Back to B4: A building science professional's journey from student to teacher

"Thank you for coming. Any questions?"

The presenter advances the slide on the projector to display his contact information. I just paid attention to the presentation for 75 minutes, but my reason for attending the session did not answer my burning question. I looked around the room, did not see any hands in the air, and slowly raised mine. The presenter, relieved someone had a question, found my hand in the back row, and called on me with a "Yes, sir?"

"Was there any consideration for Wisconsin to move toward a more recent energy code version such as the standards in the 2012 IECC?"

It's late winter of 2015 and I'm at the regional Better Buildings: Better Business Conference hosted at the Kalahari in Wisconsin Dells. This is my third year attending the conference as a student in the Building Science program at Western Technical College located in La Crosse, WI, but I still feel nervous and unsettled asking questions among career industry professionals.

"Great question," the presenter starts his response, then proceeds to explain why Wisconsin decided not to update parts of the energy code that was fully above my comprehension. The presenter's answer sparked a general larger conversation, with attendees voicing all sorts of opinions.

The session about Wisconsin building code updates ends with my question being the only one asked. I'm one of the first to exit the room, feeling somewhat responsible for the spirited discussion. Moments later, a session participant finds me in the hallway and thanks me for asking the question about energy codes. "This is an energy efficiency conference after all," he states and takes off for lunch.

My fellow students regroup after lunch in the exhibit hall. We discuss what we've learned, initial feedback, and what sessions we plan to go to next, but one classmate is distracted. He's watching a hands-on session open to exhibit hall passersby about duct and ventilation performance, captivated by the trainer who is delivering the presentation.

"Look at that guy," my classmate says and points over to the presenter; a middle-aged man with scraggly hair, glasses, and well-dressed in black pants and a white button-up shirt with a business logo on his left chest. "See him? He's so good at what he does. You can tell he's doing what he loves," my classmate finishes as the presenter demonstrates proper diagnostic testing to the session attendees. I briefly watch the presenter somewhat hypnotized myself. I regain my focus and head off to the other side of the hall to stand with my student exhibit, thinking about how I could become a professional in this energy-efficiency space.

"Thank you for coming. Any questions?"

I advance the slide on the projector to display my contact information.

A few hands raise to ask some great technical questions. I answer them to the best of my ability and my session on Zone Pressure Diagnostics ends.

Presenting at the B4 Conference in 2025

It's late winter of 2025 and I'm back at the regional B4 conference hosted at the Kalahari in Wisconsin Dells. I've just finished presenting one of the opening sessions as I see my previous Building Science instructor from Western Technical College along with his current students in the audience applauding. I answer lingering follow-up questions from attendees and approach the Western Tech crowd. My instructor introduces me to his students, and we briefly chat. I tell my instructor I'm working on a cool project with Slipstream that might be interesting to his students and to attend the conference session later.

I catch up with my some of my colleagues at lunch. A middle-aged man with scraggly hair, wearing glasses, and somewhat well-dressed in pants and a grey button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, approaches our table.

"Well, how did the session go, John?" the man asks sitting down next to me with a plate full of food as I notice the business logo on his left chest matches mine.

"Mr. Greg Nahn," I start my reply. "I think it was great. I had fun and the crowd seemed to enjoy it."

"I'm sure it went well," Greg responds. We eat our lunch as I visualize Greg's presentation ten years ago. He knows his residential energy efficiency and I've learned so much from him. It's fitting that my career has crossed paths with him at a time when industry workforce development is so crucial.

I meet my instructor at breakfast on the last day of the conference. I tell him I'm working on a project at Slipstream to advance energy codes in Wisconsin. Part of the study needs us to conduct site visit inspections on new construction residential homes and we need samples from La Crosse County. My instructor quickly realizes the opportunity and we set up a date for me to travel to La Crosse.

I start off the trip with a presentation to the Building Science program students that discussed my previous student experience at Western ending ten years prior. I also talk about my professional career arc, how I joined Slipstream, the importance of training a new workforce generation, and other projects I work on. Mid-day, we travel to a newly built home that will be used for data collection in our energy codes study. Like an energy rating, I show the students how we collect the project data and I gladly let them contribute to the diagnostic testing as they wanted the practice using the equipment. We ended the day debriefing the site visit and future career opportunities.

Discussing the steps for site-data collection for Building a Strong Foundation for Wisconsin Energy Codes in La Crosse

I stood at the head of the classroom listening to the students contemplate their own professional futures and I couldn't help but reflect on mine. I started out interested in energy efficiency, now I was training a new workforce. I sought out career path tips, now I was providing advice. I looked up to all the industry professionals, now they were my colleagues. I was intrigued by Wisconsin energy codes, now I'm on the frontlines addressing them. My career was bringing me back full circle to exact same spot where the students and I both started. It's just now I am on the other side of the front table with them learning from me.

Presenting my professional career and projects at Slipstream to students at Western Technical College

Our time was coming to an end. I thank the students for helping me and my instructor asks if I have any closing words before my exit. I ponder for a moment and one thought quickly comes to mind:

"Any final questions?"