High school students are building real, high-performance homes… and hitting 0.9 ACH50. Matt Blomquist joins The Flow Lab to unpack how his class builds tighter houses than most pros, why blower-door testing is a game-changer, and how hands-on education is shaping the next generation of builders.

If you care about building science, air sealing, or the future of the trades, this episode hits hard.

Matt Blomquist's Journey into Teaching and House Building (0:00)
Starting the House Building Program (3:16)
Student Involvement and Class Structure (4:31)
Challenges and Achievements in House Building (42:20)
High Performance Building Science (42:38)
Impact and Future of the Program (42:54)

Video Notes:
Matt Blomquist's Journey into Teaching and House Building (0:00)
Starting the House Building Program (3:16)
Student Involvement and Class Structure (4:31)
Challenges and Achievements in House Building (42:20)
High Performance Building Science (42:38)
Impact and Future of the Program (42:54)

Connect with :
Matt Blomquist
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/build_learn_teach/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@build_learn_teach
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattblomquist/

Follow Hosts:
Ben Walker (Co-CEO, Retrotec)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-walker-4a05901/

Sam Myers (Building Science Specialist & Trainer)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-myers-ms-a9a4a546/

Website: https://retrotec.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/retrotec/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/retrotec/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RetrotecEnergy/

Listen on
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3xMDAhIttUTHWK41DH7KhB

Don’t forget to subscribe for more episodes on airtightness, ventilation strategies, and innovations in building science!

#BuildingScience #AirtightnessTesting #EnergyEfficiency #BuildingPerformance #HVAC #Retrotec #GreenStar #EnergyWaste #HomeImprovement

On this episode of Flow Lab, Ben Walker and Sam Myers sit down with Leilani Orr and Ty Branaman from the Grit Foundation to talk about a very practical way to grow the trades pipeline: youth camps where kids actually do the work.

Instead of PowerPoints and lectures, these camps drop 12–17-year-olds into escape-room-style challenges with real tools, real wiring, and real jobsite scenarios. Mentors don’t just “show and tell," they use a Socratic, question-first approach so kids learn to think, measure, troubleshoot, and fix things for themselves.

You’ll hear how the camps are structured, what it realistically takes to host one, and why mentors come away just as energized as the students. From high-school interns in Retrotec’s engineering department to kids proudly taking home their own wired “wall boxes,” this episode is a how-to guide for turning “we need more people in the trades” into real action in your own community.

In this episode, we get into:
- How the Grit Foundation youth camps introduce 12–17-year-olds to the trades using real tools, real circuits, and jobsite-style scenarios
- Why curiosity, questions, and mistakes are built into their Socratic teaching approach
- The mentor’s role, the 1:2 mentor-to-student ratio, and how a detailed playbook keeps camp days on track
- What it actually takes to host a camp: facilities, background checks, safety, and community partners
- How these camps help kids connect the dots between fix-it life skills and real career paths
- Why building science and HVAC are directly tied to public health and safety, not just comfort
- How programs like this can help your local market build its own long-term talent pipeline

If you’ve ever said, “We need more people who actually understand how buildings work,” this episode shows one concrete way to start building that future, right where you live.

Video Notes:
00:00 – Welcome to Flow Lab & Why the Trades Shortage Matters
01:21 – Meet Grit Foundation & How the Youth Camps Started
04:50 – Escape-Room Style Camps That Make the Trades Fun
09:15 – Willis Carrier, Curiosity & the Socratic Teaching Model
13:28 – Training Mentors & Walking Through a Camp Day
17:36 – Real Impact on Students, Mentors & Retrotec Interns
27:47 – What It Takes to Host a Grit Foundation Camp
39:32 – Defining Success & Building Local Talent Pipelines
45:00 – Bringing Curiosity Home & Connecting Trades to Health

Connect with :
The Grit Foundation Website: www.thegritfoundation.com
Grit Foundation Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61572576687441
Grit Foundation Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gritfoundation25
Grit Foundation LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-grit-foundation/?viewAsMember=true

Follow Hosts:
Ben Walker (Co-CEO, Retrotec)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-walker-4a05901/

Sam Myers (Building Science Specialist & Trainer)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-myers-ms-a9a4a546/

Website: https://retrotec.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/retrotec/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/retrotec/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RetrotecEnergy/

Listen on
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3xMDAhIttUTHWK41DH7KhB

Don’t forget to subscribe for more episodes on airtightness, ventilation strategies, and innovations in building science!

#BuildingScience #AirtightnessTesting #EnergyEfficiency #BuildingPerformance #HVAC #Retrotec #GreenStar #EnergyWaste #HomeImprovement

Solar & heat pumps can be a dream team or a challenge when time‑of‑use rates and sloppy sizing collide. Brent Davidson joins Ben Walker and Sam Myers to share a contractor‑first playbook: fix the enclosure, model the real load, then pair PV, storage, and controls so bills go down and stay down. We discuss home battery technology, how TOU windows change design decisions, and why rules of thumb (500‑sq‑ft‑per‑ton) still wreck outcomes. Brent also previews the US Heat Pump Summit happening in November 2025. This event is built to connect technical training with business systems so good work actually scales.

Show Notes:

00:00 When solar + heat pumps backfire

00:42 Welcome + guest intro: Brent Davidson

00:56 US Heat Pump Summit in Worcester

02:06 From utility-scale solar to home performance tools

17:12 Home batteries are coming fast

19:15 Time-of-use rates and the real load profile

21:04 Order of operations and cross-trade coordination

33:41 Sizing reality and Manual J pitfalls (with better tools)

40:21 Inverters, downtime, and designing for resilience

Connect with Brent Davidson:

Personal LI Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brentdavidson/

Company LI Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/us-heat-pump-summit/

Website: https://www.usheatpumpsummit.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61577100464455

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/usheatpumpsummit/

Follow Hosts:

Ben Walker (Co-CEO, Retrotec)

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-walker-4a05901/

Sam Myers (Building Science Specialist & Trainer)

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-myers-ms-a9a4a546/

Website: https://retrotec.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/retrotec/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/retrotec/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RetrotecEnergy/

Listen on:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3xMDAhIttUTHWK41DH7KhB

Don’t forget to subscribe for more episodes on airtightness, ventilation strategies, and innovations in building science!

#BuildingScience #AirtightnessTesting #EnergyEfficiency #BuildingPerformance #HVAC #Retrotec #GreenStar #EnergyWaste #HomeImprovement

Follow Hosts:
Ben Walker (Co-CEO, Retrotec)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-walker-4a05901/

Sam Myers (Building Science Specialist & Trainer)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-myers-ms-a9a4a546/

Website: https://retrotec.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/retrotec/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/retrotec/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RetrotecEnergy/

Listen on
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3xMDAhIttUTHWK41DH7KhB

Don’t forget to subscribe for more episodes on airtightness, ventilation strategies, and innovations in building science!

#BuildingScience #AirtightnessTesting #EnergyEfficiency #BuildingPerformance #HVAC #Retrotec #GreenStar #EnergyWaste #HomeImprovement