Working on his brother’s jobsites during his summers off from teaching high school physical science, biology, and chemistry, Peter Yost never thought he could apply basic science to home building. Nearly 40 years later, Yost has made a career out of combining the two as he now shares his expertise on high-performance buildings through Building Wright.
On the Innovation Stage at PCBC 2023, presented by California Building Industry Association in partnership with Leading Builders of America May 24 and 25 in Anaheim, Yost will collaborate with Steve Baczek to present new developments in high-performance residential design and construction. BUILDER chatted with Yost to learn more about what he’s been up to.
Peter Yost
BUILDER: What are you most excited about for PCBC 2023?
Yost: This is a great event, which I have participated in over the years but not for some time. I’m really looking forward to returning, meeting old friends and colleagues, and making new ones.
BUILDER: What can attendees hope to learn from your presentation?
Yost: Steve Baczek and I are a team when it comes to high-performance residential design and construction. We integrate our perspectives as architect and building enclosure consultant. We both work nationally, so you can expect the two of us to climate-tune our presentation to California, the Pacific Coast.
BUILDER: What type of industry professionals should attend your presentation?
Yost: All building professionals from architects to builders and trade contractors to building performance technicians/auditors. Anyone interested or involved in high performance will hit the mark with us.
BUILDER: Are there any new innovations in the realm of building performance/science that you’re looking forward to sharing?
Yost: Steve and I (with leading residential builder Jake Bruton) do a twice-monthly podcast called The UnBuildIt podcast. Of late we have worked over all kinds of cool topics: window weeps, triple-glazed windows, using theatrical fog to assess building airtightness. Cool new products/systems include AeroBarrier, thin-glass triple windows, and new rainscreen systems.
BUILDER: What is your approach to making a “better building”?
Yost: It’s all about continuous control layers for water, for air, for thermal—each of these tuned for the climate and the site.
BUILDER: What are some key elements to achieving an optimal performance building?
Yost: Understanding just how climate, geography, and the site set up your building performance priorities. Then express those priorities first in design, then in material selections, and finally in execution/craftmanship at the jobsite.
