certain connotations in many people's minds. The person in that video lives in Austin, Texas, and when he builds or renovates structures he has a stand-alone, whole-house dehumidifier designed into the HVAC system (the client can of course reject the suggestion): * [LINK] > If the there are discontinuities it is possible to get condensation when the temperature / dew point align just wrong. Which, as explained in the first link (BSI-001), is
Cites wcunning · 2021-04 · on “Does LEED Certification Save Energy? Evidence from Federal Buildings”
Joseph Lstiburek talked about this(1) in talks going back to the early 2010s. He bitched about bike racks being worth a LEED point whereas good insulation wasn't really... (1) [this video]
Cites throw0101a · 2021-04 · on “Does LEED Certification Save Energy? Evidence from Federal Buildings”
The order of importance is not the order in which they are layered: * [LINK] If you wish to argue against Joe Lstiburek, a PhD who has been doing building science for probably over thirty years (both academic research and field work/consulting), go right ahead. He has taken failures into account because a good portion of his career has been studying / consulting on failures: * [this video]