Session Recordings

Better Buildings: Better Business Conference
Position yourself as a market leader. The Better Buildings: Better Business Conference provides one central hub where builders, suppliers, manufacturers, contractors and the industry can find the latest tips, trends, and technologies to put you above your competition. The conference is powered by two strong partners: Slipstream and the Wisconsin Builders Foundation. Slipstream brings nationally-recognized expertise in quality construction, energy efficiency and building science for health while the WBF brings Wisconsin's most successful home builders and leading suppliers. You will have the opportunity to connect with top experts in your industry and get continuing education credits while you’re at it.

Below you'll find a selection of Slipstream's residential trainings housed in our new Learning Management System, Coassemble. You'll need to create a free account to get access to these trainings. After completing the registration form, check your email for your invitation to Coassemble. You only need to register once! After you're in, you can browse the courses alphabetically or search by title. You can also return to this page and click on the courses below to be taken directly to the course after logging in.

If you need continuing education credits for these webinars, you will need to pass a quiz with a score of 80% or greater. Once you complete all modules and pass the quiz, a course completion certificate will be available within the LMS (you can download these anytime by clicking on the certificate icon next to your initials). If you need credits submitted on your behalf, contact credits@slipstreaminc.org. All credits have different expiration dates, so it is to your advantage to take the quiz as soon as possible.
Deep energy retrofit strategies for aging homes

Our nation's housing stock in in peril as homeowners are increasingly challenged financially to maintain and upgrade their homes. Upgrades are badly needed as our housing stock average age approaches 40 years. However, deep energy retrofits are not for the faint of heart. There are plenty of minefields along the way that can undermine goals for improved efficiency, durability, comfort, health and safety. This session will identify the risks and technical challenges of deep energy retrofit strategies.

Building products and systems: the good, the bad, the ugly

New building products and systems crop up like both sturdy trees and annoying weeds. Sometimes it is not so easy to tell the difference. Peter has been evaluating building products and systems for more than 30 years. He will lay out a "protocol" for evaluating building materials and then apply that lens to new products and even his Wingnut testing. You will be encouraged to offer insights on new products as well.

Ductless heat pump applications for high performance homes

During this session, we will discuss the advancements in ductless heat pumps and the application for high-performance homes. Learn about the concept of high performance homes and the application of residential variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems to meet their design and efficiency requirements. We will review the scale upon which high performance homes are measured, the process to properly design an HVAC system for these homes, and ventilation and dehumidification strategies that are required in low load homes.

Part III: Attics and roofs that don’t work and why

Taking building investigations and turning them into building science puzzles is fun and informative. In Part II, we learned how to configure high performance attics and roofs. What can we learn from roofs and attics that have had problems? We can learn about tolerances attics and roofs have for heat and moisture management and quite a bit about how to and not to retrofit existing attics and roofs.

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Part II: Attic and roof configurations that work and why

Using the building science and building code for attics and roofs, we will work through which roof and attic configurations work and why. Peter will work with a local high performance builder and roof/attic mock-ups to get into the nitty-gritty of materials, sequencing, and trades interaction for high performance attics and roofs.

Housing disruption realities, crises and transformations: are you ready?

Virtually every major industry has experienced, or is in the process of experiencing, massive disruption. Housing has been able to sit on the sidelines with its first-cost dominated business model and uniquely disaggregated industry, but not for much longer. That’s because there are three new realities setting the stage for disruption, five crises making disruption an imperative, and four transformations that will drive disruption in an industry totally resistant to change. Within this larger disruption context, high performance homes will play an increasingly critical role that needs to be fully integrated. Will you be ready?

Business success: learning to master the grey areas

Systems are critical to a successful business, but sometimes we get caught up in trying to manage and design controls for components that refuse to cooperate. When is it more efficient and profitable to leave things undefined and grey? When do we benefit from leaving things open and malleable? How do we build systems that help us become comfortable and eventually benefit from the messy parts of our work? This provocative session will challenge you and help you take your business to new levels.

Building the optimal customer-centric home: envelope assemblies, mechanical systems and the sale

Join us to learn how to reframe the conversation and discuss the concept of a perfectly efficient home. We'll focus on meeting your customers' lifestyle desires while using every available dollar to generate the greatest savings. The key structural and mechanical components of a home will be reviewed; and we'll explain how to analyze the options available so that you can help your customers make the right building decisions.