Training Programs

 

I.  Problem solving

1. Ice dam prevention and remediation
2. Venting roofs and attics
3. Basements and crawlspaces, AVID
4. Building envelopes in historic buildings
5. Building envelopes in mass masonry buildings
6. Inside-out brick cavity walls
7. Strategic air sealing
8. Unique foam applications – solutions to BE problems

II.  Project Management

1. Bid documents and bid management
2. Estimating and proposals
   1. Collecting site information
   2. Finding red flags
   3. Doing
      Take-offs
   4. Writing RFI’s
   5. Calculating costs
   6. Using proprietary job estimating software
3. Contract negotiation and management
   1. Permits and approvals
   2. Codes and regulations
   3. Submittals
4. Project coordination
   1. Scheduling and documentation
   2. Purchasing and inventory management
   3. Cost control
   4. Crew management
   5. Safety
   6. Vehicles and equipment
5. Quality assurance and testing
6. Foam contractors – Business Practices and Risk Management
   1. Avoiding installation failures
   2. Avoiding contractual disputes
   3. Avoiding Building Science related liability
   4. Managing code-related decisions
   5. Managing OSHA-related decisions
   6. Managing DOT requirements
7. Project closeouts

III.  Weatherization and building enclosures

1. Building science issues
2. Diagnostics
3. Air sealing
4. Insulation
5. Ventilation (fresh air)
6. Ventilation (building assemblies)
7. CAZ safety
8. Performance testing

IV. Polyurethane foams and coatings

1. Foam sealants
   1. Basic theory
   2. Using kits and cans
2. Bulk foam for installers and technicians
   1. Processing basics
   2. Basic theory – Background

• Material handling
• Transfer
• Pumping
• Guns, Mixers
  • Purge types (Air purge, mechanical purge, solvent)
  • Maintenance

1. Chemistry

• General discussion of chemical composition and implications
• Product types (open-cell, closed-cell, hybrid – spray, injection, sealants)

1. Physical properties and performance
2. Protecting the material

• Humidity and moisture
• Thermal shock
• Excessive heat

1. Foam and building science
2. Bulk spray foam and coatings applications
   1. Spray-applied polyurethane foam (SPF) applications
   2. Basic theory and hands on training
   3. Productivity enhancers for spray applications
   4. Cavity fill or injected polyurethane foam (IPF)
      1. Basic theory

• Injection methods
  • Holes, holes with adaptors
  • Slots, slots with adaptors, slots with extensions
  • Forms, whalers, and membrane enclosures
  • Open pour – flats
  • Adaptors and extensions

1. Protecting the substrates against:

• Normal shrinkage/swelling
• Over-pressuring
• Vapor damage in high heat and long-term exposure

1. Hands on training
2. Quality assurance methods and testing

• Materials testing
• First-instance testing
• Building Envelope Commissioning

1. Applications

• Walls
• Closed slopes (vented, unvented)

1. Productivity enhancers
2. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
   1. Installations

• Access
• Processing
  • Safety and Chemicals
  • Transferring materials and stocking procedures
  • Preparation
    • Substrate Compatibility
    • Surface conditions
    • Masking
    • Environmental control
    • Managing difficult environmental conditions
    • Trimming
    • Delivery systems
      • Standard, remote/portable
      • Large, medium, and small scale
      • Quality assurance
        • Before, during, and after processing
        • Specific assembly types
          • Window and door openings
          • Exterior cavity walls
          • Substrate preparation
            • Humidity, temperature, water, surface compatibility
            • Drilling holes for injection work
            • Sequencing
            • Ventilation – Air quality management

1. Applications

• Standard
• Specialty (pools, cooler-freezer, kilns, unvented roofs, etc.)
• Specific use groups
  • Critical climate
  • Historic
  • Health, daycare, and education

1. Foam safety
   1. Personal protection

• Ventilation & personal protection equipment
• Confined spaces

1. Air quality management plans

• Ventilation & site protection
  • Work area occupants
  • Work zone isolation
  • Occupants of adjacent or connected spaces
  • Re-occupancy

1. Managing difficult environmental conditions & confined spaces
2. Combustion appliance safety
3. Foam and the codes
4. Successful Foam Projects (Preventing foam failures before, during, and after the work)
   1. Selecting the right foam product for the application
   2. Selecting the right installer
   3. Quality assuring the project
   4. Preventing foam failures before, during, and after the work
   5. Barriers and Coatings
      1. Barriers for fire protection
      2. Barriers for air, vapor, and water control
   6. Foam, Barrier, and Coatings Contracting
      1. Business Practices and Risk Management
         1. Avoid and manage installation failures
         2. Avoid and manage contractual disputes
         3. Avoid and manage liability related to building science issues
         4. Managing code-related decisions
         5. Project Management
            1. Collecting site information
            2. Identifying red flag conditions
            3. Estimating

• Understanding and using the Project Manual documents
• Doing Take-offs
• Calculating costs – Using proprietary estimating software

1. Bidding

• Types of bids
• Bid documents
• Writing RFI’s and using them as a sales tool

1. Producing the work
2. Selling your value proposition – insulation versus high-performance buildings
   1. Serving specialty markets to provide a broader market base
   2. Quality assurance protocols/first-instance testing
   3. Installation performance guarantees
   4. Cost Reduction Protocol – How high-performance buildings can cost less than conventionally built buildings
   5. Design support – detailing, spec writing, plan reviews
   6. Building Envelope Commissioning
   7. Diagnosing and repairing existing building envelope problems
   8. Compliance Testing for project record

V.  Diagnostic and Quality Assurance Testing

1. Test equipment and methods
2. High-performance building envelopes
3. Performance guarantees

VI.  General Building Science Programs

1. Pressure Boundaries In Buildings
2. Diagnostics and Quality Assurance Techniques
3. The Implications of Building Envelope Performance with Respect to Indoor Air Quality and Combustion Appliance Safety
4. Vented and unvented attics and cathedral roof slopes
5. Moisture and ventilation in basements and crawl spaces
6. Avoiding common building failures – problem solving

VII. What the design team needs to know about foam insulation & A/V barriers

1. Selecting foam insulation & A/V barrier materials
2. Pre-qualifying foam/coatings contractors
3. Specifying and detailing air barrier systems
4. Cost-effective design of specific assemblies
5. Specifying quality assurance for building/thermal envelopes
6. Setting performance standards
7. Design strategies for high-performance building envelopes