333: Deep Dive Series: Applying Building Science, Episode 1: Pragmatic Building Think Tank
This is episode 1 of 4 discussing the national organization BS + Beer. “Concentrate on that control and predictability, everything is about control and predictability.” Join us this week as we talk with Robby Schwarz about BUILDTank and the foundations of building science and energy modeling. We kick off this Deep Dive Series with Robby and Devon discussing Building Science in our studio. They set up future episodes that will discuss Energize Denver and feature a LIVE podcast at BS + Beer Denver! Robby has been a champion of home performance for over 25 years, focusing on building performance, applied building science, and system thinking. He is committed to helping industry partners, builders, code jurisdictions, and others understand residential energy, applied building science, systems thinking, home performance and our role in the built environment. His interest started in 1995, while exploring how to incorporate green building materials into the production building environment. Soon after, Robby founded his first company, BuiltWright, Inc. In 2006, he cofounded EnergyLogic, now the largest energy rating firm of its kind in Colorado. In 2020 he became the principal thinker and founder of BUILDTank, Inc., a pragmatic building think tank specializing in actionable applied building science solutions. When getting his hands dirty doing the work he finds that ideas are stimulated, and innovative change can occur. Using what he has learned from working on thousands of homes, Robby has helped train and lead the industry. He is actively involved in energy code development, builder and trade training, and educating the next generation of residential energy experts. He has helped Colorado jurisdictions develop and implement their energy codes, presented code language that was successfully adopted at the national ICC® code hearings, and encouraged implementation of the simulated performance path for code compliance. His ability to integrate applied building science and systems thinking with building programs such as Energy Star®, Indoor airPlus®, and DOE Zero Energy Ready Homes® has lead to thousands of certified homes in Colorado. Robby is a sought-after trainer and routinely presents at RESNET®, EEBA, the ENERGY STAR® Summit, the Colorado Chapter of the IECC®, Colorado Energy Office, and local Home Builders Associations. Watch a promo video for this Deep Dive Series! Listen to Robby's podcast, BuildCAST: https://open.spotify.com/show/2M8c6vIFahbGsCBl675BAr