Insulation

A listener wrote to request an episode on insulation- here it is! Christine Williamson of Building Science Fight Club explains the factors to consider when insulating your house. I hope you enjoy this deep dive into the subject. Christine is an accomplished building scientist who has a large following on instagram through her account Building Science Fight Club (@buildingsciencefightclub). She can also be reached through her website https://www.christine-williamson.com

About our guest:

Christine Williamson’s professional experience includes building-science consulting for the restoration of Belvedere Castle in New York City’s Central Park, forensic investigations of building failures at the air-traffic control tower of LAX, and the Wheeler Opera House in Aspen, among other projects. She offers new-construction risk-mitigation consulting for residential towers, mid-rise mixed-use buildings, and production homes, as well as some of the most extraordinary private residences in the world. She has worked across North America from the Canadian Arctic to the Caribbean.

She began her career working for architect Chris Benedict in New York City, where she performed blower-door tests on gut rehabs in Harlem and Washington Heights and assisted in the design of one of the first multi-family Passive Houses in the United States. In her current practice, she reviews drawings and makes recommendations that promote appropriate water control, air control, energy efficiency, constructability, and durability. For clients with a portfolio of upcoming projects, she assists in developing design standards commensurate with their tolerance for risk. During the construction phase, she reviews work in progress and addresses conditions or changes in sequence or scope that were not anticipated during the design phase.

In existing buildings, she investigates failures related to enclosure design and mechanical systems as well as material and installation defects. Failures include leaks, corrosion, rot, mold, odors, poor indoor air quality, and discomfort due to poor temperature or humidity control. Her experience in new construction and attendant understanding of the division of labor among the trades, and typical sequencing and construction practices inform not just her analysis in forensic cases, but also her repair and retrofit recommendations, which are designed to minimize disruption in occupied buildings.

Christine Williamson is a member and former chair of ASHRAE Technical Committee 1.12, Moisture Management in Buildings. She is an associate member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and is a member of the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA). She is the founder of @buildingsciencefightclub (BSFC), an Instagram community dedicated to teaching building science and construction to architects and other building professionals.

She received her bachelor of arts from Princeton University and her master of architecture from New School of Architecture + Design.

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Thanks to Ray Bernoff, the editor of the show. www.RayBernoff.com

Music at the beginning and end of the episode is The House Maven's Jig by Neil Pearlman, performed by Troy MacGillivray and Neil Pearlman www.neilpearlman.com

Show Cover Art by Sam White www.samowhite.com

This podcast is a production of dEmios Architects. www.demiosarchitects.com

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