In this episode, we're joined by Gene Myers who is the owner and CEO of Thrive Home Builders in Denver, Colorado and current president of The Energy & Environmental Building Alliance (EEBA) board of directors to discuss EEBA and its commitment to provide the most trusted resources for building science information and education in the construction industry.

About Gene Myers
Gene is owner and CEO of Thrive Home Builders (formerly New Town Builders), Denver's leader in building green, energy efficient production homes and recent winner of the U.S. Department of Energy's Housing Innovation Award.

Gene has served on numerous state and local housing groups and currently serves as a member the board of directors of Denver Civic Ventures and the Challenge Foundation.  He has served on the Governor's Blue Ribbon Panel for Housing, the Boards of Housing Colorado and the Home Builders Association of Metro Denver and co-chaired Denver's Housing Task Force. His company is Denver's largest builder of for-sale affordable housing.

Thrive Home Builders
https://www.thrivehomebuilders.com/

EEBA
https://www.eeba.org/

DOE Housing Innovation Awards
https://www.energy.gov/eere/buildings/housing-innovation-awards

Tim O'Brien Homes
https://www.timobrienhomes.com/

In this episode, we're joined by Steve Olson who is the teacher of the Oconomowoc High School Building Trades class to discuss the partnership between Tim O'Brien Homes and local high schools in order to develop the future of the trade industry by giving students real, hands-on experience in homebuilding.

About Steve Olson
Steve has been a certified staff member at OHS since the fall of 1995.   After graduating from UW-Stout in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Technology Education, he earned a Masters degree in Curriculum & Instruction from National-Louis University in the spring of 1999.  Through the years, Steve has taught many different classes in the technology education department of OHS, including: Materials and Processes, Innovations, Inventions and Problem Solving, and Welding.

Oconomowoc High School
https://www.oasd.k12.wi.us/page.cfm?p=6767

Oconomowoc School District
https://www.oasd.org/

Tim O'Brien Homes Social Responsibility
https://www.timobrienhomes.com/social-responsibility

Tim O'Brien Homes
https://www.timobrienhomes.com/

 In this episode, Tim O'Brien is joined by Chief Architect of the Building Technologies Office in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Sam Rashkin, to discuss new home design as our environment continues to change around us. Sam highlights the importance of resilient, future-ready homes as well as how and why homebuilders should implement sustainable building practices going forward.

About Sam Rashkin
Sam is the author of the book titled “Retooling the U.S. Housing Industry: How It Got Here, Why It’s Broken, and How to Fix It” that presents a comprehensive strategy for transforming the new homebuyer consumer experience. Sam brings the lessons from this book to housing executives across the country with workshops and collaborative meetings that help them accelerate innovation. Apart from this work, Sam has earned a national reputation for his work leading housing programs that have partnered with thousands of home builders and resulted in over one million certified high-performance homes. Mr. Rashkin was recently recognized for his contributions to sustainable housing with the 2012 Hanley Award.

He received his Bachelor of Architecture from Syracuse University; and is a registered architect in California and New York. During his 20-plus years as a licensed architect, he specialized in energy efficient design and completed over 100 residential projects. He has served on the national Steering Committees for USGBC’s LEED for Homes, NAHB’s Green Builder Guidelines, and EPA’s Water Sense label, and on the development team for EPA’s Indoor airPLUS label. Sam has also prepared hundreds of articles, technical papers, reports, and seminars; and contributed to other books on energy efficient and green construction

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
https://www.energy.gov/eere/buildings/building-technologies-office

U.S. Department of Energy Zero Energy Ready Home Program
https://www.energy.gov/eere/buildings/zero-energy-ready-homes

Tim O'Brien Homes
https://www.timobrienhomes.com/