Episode 649: Terry Brennan - The Life and Times of an IAQ Legend

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Episode 649: Terry Brennan - The Life and Times of an IAQ Legend

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CliffZ
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Re: Episode 649: Terry Brennan - The Life and Times of an IAQ Legend

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Terry Brennan is equal parts: smart, practical and creative.

Who would have thought that soil concentration is the primary determining factor or how much radon gets into a building?

Pitot tube- A pitot tube, also known as pitot probe, is a flow measurement device used to measure fluid flow velocity. The pitot tube was invented by the French engineer Henri Pitot in the early 18th century and was modified to its modern form in the mid-19th century by French scientist Henry Darcy. Wikipedia

Terry Brennan’s Law #1: No solution so well thought out or executed cannot be overridden.

“Start where the client is at”. (Florence Hollis) Remember who you designing, building or maintaining for.

Photo of a woman allergic to cats holding cat. “Intellect is a flyspeck on the sea of emotion.” People decide emotionally not logically.

Post construction engineering. Light fixture intentionally placed near thermostat sensor so that occupants could increase air conditioning.

I can personally attest to kids and polycarbonate. Many years ago we were doing a fire restoration job in a high school over the summer. A plastic manufacturer attended a school board meeting where they introduced their product, plastic glazing for the windows. To demonstrate the indestructability of their product the plastic manufacturer replaced the old wood school sign in front of the school with a spiffy new one made of polycarbonate. You guessed it, the kids quickly destroyed it.
Have you ever seen water damage caused by kids throwing balls on top of roofs which effectively block drains.

Looking and seeing are not the same thing. Hearing and listening are not the same thing.

Visible condensation inside plastic fire alarm box in Florida school, smart guy.

Great Tip: Machinist 100 power microscope retrofitted with LED reflected light. I’m going to buy one.

Great Tip: Theatrical fog generator for tracing air patterns. People believe what they see. Already have several of these, including a supersized one.

Great Tip: Don’t be afraid to make a hole.

Terry is proud of his work on ASTM E51.38 Blower Damage Standard, working on standards is a time consuming, frustrating and thankless job. Been there, done that, and got roped into doing it again.

Wisdom: The answer to most building science questions is, it depends. (Joe Lstiburek)

I got some great takeaways from this week’s show, How about you?

Z-Man signing off
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RadioJoe
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Re: Episode 649: Terry Brennan - The Life and Times of an IAQ Legend

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The only thing I would add to Cliff's post is HUMBLE,

Lots of IAQ people are better known than Terry and in my opinion its because he never toots his own horn. Some have better halves that promote them, some have companies or universities that promote them. Terry became a legend of IAQ through his deeds.

A finer person you will never meet!
Joe
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Re: Episode 649: Terry Brennan - The Life and Times of an IAQ Legend

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PS: I LOVE never be afraid to make a hole. I do not know how many times I have recommended this to people in the IAQ, Disaster Restoration and Building Science worlds. Often time you need to cut, smash, drill a hole to see what's going on.
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