“Once you educate yourself, you’re going to feel obligated to share that knowledge. That, to me, is what perpetuates our craft.”

– Travis Brungardt, Builder, Catalyst Construction, Prairie Village, Kan.

Travis Brungardt, along with his business partner, Joe Cook, runs the Kansas City–based design-build and remodeling company Catalyst Construction. With experience in a range of trade disciplines, Travis is hands-on in the day-to-day operations of the business. He’s also heavily involved in the design process of each of their projects, maintaining Catalyst’s commitment to resilient, high-performance building. 

Because homeowners in the Kansas City area have access to inexpensive fuel, the demand for energy-efficient homes is on the lower end. Nevertheless, Travis and his team prioritize resiliency and sustainability in the work that they do because it fits into their comprehensive approach to quality and their global view of the responsibility they have as builders. “To me, sustainability has always been a function of good design,” Travis says. “As builders, it is our responsibility to do the most good.”

Travis is more than just building homes that help to raise the standards of quality in his area. He’s one of the principle organizers of BS* & Beer (*Building Science) of Kansas City, a group of performance-­minded designers, builders, and business owners who connect in person and online multiple times a month to share trade insights and host thought-leadership sessions around a range of building-science topics. Most recently, Travis and his business partner invested their own money to organize the first Midwest Building Science Symposium, an in-person, socially distanced event aimed at connecting local builders and empowering them with the latest in practical high-­performance building lessons.

Travis’s knowledge of our built environment is admirable. But it’s the effort he puts into sharing what he knows, and his willingness to bring craftspeople together, that’s helping cultivate a contingent of inspired designers and builders who are executing work at a much higher standard.­

— Rob Yagid, executive director, Keep Craft Alive

From Fine Homebuilding #296