2025 App Energy Summit Keynote Address by Dr. Joe Lstiburek

Appalachian State University was honored to have Dr. Joseph Lstiburek deliver the Keynote Address for the 2025 Appalachian Energy Summit.

Dr. Joseph Lstiburek is the founding principal of Building Science Corporation (buildingscience.com) and Lstiburek Consulting Inc. In 2023, ownership of Building Science Corporation was passed on to the organization’s most senior principals.

Lstiburek’s work ranges widely, from providing expert witness testimony, to overseeing research and development projects, to writing for the ASHRAE Journal and buildingscience.com. Lstiburek’s commitment to advancing the building industry has had a lasting impact on building codes and practices throughout the world, particularly in the areas of air barriers, vapor barriers, and vented and unvented roof assemblies. For example, his work with industry partners through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America Program led to significant research into the wetting and drying of walls and ultimately to a major code change relaxing the requirement for vapor barriers in the International Residential Code.

Lstiburek is also an acclaimed educator who has taught thousands of professionals over the past three decades and written countless papers as well as the best-selling Builder Guides. Fittingly, The Wall Street Journal has described him as “the dean of North American building science.” He has a joy for telling tall tales to his protégés and audiences.

Lstiburek holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in mechanical engineering, a Master of Engineering in civil engineering and a Doctor of Philosophy in building science. While still an undergraduate student, Lstiburek worked as a residential construction manager, and while pursuing his master’s degree, he developed the Air Drywall Approach to air barriers. Other formative experiences for Lstiburek include working on the Canada-wide Super Energy Efficient Housing R-2000 program and serving as senior engineer on commercial construction projects for Trow in Toronto. Lstiburek founded BSC in 1990 with his business partner, Betsy Pettit, and he has been a key figure in establishing BSC as one of the most influential, innovative and respected building science firms in North America.