Events & Press
Understanding Home Performance and Green Home Energy Retrofits |
| Published by Jan 2nd, 2010 |
| How do you find reliable and good information about whole house home performance, energy efficiency, green retrofitting and just good common sense, cost effective home improvements? This can be a very tough task. There is certainly no shortage of information on the web about this; some of it is good and most isn't. It may not be a popular answer, but the real answer is, it isn't easy to find one single source of great information that will allow anyone to just jump on a web site and get all the answers. You'll have to do some digging, but knowing where to start can sure help to make the process less painful and time consuming. I will tell you, that if you're considering a green home performance retrofit or planning energy efficiency improvements, the single greatest thing you can do, is to secure the services of a qualified individual with the proper certifications and training (and equipment) to audit and analyze the current situation present in your home. A trained professional will not make suggestions for improvements, without first gathering the data by utilizing the right diagnostic equipment (Building Science), analyzing that data, and letting the data, in concert with their experience, create a pathway to improved performance that addresses your concerns and addresses the current performance of your home. Additionally, these professionals may be helpful in guiding you to sources of potential project funding or rebates through government or utility programs, such as the Energy Efficient Mortgages (EEM) or the new upcoming AB 811 programs being ushered in throughout the state in the coming year, which when put in place, may allow for energy efficiency improvements to be place on your property taxes and amortized over a 15 or 20 year period at a determined interest rate. The importance of testing your home prior to starting any green home performance retrofit, cannot be understated. By doing so, a qualified Green Home Performance Contractor will be able to have accurate data and a starting point from which to gage success, after improvements have been made through a test-out procedure. In fact, true professionals will often test at various stages of any green home performance program, to gage that procedures employed are having the desired improvement effect. While it may be true that many "common sense" improvements, such as insulation, shell sealing and energy efficient upgraded windows, as well as highly efficient mechanical systems (by no means the exhaustive list), may have a positive effect on eliminating higher energy bills and increasing comfort of homes, it's important to understand and remember that this is a highly prescriptive approach, and may not be the best cost effective, or whole house home performance strategy; in-fact most often it is not. Our home's comfort, indoor air quality (IAQ), energy efficiency and performance, work as a system, and often times, one component greatly is affected by another component. This is where a qualified green home performance contractor and professional, will be able to really make a difference for homeowners. Employing the proper procedures from the start will make a great difference in the end; not just in terms of cost, but also performance. A classic example, is a former client that added a large solar panel system to their home, spent quite a bit of money, and waited for the big energy savings to come; which didn't happen. A good Green Contractor colleague of mine is famous for saying "you have to earn your solar", and what he means, is that once you have done all you can, to take the energy load off the house and improve your comfort,IAQ and energy efficiency, by addressing the basics of green and energy efficiency first, only then should you consider renewable energy such as solar. Had the above mentioned homeowner completed the energy efficiency basics first, the expectations of their solar projects may have been (the proper procedure) realized. I do agree with my Green Contractor colleague about solar, because if you do the basics first, like shell sealing (making your home less leaky), insulation (attic, walls and crawlspace), "right-size" and upgrade your HVAC (Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning) and mechanical equipment, address your window schedule and do the simple things like using compact florescent lamps (CFL'S) instead of incandescent light bulbs, adjusting your watering schedule, having a programmable thermostat, making sure your duct work is not leaky and utilizing Energy Star appliances, then you will have much better success utilizing a renewable energy systems. So, any renewable energy system you install, like solar, will be much more effective, (the system you do install may even be much smaller than what you thought you needed, thus paying for some or all of the energy basics you applied) and give you the results you were looking for. So, often doing the green energy efficiency basics first, may have a dramatic effect. Oh, and believe it or not, some people have had great success by using their index finger to flick light switches in a downward direction (extremely cost effective); behavior matters! All kidding aside, once again the most important thing I can tell you, is that hiring a qualified professional will really make all the difference. Building a new structure or retrofitting an older one, working to achieve a green home that can be "certified green", or just more energy efficient, to allow your home to perform up to its best, employing a qualified whole house green home performance professional to work with you, your home and your budget, to make your home perform, is the best advice I can give. For those of you that may be considering venturing on a green home performance quest, use these key word searches to pull up some great web sites for additional great information that is very useful: Energy Star, RESNET, Build It Green, GreenPoint Rated, CBPCA, CHEERS, HUD Energy Efficient Mortgage, California Energy Commission (CEC), California Air Resources Board (CARB), EPA, DOE. I hope that helps! |