Event Description

About the Program:  Building and renovating homes in Maine’s climate is a challenge. While most customers demand that their homes be constructed and renovated to minimize heat loss – most customers don’t make similar demands for adequate ventilation and moisture management. Yet ventilation of a Maine home, particularly an energy efficient home, is one of the most critical construction issues Maine builders need to address in order to prevent call backs and problems down the road. Properly ventilated homes minimize the risk of exposure to indoor environmental pollutants (radon, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, combustion pollutants, chemicals) and minimize the risk of moisture damage in the building envelope and subsequent biological contamination. This program stresses why controlling ventilation in a home is necessary to protect occupant health. It will discuss the most common sources of indoor air pollution in homes and how they get there, and what physical processes are present (air flow, pressure, moisture) that affect indoor air quality. The program provides practical strategies to achieve energy efficient heating, moisture control, and core ventilation goals.

Learning objectives for HVAC:

1. Do you or don’t you “build tight, ventilate right”?
2. The three primary driving forces of air movement in or out of a building
3. The basic rules of moisture movement
4. The consequences of insufficient “make-up” air
5. How and why to apply ASHRAE 62.2
6. Atmospherically vented combustion appliances vs. sealed combustion
7. Describe various approaches for ventilating a home
8. Describe various approaches for effectively ventilating cooking areas
9. Describe various approaches to HVAC and domestic hot water with combustion devices and/or heat pumps
10. Key components of good year-round ventilation, heating, cooling, and humidity control.