Building Logix

07/06/2026

CASE STUDY: HOW AN INDEPENDENT REVIEW IDENTIFIED OVER $55,000 IN POTENTIAL COST & PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS
Recently, I was asked to perform an independent construction and building performance review on a residential spec home under construction.
The goal wasn't to find fault.
The goal was to evaluate the project from a building science, durability, constructability, and cost-efficiency perspective before construction progressed further.
Areas Reviewed
✅ HVAC System Design
✅ Electrical System Layout
✅ Building Envelope Detailing
✅ Air Sealing & Moisture Management
✅ Construction Quality Control
✅ Design & Specification Selections
Key Findings
1. HVAC System Oversizing
The home was being constructed with two 2-ton HVAC systems.
A preliminary review suggested the installed capacity may significantly exceed the actual building load.
Oversized equipment can lead to:

Higher installation costs
Reduced operating efficiency
Poor humidity control
Comfort complaints

Bigger is not always better.

2. Electrical System Optimization Opportunities
The project included a 400-amp service with multiple distribution panels.
While functional, the layout appeared more complex than necessary for the project requirements.
Opportunities were identified to simplify the design while reducing material and labor costs.

3. Building Envelope Concerns
Exterior cladding was being installed without a dedicated drainage plane behind the siding assembly.
Proper water management is one of the most important components of long-term building durability.
The goal is not simply keeping water out.
The goal is ensuring walls have a reliable way to drain and dry when moisture inevitably gets in.

4. Air Sealing & Performance Gaps
Several penetrations through the building enclosure had not yet been sealed.
Small details such as these can have a significant impact on:

Air leakage
Energy efficiency
Moisture control
Overall building performance

5. Testing & Verification Opportunities
The project did not currently include a structured performance testing strategy during construction.
Incorporating staged testing such as:

Blower door testing
Duct leakage testing
Performance verification

can often identify issues before they become expensive punch-list items or warranty callbacks.

Potential Impact
The review identified opportunities that could potentially improve the project by more than $55,000 through a combination of:

Reduced construction costs
Improved HVAC sizing
Better system efficiency
Improved building durability
Reduced future risk exposure

The Takeaway
Most expensive building problems don't start with poor workmanship.
They start with decisions.
Many of those decisions are made long before drywall, siding, flooring, or paint hide the systems that matter most.
An independent review provides owners, builders, and developers with a second set of eyes before those opportunities disappear behind finished construction.
That's exactly why Building Logix exists.
Building Logix
Independent Owner Representation • Building Performance Consulting • HVAC Design • Construction Reviews

07/06/2026

Building a home or planning a renovation?
Most homeowners don't know:

Is my HVAC system sized correctly?
Is my builder making good decisions?
Are there future moisture or comfort problems hiding in the plans?
Am I overspending in the wrong areas?

Building Logix provides independent building reviews and owner representation services.
Popular Services:
✅ HVAC Design
✅ Building Plan Reviews
✅ Site Assessments
✅ Owner Representation
Send a message with:
"REVIEW"
to discuss your project.

06/18/2026

Over the past few weeks, I’ve seen an uptick in questions and conversations around building more resilient homes.

Instead of responding to each one individually, I put together this PDF with a set of standardized details that reflect how I approach building assemblies.

All exterior systems allow some water, air, and heat movement. The difference between a good home and a failing one is how those are controlled.

This document shows how I think about that—so builders, drafters, and owners can better understand what’s happening behind the walls and make more informed decisions.

—

One thing I’ve been challenging lately:

There’s a growing tendency to treat products—especially spray foam—as a cure-all for air, v***r, and thermal control.

I use spray foam in my details where it makes sense. It’s a valuable tool.

But no insulation product can compensate for a system that doesn’t manage water properly or allow for drying.

If bulk water isn’t controlled, if there’s no clear drainage path, or if air leakage isn’t addressed, the insulation choice becomes secondary.

Durability comes from how the system is designed—not the product that’s installed.

—

Good buildings aren’t built by selecting the right product—they’re built by understanding how the whole system works together.

06/03/2026

“Should I install house wrap on a barndominium?”

Got this question today.

My answer: yes—but I’m going to be honest… I don’t love relying on traditional house wrap in construction.

I strongly prefer WRB sheathing systems because they combine two critical functions in one layer:

A continuous drainage plane
A more reliable air sealing strategy

Barndominiums tend to magnify small building envelope mistakes:

Long wall runs
Metal cladding that moves water fast
Lots of fasteners and penetrations
Big air pressure differences in open spaces

In that environment, performance usually fails at continuity, not product choice.

House wrap can work—but it depends heavily on perfect installation at every seam, window, and transition.

WRB sheathing systems reduce that risk by building the control layer into the structure itself instead of relying on field-perfect ex*****on.

The real question isn’t “wrap or not?”

It’s:

How is this wall system actually managing water and air as one continuous assembly?

That answer matters a lot more than the material name on the spec sheet.

This is exactly the kind of thing I look for in plan review—because once the metal is up, you don’t get many second chances.

05/23/2026

Most people judge a vacuum pull by how long the pump has been running.
Professionals judge it by microns.

A micron isn’t a unit of time — it’s a unit of pressure. And when we’re evacuating an HVAC system, microns tell the real story of what’s happening inside the lines.

Here’s the fun part:
When you see a number like 500 microns, that’s not “good enough.” That’s just the starting line. A tight, clean system will drop well below that and hold.

A system that rises fast after isolation?
That’s moisture, contamination, or a leak saying “hey, don’t ignore me.”

A system that drops into the double digits and stays there?
That’s what performance looks like.

Microns don’t lie.
They don’t care about opinions, shortcuts, or guesses.
They tell you exactly what’s happening inside the copper — and that’s why I trust them.

If you’ve ever wondered why some HVAC systems last 20 years and others struggle from day one… this is one of the reasons.

05/15/2026

05/15/2026

Sometimes a job doesn’t go quite right.

Sometimes people make mistakes.

Sometimes sites are just difficult to work in.

That’s why we test every installation to quantify duct leakage, airflow, static pressure profile, delivered capacity and actual operational efficiency.

Without our process, or one very similar, this issue would have been missed and you would have been left with a brand new unit and duct system with more than 20% duct leakage.

We sell solutions and we measure outcomes.

We don’t take shortcuts and we definitely don’t under deliver on our promises.

04/15/2026

This is what air leakage looks like…

And this is how we fix it.

Before:
👉 That light switch is wide open to the wall cavity. Air, humidity, and attic/crawlspace air can move freely through here.

After:
👉 Fully sealed to stop uncontrolled airflow.

The difference:

* Less drafts
* Better humidity control
* Less load on your HVAC system

Most people never think about outlets and switches…

…but these small leaks add up across an entire house.

This is the kind of stuff we look for when evaluating a home as a system.

04/05/2026

Happy Easter to every one.

04/02/2026

You’ve probably seen this stat before…

93% of residential HVAC systems are installed improperly.

But here’s the part most people miss 👇

It’s usually not because someone didn’t care.

It’s because most issues aren’t visible.

You can walk through a brand new home — even a high-end one — and everything looks clean.

Ductwork looks good. Equipment is new. Nothing seems out of place.

But once you start testing, a different story shows up.

Airflow is off.
Static pressure is high.
Rooms aren’t getting what they were designed for.

And most of the time, it comes down to small details:
• How duct turns are handled
• How airflow is balanced
• How the system is actually set up and commissioned

Not just the equipment itself.

I was in a multi-million dollar home recently where everything looked right…

Until we measured it.

That’s the difference between installing a system and understanding how it performs.

Curious — have you ever had a room in your house that just never feels right no matter what you set the thermostat to?