The House that She Built - Mollie Elkman & Georgia Castellano
Construction is a club. Local contractors often know each other as they move from project to project. There is an attitude of 'we've always done it this way, so why would we change?' That carries over from framing to plumbing to heating and cooling systems. The fear of the dreaded 'call-back' is a major drag on change.
Unfortunately that carries over to the gender of the crafts on the job. Sailors said that women on a ship were bad luck. And certainly mixing the genders in the confines of a whaling ship on a two year voyage could be a source of problems.
A construction project can be a long project as well, but the participants get to go home at night. The House That She Built "was inspired by the team of real women who came together from around the country to build a one-of-a-kind home." The Utah Home Builders Association Professional Women in Building Council put this project together. The book is aimed for children to learn that just because you're a girl doesn't mean that you can't be a plumber or a contractor or anything else you might want to be. Equally important is the message for little boys that women can share a construction job site with men. Construction skills can be learned by anyone. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) printed the book. The words, pictures, and messages are simple and clear.
There are images and videos on the Utah Home Builders web site along with lots of details about the project. Check it out. Spread the word.
My copies of the book were donated by Bill Spohn of TruTech Tools.
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National Home Performance Conference 2022
I've been to a lot of building related conferences over the years. A lot of information is transferred, but you also see the same group of people and build friendships. Not everybody wants to talk about thermodynamics at the dinner table! But these folks do. So being stuck at home for all these months/years it was wonderful to see real people again. For some reason, people seemed taller than they do on Zoom.
They've all been working in their houses and laboratories and learning more stuff. Seems like there is always more to learn. Houses are amazingly complex environments. The push to electrification means movement away from gas, oil, and propane fired heating systems and that means understanding heat pumps and all they can and can't do. They are not the same as traditionally ducted and distributed conditioned air systems. They impact humidity and comfort differently. They install and service differently.
And then there is indoor air quality (IAQ). The world has become acutely aware of the chemicals and tiny particles floating around in our houses. So what are you going to do about it. "Thar's gold in them thar hills!" Just put in the gadgets and the whackeys and stomp out the bugs. But it's not that easy. That shiny ozone generator will zap some pollutants while creating others. It's a whack-a-mole exercise.
But as frustrating as it is, this is one whack-a-mole game that we can't stop if we want to leave a livable environment on this planet. This wonderful group of caring people have been working at this for a very long time and will continue to do so. But we all have to learn more and continue to transfer that information. Enough said.
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