CERTs Behavior Change and Metrics Coordinator Alexis Troschinetz attended the 1st Annual Social of the Minnesota Building Performance Association (MBPA) in Fall 2013. More than 30 people gathered at Indeed Brewery in Minneapolis to sip the delicious brews and “talk shop.”
The MPBA leadership, comprised of Rebecca Olson as President, Ross Anderson as Secretary, and John Fedora as Treasurer, gave opening remarks that gave a sense of where MBPA is headed for 2014. For those unfamiliar with MPBA, their mission is to promote safe, comfortable, durable and energy efficient homes with improved air quality, comfort, moisture control, and affordability. Their vision for MPBA is to work toward becoming THE resource for building energy information in Minnesota. To achieve this vision, they’ve set the following three goals for 2014:
- Increase membership: MPBA wants to receive and share technical information from a greater variety of experts in the field. Currently, there are 46 members and they hope to welcome 25 more in 2014 to the community. They are also considering reorganizing the membership and organizational structure to allow for growth and governance of a larger organization.
- Improve the website: MPBA would like to invest in their website so that it becomes a clearinghouse of information about energy efficiency and building science in Minnesota. The goal is to have it come up higher in search results and become the “go to” source for building science questions and resources.
- Create three informational pieces: MBPA wants to funnel all of the great ideas from its expert members into informational pieces to help educate Minnesotans on building issues related to energy. MBPA sees resources on such topics as Ice Dams, Healthy Home and Spray Foam Insulation as valuable additions to Minnesota’s “energy library.”
Over a few slices of Pizza Luce, Alexis had the opportunity to get down into the weeds about home energy issues with a few MPBA members and guests of the social. Alexis learned about the value and importance of using atmospheric dampers near combustion appliances as we work harder to seal our homes from outside air easily entering through cracks and crevices. These efforts mean great things for increased comfort and reduced energy bills, but can leave appliances that use natural gas starving for the air needed to burn with the fuel. Atmospheric dampers only open to the outdoors when the gas appliance is in use and closes up tight the rest of the time.
During another conversation, photos of an attic sealing and insulation project were shared to discuss how we can better assess when these jobs are done right. We also dove into the topic of household energy use and how the baseline energy use is increasing and steadily shifting from being mostly HVAC-related energy use to plug-load energy use due to the prevalence of electronics in our lives. If you think you would enjoy these types of conversations as much as Alexis did, then MBPA is the community for you!
The social gathering was such a hit that MPBA plans to host it annually going forward in addition to other networking social events. So, until next year, you can stay connected with MBPA through their website or by attending one of their meetings, taking place on the first Thursday of each month.
To find out more about MPBA or to attend the next meeting, visit http://mbpa.us.
