EEBA Academy

In order to earn the EEBA High Performance Building Professional Designation, one must take and pass:

• Houses That Work
• High Performance Mechanicals
• HERS Associate

The building science principles forming the foundation for high performance are how heat moves, how moisture moves, and how the two always work together. 

High performance zero energy homes provide many benefits including cost savings, energy resiliency, durability, comfort, and sustainable operation. While these types of homes have been built for a long time, the knowledge of how to build them has historically been kept by few. Now with increasingly stringent building codes across the U.S., driven by long-term energy policy and growing demands on the energy grid, all builders and implementers need to know how to build high performance. 

This class will discuss code requirements found in the prescriptive window and insulation requirements and how these requirements have changed through various code editions (2009-2021). The audience will learn how to interpret the tables, understand different insulation types that comply and explore innovative examples. The class will discuss how the code tables are intended to control conductive heat flow, and will explain how the code treats concepts like "effective R-value" and U-value. The class will also discuss flexibility allowed through different compliance options within the prescriptive compliance path. This module will cover IECC Climate Zones 1 and 2 while other modules will cover other climate zones.