Why do I torture myself?

I am not one who gets very excited about trade shows.  Mainly because most of the time the information the product representative is telling me I already know due to my own research.  So typically I  just walk on through and stop at the booths that have something I have not seen before or new company that I have not heard of.  However, when I leave the trade show I felt as I at least learned a couple of things and found some new and interesting products.

However year after year my wife and I torture ourselves and attend the local home and garden show.  Now if you want to experience high pressure sales and be steered into the cheapest way to do things, you must attend a home and garden show.  Now don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of good home builders and remodeling contractors out there, but I seriously doubt you will find one at one of these shows.  Because the good ones out there don’t need to attend because they get work through referrals.

With the exception of a new home energy auditing company and few insulation contractors, I couldn’t even tell you the headache I had after I left.  So many of us out there are trying to do good quality work and try and reduce our footprint on this earth.  But I couldn’t believe a conversation that I had with a remodeling contractor.  I asked if they had any experience installing fiber cement siding over 2-4 inches of foam.  Now I will give you a second to think about what his response was…….  They actually remove the foam board insulation.  Can you freaking believe it?!  My wife walked away when she saw my jaw drop.  I mean seriously?  So we hopefully improved the look of the home, but we  just removed at least 20% of the wall insulation and increased the home owners utility bills.  He continued the conversation that if you install the siding over furring strips, the siding will snap.  So I politely took his business card and told my wife, this goes in the do not hire pile.

So where does it start?  Do we continue our efforts and try and educate the home owner or do we need push harder to get people in our industry on board and bring them up to date on today’s building practices?

Online Home Energy Tracking Options

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, Americans spend approximately $241 billion dollars on energy to heat and cool their homes on an annual basis.  This is why you are seeing so many utility, state and federal government plans such as the Home Star bill.  These programs are designed to help control energy costs for the American home owner as well as reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

So how many of us actually track our utility usage beyond opening up the envelope and complaining about the cost?  How many people actually know their average month, or yearly usage?  With the increasing cost of energy, I am sure there are more that will start paying attention.  But how do we keep track?  Smart meters are starting to roll out all throughout the country which will allow us to access that information easily.  However it will take some time before everyone has one.  There are devices that we can purchase, such as the TED energy detective that can be hooked up to our meters, some complicated, others not.  However a lot of us do not want to incur that expense.

Besides creating a spreadsheet and tracking our monthly usage, what are our options?  There happens to be a few free online services that will do this for you and will generate relatively easy to read graphs showing your usage and billing history.  Most of them will even give you a score as a way to compete with your neighbors.  Therefore I would like to take the time and briefly review a few of them that I have tried.

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Energy Inspector – Every state should have one

A couple of week ago the New York Time published an article about a new inspector that the construction industry will have to deal with.  This person is the Energy Inspector.  From what the article states, the inspector is to observe the conditions of the insulation that is installed by the contractors correctly, making sure that there are not gaps that could cause the building owner money over the long term.

Now the energy inspectors job is similar to a  thermal bypass inspection that energy raters do for new home construction when the builder is seeking an energy star rating.  However the biggest difference is the inspector has the authority to make the contractor fix any mistakes.  Therefore, it would be great to see these inspectors start to pop up more throughout the country.

A New Enforcer in Buildings, the Energy Inspector

By CLIFFORD KRAUSS
Published: July 17, 2009

Wide Variation in Energy Codes

Residential Energy Codes

AUSTIN, Tex. — Peering behind a bathtub in a newly built house, an inspector, John Umphress, spotted a big gap in the wall insulation. “Somebody took a lunch break!” he complained to the builder, who sheepishly agreed to patch the hole.

With the fix, the house, already a model of energy efficiency, will use even less energy and save its residents money — for decades.

But that small catch would not have been made in many American towns. Mr. Umphress is a particular kind of inspector, an energy auditor, and Austin, with one of the toughest building codes in the country, requires an energy inspection before a building can be occupied.

Climate scientists and architects say that no single policy change could do more to save energy over the long run — and reduce the nation’s contribution to global warming — than building codes that make saving energy the law.

Since the energy crises of the 1970s, the United States has known it has an energy problem. Yet today, the energy requirements in building codes remain weak across half the country, and at least seven states have virtually no rules. That means that in many places, particularly the nation’s heartland, almost every new home, store and factory that goes up locks the country into unnecessary energy use for years to come.

The problem is not just construction defects like the one Mr. Umphress caught, though those are plentiful. In many places, builders are still using too little insulation. Citing cost, they have not adopted the most energy-saving water heaters, roofing materials or window panes.

Continue reading the article at The New York Times

Radio Boston: Boston's Greenest Houses

I came across this great radio show that was aired a couple of months ago.  They talk a lot about renovating existing structures for energy efficiency.  And talks about some of the strategies as well as future projects for Symbiotic Home.

Boston’s Greenest Houses

Posted by Adam Ragusea, Associate Producer, Monday, February 23rd, 2009

There’s particular interest in green housing in our city, but also particular challenges. Harsh New England winters drive up heating bills, and our beloved antique housing stock is hardly energy efficient. With federal stimulus dollars possibly going to retrofit all Massachusetts houses with “smart” energy meters, what are YOU doing to keep your home’s energy use in check?

Peter Thomson, environment editor for PRI’s The World, hosts our live web chat.

Listen to the entire show if the embedded link does not work at wbur.org – Radio Boston

New life for Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency

On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed a stimulus bill (The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) that made some significant changes to the tax credits available to homeowners for energy efficient improvements for improvements made between 1/1/09 – 12/31/10 . Among the changes:

  • The tax credit has been raised from 10% to 30%.
  • The tax credits that were for a specific dollar amount have been converted to 30% of the cost.
  • The maximum credit has been raised from $500 to $1500, although improvements such as geothermal heat pumps, solar water heaters, and solar panels are not subject to the $1,500 maximum.

    • Visit Energy Star’s website for further explanation of the new Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency.