Balance is the Challenge

“As crazy and sick as it is, I really enjoy reading code books,” says Hope Medina, who is the Energy and Sustainability Code and Plans Examiner with Shums Coda Associates. Her passion for energy coding and sustainable living is being put to good use as Colorado has just passed House Bill 22-1362 into law, requiring all buildings to adopt green energy codes. She sees no difference between the importance of adopting proper energy codes and adopting fire and other building codes, as both, she says, prevent potentially life-threatening situations. She is dedicated to educating people on the topic, and recognizes how important balance is when dealing with the competing needs of the building community and the energy community, amidst a series of fast-moving and ever-changing procedures. 

 

Another passion of Hope’s is water, a finite resource that, unfortunately, does not spring eternal. She discusses the very real impacts of water scarcity, and what water usage and conservation will look like going forward under Colorado’s latest regulations. 

 

Hope’s work offers comfortability to building occupants. She and Steven discuss the challenges of heating and cooling homes (particularly older ones), the importance of taping your home’s joints and seams, and the benefits of installing an energy monitoring system. 

 

Quotes

 

• “I started off on the code enforcement side actually, as a permit tech. And one of the things that kind of bothered me, I guess, or inspired me, gave me that nudge, or whatever was the fact that I couldn't answer the questions that were being asked of me, I was sending them off. So then I started studying the various coats. And so I could answer the questions and I got to be an inspector, and then plant examiner, and now I get to do all of that, and I get to go out and teach and speak about it.” (3:31-4:15 | Hope)

• “I think balance is going to be that challenge.” (17:53-17:58 | Hope)

• “What made you passionate to start getting into this sustainability and the energy efficiency code?” (30:07-30:11 | Steven) 

• “When I was a kid, I used to do things like recycling and composting.  I was not raised by hippies or anything like that. I was just in tune with nature. I thought we should work with it, not against it.” (30:20-30:40 | Hope)

• “Yeah, this is, this is my jam. You know, I love joists, I love beams, but I love me some insulation. Haha!” (32:37-32:48 | Hope) 

• “Water is not an infinite resource, it's a very finite. And on top of that, what is coming here is drastically dwindling.” (47:20–47:30 | Hope) 

 

Learn more about Hope Medina:

Shums Coda Instructors | https://www.shumscoda.com/sca-instructors/

Email | hope.medina@shumscoda.com

Website | https://www.shumscoda.com/

 

Learn more about Better Buildings, Better Society:

Website | https://www.dma-eng.com/

LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/dma-engineering/

Steven’s Personal LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-forrester-36a91517/

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/dma_engineering/ 

 

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm