Educational programs by topic

Programs are available for all of these topics as previously presented, or with content customized for the venue and/or audience.  Contact HCF for more information on Educational Program availability.  Also see Presentations made to date.

General Building Science Programs

    1. Pressure boundaries in buildings
    2. Diagnostics and quality assurance techniques (infrared, blower door, theatrical fog, monitoring, first instance, etc.)
    3. Diagnostic pitfalls
    4. The implications of building envelope performance with respect to indoor air quality and combustion appliance safety
    5. Vented and unvented attics and cathedral roof slopes

Problem Solving

    1. Preventing and remediating ice dams
    2. Ventilating cathedral roofs with deep snow cover
    3. Strategic air sealing in multi-family and commercial buildings
    4. Preventing and remediating pipe freeze-ups
    5. Mold, mildew, vermin
    6. Planning and executing energy improvements for basements and crawl spaces
    7. Fixing basements and crawl spaces
    8. Projects that fail to meet airtightness compliance standards
    9. Structural insulated panel failures
    10. Facilities with severe corrosion and moisture problems

Project management

    1. Bid documents and bid management
    2. Estimating and proposals
    3. Contract negotiation and management
    4. Project coordination
    5. Quality assurance and testing
    6. Risk management
    7. Project closeouts

Polyurethane foams

    1. Safety – Design Practices for Foamed Plastics
    2. Polyurethane foam safety – Installer and Site protection
    3. Foam and the Codes
    4. General Introduction to Spray-applied Polyurethane Foams (SPF)
    5. Cavity-fill (IPF) techniques – Limitations and Opportunities
    6. Specialty field-applied foam applications
      1. Specific assembly types
      2. Custom molded shapes
      3. Strategic air sealing with foam
      4. High-performance projects
      5. Insulating historic structures
      6. Insulating mass masonry with foam (inside)
      7. Exterior brick/cladding system cavity walls (includes how to relate to Masonry Institute requirements)
      8. Timber-framed structures (Structural insulated panels vs. site-built assemblies)
    7. Air sealing and insulating party walls and floors
    8. Fire-protected foam applications (Stayflex and other coating systems)
    9. Modular high-performance Panel-Blocks (Net-zero energy in Antarctica)
    10. Insulating precast concrete panel cladding systems
    11. Concentrating solar collector system integrated into structural insulated panels

Application strategies

    1. The AVID (air, vapor, insulation, and drainage) approach for stone foundations
    2. Strategic air sealing – combining diagnostics/QA methods with air sealing measures
    3. The “Inside-out” approach to retrofitting brick cavity walls from the interior
    4. The cost reduction protocol (CRP) for high-performance building envelopes
    5. High-performance low-cost shelters (TECH-FORMS, Monolithic Domes, Tension Structures, etc.)
    6. Specific use groups USACE – meeting net-zero energy from the demand side
    7. Condominium and multi-family associations and developers
    8. Museum and art storage facilities
    9. Campuses with central steam generation plants
    10. Historic buildings
    11. Food processing facilities
    12. High-performance schools
    13. Inspecting Foamed Plastics for Code Compliance and Product Quality
    14. Integrated design
    15. Setting air barrier performance and fuel use standards
    16. Air barrier modeling and compliance
    17. Performance guarantees
    18. Quality assurance protocols
    19. Building envelope commissioning
    20. Achieving Low-cost High-performance Building Envelopes
    21. The Cost Reduction Protocol (CRP) – better buildings for less