Sam Rashkin

Senior Researcher

Contact

RASHKINSD@ORNL.GOV

Bio

Sam is a senior researcher with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Building Technologies Program where he focuses on linking high-performance home innovation to the industry. He has earned an international reputation while engaging thousands of homebuilders as national director for ENERGY STAR Certified Home and Chief Architect with the U.S. DOE Building Technologies Office directing Zero Energy Ready Home. Nearly three-million high-performance homes have now been certified under these programs. Based on this experience, Sam has been recognized for his contributions to sustainable housing including the Energy and Environmental Building Alliance (EEBA) Legend Award in 2019, Hanley Award in 2012, 2009 EPA Gold Medal for Exceptional Service, and Professional Builder Achievement Award in 2002. His latest book, “Housing 2.0 – A Disruption Survival Guide,” provides guidance for high-performance builders to provide better homes for lower cost and in turn become industry leaders.

Professional Experience

Chief Architect:
U.S. DOE Building Technologies Office
National Director:
Extracted extensive waste and inefficiency leading two of the leanest government programs:
- ENERGY STAR Certified Home
- DOE Zero Energy Ready Home
Transformer:
Voluntary industry high-performance home certification programs:
- 2.5+ million homes certified to ENERGY STAR and Zero Energy Ready Home
  - 50% increased rigor in nation’s residential energy code correlated to voluntary programs
Thought Leader:
International recognition
100’s of presentations and keynote addresses
Authored two books and contributed to numerous others
100’s of articles, papers, and reports
Housing Expert:
National Steering committee subject matter expert including:
- USGBC LEED for Homes
- NAHB Green Builder Guidelines
- EPA Indoor airPLUS
- EPA Water Sense
Registered architect completing over 100 high-performance homes
Extensive training and guidance on building science, zero energy, and UX optimization

Awards

2019 - Energy and Environmental Building Alliance (EEBA) Legend Award
2012 - Hanley Award for Vision and Leadership in Sustainable Housing
2009 - EPA Gold Medal for Exceptional Service
2002 - Professional Builder Achievement Award

Education

New York University Masters of Urban Planning studies: 1975 - 1977
52 out of 64 total credits, 3.7 GPA

Syracuse University Bachelor of Architecture (BArch): 1971 - 1974
Bachelor of Architecture
Activities: Advanced Structures Program Team authoring book on High-Rise Structures

Professional Service

National Advisory Board for KB Homes
June 2009 – Present
Expert board member advising the 5^th largest home builder in the nation on sustainable practices

ESG Working Group for Green Builder Media
November 2022 – November 2023
Expert collaboration led by Green Builder Media developing ESG Guiding Principles

Ex-Officio Board Member/Expert Advisor at Net-Zero Buildings Coalition
July 2014 – November 2019 (1 year 4 months)
Advised start-up non-profit dedicated to zero energy ready buildings

Steering Committee Member for USGBC LEED for Homes
Expert member advising development of national green home building program

Steering Committee Member for NAHB Green Home
Expert member advising development of housing industry sponsored green building program

Development Team for EPA Indoor Air Package
Expert advisor for development of nation’s first comprehensive indoor air quality specification for new homes

Other Publications

Author of two books on preparing for the future of the housing industry:
“Housing 2.0: A Disruption Survival Guide”
Green Builder Media, 2021
“Retooling the U.S. Housing Industry: How It Got Here, Why It’s Broken, and How to Fix It”
Cengage Learning, 2012
100’s of industry conference presentations, a sampling include:
- NAHB IBS 2024, February 27, 2024:
  “Getting to Zero Faster, Better and Cheaper”
- EEBA Annual Summit 2023, October 11, 2023:
  “Five High-Performance Innovations that are Faster, Better and Cheaper”
- EEBA Annual Summit 2022, September 20, 2022:
  “Near Zero Building Envelopes Fast & Better Value Than Traditional Methods”
- Westford Building Science Symposium, Autugst 2019:
  "Building America Solution Center: Actionable Building Science Guidance"
- RESNET Annual Conference 2019:
  “How to Up-Serve High-Performance Builders with the Building America Solution Center”
- EEBA Annual Summit 2017, October 17, 2017:
  “Zero Energy Ready Home: The Road Ahead”
- EEBA Annual Summit 2016, September 17, 2016:
  “The Times They are a Changing: Keeping Current with Building Science”
  “Who Knew Zero was so Simple: The Easy Lift from ENERGY STAR and Low HERS Scores”
- Better Buildings, Better Business Annual Conference, March 10, 2020:
  “New Business Opportunity: Existing Home Service Center”
- IBS 2020 Master Class, January 18, 2020:
  “Better Homes for Lower Cost”
- Better Builds, Better Business Annual Conference, March 2019:
  “Disruption is Coming to the Housing Industry”
- DOE Better Buildings Summit, 2017
  “Deep Energy Retrofits: Do No Harm”
Dozens of technical and policy papers, a sampling include:
- DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Reports: 2013 thru 2019
  “Zero Energy Ready Home Leading Builder Round-Table Reports”
  “Zero Energy Ready Home Leading HERS Rater Round-Table Reports”
- DOE White Paper, April 2016:
  “Market Transformation to Zero Energy Ready New Homes and Deep Energy Retrofits”
- DOE White Paper, April 2013:
  “Building America Building Science Education Roadmap”
- DOE White Paper, November 2012:
  “Building America Affordable High-Performance Home Competition”
- EPA White Paper, 2005:
  “1995-2005: A Decade of Change in Home Building with ENERGY STAR”
Dozens of peer-reviewed research conference papers, a sampling include:
- ACEEE Summer Study 2018:
  “What We Learned on the Way to 2 Million ENERGY STAR Certified Homes
  that is Positioning Zero Energy Ready Homes for Exponential Growth”
- ACEEE Summer Study 2014:
  “Setting the Pace for the Race to Zero Energy Ready Homes”
- ACEEE Summer Study 2012:
  “How Did a Small Voluntary Program Transform the $.3 Trillion U.S. Housing Industry?”
- ACEEE Summer Study 2008:
  “Tackling Efficiency Paradoxes: Responses to ‘Energy Efficient’ 10,000 sq. ft. Houses”
- ACEEE Summer Study 2008:
  “The Road to Carbon Neutral” ENERGY STAR for Homes and Beyond”
- ACEEE Summer Study 2002:
  ENERGY STAR Labeled Homes Evolving with State Energy Codes: Ensuring Success in a Changing Context”
- ACEEE Summer Study 2002:
  “Surprise! Energy Efficiency Sells Without Rebates: Results of Mainstream Builders Selling ENERGY STAR Labeled Homes
Dozens of industry conference keynote addresses, a sampling include:
- National Institute of Building Science BEST6, March 19, 2024
  “The Greatest Existential Threat to the Planet: Spoiler Alert, It’s NOT Climate”
- SelectSIPs Expo and Annual Meeting, January 2024:
  “Translating the Hidden Value of SIPs”
- RaterFest Annual Conference 2023, September 23, 2023:
  “Certification as a Service”
- Extreme Panel Annual Conference, November 15, 2022:
  “High-Performance Enclosures: Faster, Better, and Cheaper”
- Modular Home Builder Association Annual Conference, October 16, 2022:
  “The Future of Housing … with Certainty”
- Built Green Conference, September 16, 2021:
  “The Future of Housing … with Certainty”
- Better Buildings, Better Business Annual Conference, March 10, 2020:
  “Why Housing is Long Overdue for Disruption”
- Maine Indoor Air Quality & Energy Annual Conference, November 2019:
  “Housing Disruption: Why Now”
- Penn State Engineering Hankin Lecture, November 8, 2016:
  “The Path to a Sustainable Future Begins with Power Words”
- 10^th Annual North American Passive House Conference, September 12,2015
  “Power Words”
Dozens of industry publication articles, a sampling includes:
- Green Builder Media:
  August 2023: “Disruption Comes to Housing: Part 2 – What”
  June 2023: “Disruption Comes to Housing: Part 1 – Why”
  November 2022: “The Risks of Building Net Zero Energy Homes”
  October 2022: “Workforce Crisis: High Impact, Low-Cost First Step
  April 2022: “The Missing Air Barrier”
  December 2021: “Why Indoor Air Quality is the New Must-Have Feature”
  November 2021: “Saving the Planet Tip: Don’t Grip too Tight”
- Builder Online:
  May – September 2016: “It’s Time to Change Platforms – Parts 1 thru 5”
  August 2015: “Performance Anxiety: What if a Car Came with a 2,000 Mile Warranty?”
  July 2015: “When Value Trumps Price”
- Professional Builder, March 1, 2014
  “Leading Builders Pave the Way for the Future of Housing”
Dozens of television appearances and podcasts