Christine Williamson
Williamson teaches building science and construction to architects, developers, contractors, and other professionals in the building industry.
She began her career working for architect Chris Benedict in New York City where she performed blower door tests on gut-rehabs in Harlem and Washington Heights and assisted in the design of one of the first multi-family Passive Houses in the United States. She’s also used her talents working for the Building Science Corporation, where she reviewed drawings and makes recommendations that promote appropriate water control, air control, energy efficiency, constructability, and durability.
Williamson is Chair of ASHRAE Technical Committee 1.12, Moisture Management in Buildings, and is a member of the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA). She is the founder of the Building Science Fight Club, Instagram account dedicated to teaching building science and construction to architects and other building industry professionals.
Dr. John Straube
John Straube is a principal at RDH and a professor of building science in the Civil Engineering Department and School of Architecture at the University of Waterloo. Energy-efficient, healthy, durable and sustainable building designs are a general goal of his research, which is often supported by advanced computer simulation, laboratory testing and full-scale natural exposure performance monitoring. Dr. Straube has consulted to many major building product manufacturers, government agencies (CMHC, NRC/IRC,UN, NRCan, DOE, EPA), and a range of design professionals and building owners. Considered an international expert in moisture-related durability issues, his building science expertise has been applied to moldy roofs, failed masonry, leaky EIFS cladding, insulating Mongolian yurts, wet basements, rotting crawlspaces and attics, historically sensitive retrofits, and litigation support for buildings as diverse as commercial office towers, manufactured housing, and sustainable strawbale homes.
Dr. Straube has been involved in the preparation of design and construction guides for numerous organizations, and has published dozens of technical papers in academic peer-reviewed conferences and journals as well as trade journals and magazines. He is the author of High Performance Enclosures: Design Guide for Institutional, Commercial and Industrial Buildings in Cold Climates and co-author of Building Science for Building Enclosure Design.
