Shawna Henderson is BFH’s resident building science wonk, designer of green homes, planner for deep energy retrofits. A sought after speaker and author, she has published numerous books, research reports, and technical studies in the industry. She works with a roster of highly qualified technicians, builders and renovators to building projects, and collaborates with some of the best building science experts to carry out research on high-performance housing.

Shawna Henderson has been working in the field of energy-efficiency and housing since 1992. She was an active R-2000 evaluator and inspector between 1992 and 2000, and was one of the first licensed EnerGuide for Houses evaluators in Canada. Her experience with the R-2000 and EnerGuide for Houses (ecoENERGY) programs, coupled with research carried out for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and Natural Resources Canada, provides the backbone of Bfreehomes design and consulting services. She is co-founder of Blue House Energy, interactive comprehensive, online education for trades, renovators, contractors, and energy efficiency professionals.

Shawna works with eight to fifteen home design clients each year, on a wide variety of projects: load-bearing straw bale homes, double-wall new construction, standard stick framing and gut rehabs of older houses. She has been a pioneer in Net Zero Energy Home research and design, and has consulted on several Deep Energy Retrofits. In addition, she has designed solar thermal, PV and wind systems for several clients. Shawna has the ability to bring cutting-edge industry knowledge to builders and homeowners in an understandable and informed manner.

In 2007, Shawna served on the Selection Committee for CMHC’s EQuilibrium House Initiative. In 2010, she served on the Information Subcommittee for the EnerGuide for Houses Rating System Upgrade. She has presented at many conferences including Nova Scotia’s EnerHouse (1999, 2007, 2009); CMHC’s first (and sadly only) national Affordable Retrofit Conference (2009); and Affordable Comfort Institute’s National Conference (2008, 2010). In 2011, she worked with NRCan and the late, great Rob Dumont to develop a transferable presentation for builders on solar thermal space and water heating systems for the Local Energy Efficiency Partnership (LEEP) Initiative.

She was co-chair of the Education Activation Team for the Net Zero Energy House Coalition (2013-2014) and sat on the Trilateral Green Building Construction Task Force (2013-2015), led by the Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC).

Currently, Shawna is active in three industry working groups: CHBA Net Zero Energy Renovation Working Group, NRCan Industry Working Group on Deep Energy Retrofits, and NRCan PEER (Pre Engineered Exterior Retrofit) Panel Working Group. She is also on the steering committee for BPI Canada.

In addition to being recognized as a leader in residential building science, Shawna is also a prolific writer. She is responsible for the content of Blue House Energy courses, and directed the interactive and multimedia portions of the Blue House Energy Training. She is a recognized subject matter expert, providing content and final copy for several publications geared to builders and consumers by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, and Natural Resources Canada. Shawna is also a published author of books on sustainable housing, and is active on several social media sites and groups.

All about publications and research reports.

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