Delmhorst and Building-Wright Partnership Improves Educational Resources for Architects and Building Professionals

Client Profile

Building-Wright is a company created by Peter Yost, a building scientist and expert with over 30 years of experience in building research and consultation. The name refers to the “Wrights” of days past, people who took immense pride in design and construction.
Building-Wright works with architects and builders to tune buildings to their climate or site. The company also uses building science to assess how to make existing buildings better, and it helps field-test new products and materials in the building trade. Yost is currently looking at the link between moisture in buildings and energy performance.

Helping Architects and Builders Understand the Impact of Moisture

As a provider of teaching and training resources, Building-Wright was frustrated that architects and other members of the design process didn’t seem to understand the importance of assessing and managing moisture levels. This was especially evident when assessing energy usage. Yost notes that:

“A big problem in our industry is that we keep very careful track of how energy moves through buildings, but we often treat that independently of how moisture moves through buildings.”

Yost states “The importance of the relationship between energy and moisture is we need to better understand and measure moisture in buildings and building materials because when we build more energy-efficiently, we reduce drying potential, we need to better track and manage moisture in more energy-efficient buildings.” Also, when he works with companies that test building materials, he needs the ability to transfer accurate information about how the materials perform in the field, and he needs to do it quickly.

Solution: A Close Relationship With Delmhorst Instrument Co.

In terms of required equipment, Yost noted that there are two types of moisture meters used in the building trade — pin and pinless. The pin moisture meters have to be incredibly durable, as building professionals can be tough on equipment, plus the pins often require insertion into and removal from a wide variety of materials.

Yost's first moisture meter was a Delmhorst model, and he still has that to this day. Its reliability, accuracy, and durability have made it a long-lasting tool for his trade. Because of his trust in Delmhorst equipment, he approached Delmhorst Instrument Co. for more advice and found that the team provided a high level of technical support and understanding.

Thanks to developing a relationship with the technical team at Delmhorst Instrument, Yost could explore more options for moisture meters, including trying out different electrodes and eventually upgrading to a Navigator™ BDX-30. Yost states that the ability to log data and then export it via Bluetooth to an Excel file is “just huge.”

The Impact for Building-Wright

Building-Wright states that Delmhorst Instrument provides the company with credibility and facilitates its reputation for using high-end and reliable equipment. Yost says he rarely promotes brands or particular manufacturers in his line of work, but that he’s always happy to recommend Delmhorst moisture meters as a critical tool within the building design or assessment process.

Delmhorst moisture meters have allowed Building-Wright’s teaching resources to expand to show the detail of how moisture affects all parts of building science.
Being able to quickly and accurately display the moisture level in a particular area or piece of material gives physical credibility to the teaching resources or consultation process.

Building-Wright has used the Delmhorst equipment when dealing with expert witnesses to prove readings were accurate. And, thanks to the digital capabilities of the Navigator™ range, Yost can keep up with web-based innovations at the companies he works with as a field tester of various building materials.

If you want to know more about how moisture meters can improve your building design and construction projects, contact Delmhorst for more information.