Building HVAC Science

Quotes from the episode: "The tighter your envelope, the more attention you have to pay to ventilation and indoor air quality." "The acoustics of the ordinary rarely gets attention." "There's so much good work being done, so much data being collected, and oftentimes it doesn't leave the hard drive." "Noise annoyance may be one of the things people are most passionate about." In this episode of the Building HVAC Science Podcast, Bill Spohn welcomes Kieren McCord, a research scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, for a conversation about indoor environmental quality, acoustic comfort, and the often-overlooked benefits of building performance upgrades. Kieren shares her path from music and acoustics to building science, explaining how sound, comfort, air quality, thermal resilience, and human perception intersect in homes. The conversation explores how energy upgrades such as better windows, tighter envelopes, and improved insulation can create benefits beyond lower utility bills. Kieren explains how acoustic performance is measured, why low-frequency sound is difficult to block, how decibel weightings like dBA and dBZ work, and why human response to noise can be highly personal. She also discusses the promise and limitations of smartphone-based sound measurements, including the potential for making acoustic data collection more accessible to HERS© raters and home performance professionals. Kieren also shares details from recent field research on a Chicago window retrofit, in which triple-pane acoustic windows and careful installation resulted in a 35% reduction in whole-home air leakage. While the noise data is still being processed, the study aims to link measurable building improvements to homeowners' perceptions of comfort, quiet, smell, temperature, and overall livability. Her closing message is a call for more shared field data, more collaboration, and a stronger connection between academic research and the practical work being done every day by contractors, raters, and building performance professionals. Kieren's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kieren-m/   US DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information; osti.gov   Physical Phone Experiments: https://phyphox.org/       This episode was recorded in May 2026.  

Quotes from the episode: "Stop trying to HVAC your way out of bad buildings, and your results will market themselves." "The quality work and word of mouth are real when you're doing building science-backed work with quality staff." "Come with problems you're actively trying to work on and meet others who can help you work on them." In this episode of Building HVAC Science, Bill welcomes back Brent Davidson of the U.S. Heat Pump Summit for his third appearance. Brent shares what emerged from the first full-scale national Heat Pump Summit held in Massachusetts in November 2025, including the strong appetite among contractors for practical, business-focused heat pump education. The event is designed not as a policy forum or sales-heavy conference, but as a contractor-facing gathering where HVAC and plumbing professionals can learn how to build stronger, more profitable businesses around heat pumps, building science, and quality installation practices. Brent also discusses the launch of The Heat Pump Edge, a twice-weekly newsletter that extends the Summit's mission year-round by profiling successful contractors and sharing practical takeaways that others can apply in their own businesses. The conversation highlights contractors who are growing through training, word of mouth, building science, and better customer outcomes, not just bigger marketing budgets. Brent emphasizes that the best heat pump businesses are often led by people willing to share openly, train deeply, and professionalize the trades from the inside out. The episode closes with a look ahead to the next U.S. Heat Pump Summit, scheduled for September 15–16, 2026, in Worcester, Massachusetts. Brent describes the event as a place for motivated contractors to bring real business challenges, meet peers, learn from successful operators, and connect with exhibitors focused on the future of residential heat pumps. Bill sums it up with a very Pittsburgh-flavored thought: if your business needs help, look for the helpers at the Heat Pump Summit. Link to the Summit and free Tickets offer for contractors (as available): https://www.usheatpumpsummit.com/ Brent'sLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brentdavidson/   Brent's email: [email protected]   The newsletter: www.TheTheHeatPumpEdge.com     This episode was recorded in May 2026.