The Missing Link?

Here's the questions of the month, year maybe. We have the tools, equipment, knowledge and expertize to upgrade every home in our country by 2020. Why is no body interested? And; Where do we find the language to engage home owners in a convincing way to make their homes more efficient? There is the Technical Assistance Program (TAP) at one of the Left Coast labs that is looking for words that might key in a home owner's interest. Mostly- don't use words like "Audit", "Test", "Analysis", "Rater"or "Investigation." Better are words that relate to "Home", "Savings", "Healthy", "Guidance" and "Smart." Still, we have yet to find the communication tools to effectively connect with home owners in a way that promotes willing engagement in the whole house retrofit process. Until we do, this industry will continue to tread water. A recent survey monkey from RESNET looking for rater approval on a tag line is just lame. We need to break away from our common language. We are building scientists looking for a way to sell our products. Using our common language/terminology will only serve to confuse and alienate our customers. I would like to see us invite the CEO's of a couple of top rate PR/Ad companies to our conference in Orlando to explore why the common sense of a well financed whole house retrofit is not on the horizon for every home owner in the US! I think that we are essentially invisible to the average Joe because we have not engaged with first rate quality marketing strategies. Would that we were selling chocolate or trucks, something people want without being told why. Our product is complicated and fairly expensive (though a whole hose retrofit is usually less than a good used minivan), not simple to understand. Most people would rather spend $20K on a 4 year old F150 than improve their energy efficiency. Find me a pickup truck that will save me money, improve my family's health and increase in value over time! We have a great product, good skills and terrific personnel, what we are missing is effective marketing.

Reveille

Reveille, it is time to wake up.

Like him or not Jimmy Carter got one thing right. White House solar panels and cardigan sweaters on cold nights marked good thinking in response to the need for efficiency and conservation. Of course Mr. Reagan put the ca bash on that and we rode three decades of continuing unsustainable growth and excess. Today we are staring the results of peak demand and poor resource management in the eye, or not. It seems there is too little too late policy in place to respond to the issues of resource depletion and reduced air quality. It has been, and continues to be, abundantly clear that we are rapidly reaching the end of the rails in our looming train wreck. So much for the obvious.....

What to do? WAKE UP! A simple look around would help us see that most of the solutions we need to REDUCE, reuse and recycle are on the shelf. We needn't invent anything or look for any miraculous breakthroughs. Lack of awareness is the proverbial gorilla in the room. Issues surrounding home, fuel and energy efficiency are completely understood. There are no mysteries regarding the steps we need to take. We have the science and the processes available in abundance. So why are we continuing to burn at this wasteful and dangerous rate? Because we are, for the most part, asleep about the condition of our planet, locally and globally. We live in a dreamland that we can "produce" our way out of the quagmire we have created. I remember hearing Edward Abby in my college years claiming that if everyone in China got a refrigerator and a car we would destroy the place. Look at what is going on in China. Remember the scenes of bicycle traffic jams in Beijing? Well now they all have cars and the traffic jams last for days, weeks.

So it is time for Reveille - wake up to reality. A process started in Carter's era needs to be restarted. According to Secretary Chue at DOE we have about 2 decades to trend away from consumption towards conservation. We need to turn the corner before the pain gets to great, will we do that before it hurts to much?

RetroFITS

The on again off again state of HomeStar and the questions about government stimulus seem to be at odds with the common sense value of a residential housing retrofit program. ORNL has a deep energy retrofit program underway that will last a year and should provide clean data on what works and what doesn't on ten very different homes in the Knoxville area. KHP has a 35 home retrofit program that is designed to coordinate with the TNLEAP lead abatement process and CAC's weatherization for low income home owners. These efforts will provide an excellent baseline for whatever national program surfaces down the road. Call it HomeStar Rehersal if you like. This opportunity to engage HERS/BPI trained raters and stand up a sagging construction industry would be a shame to miss. The real trick is to see enough early success to convince the general public to want service without stimulus. Part of the ORNL program includes a behaviorlist who will try to determine what motivates the home owners in that program to participate in the first place. I know Secretary Chu is sharp enough to see the gap between our current ability to deliver effective retrofits and the volume of work that exists in our existing housing staock. The trick is to get it all up and running before the DOE $'S run out.

Maintainable vs. Sustainable

For decades now I have been griping to anyone who would listen about why we have to make so much of everything when we cannot take care of what we have already got. It all goes back to the concept of planned obsolescence which I first became aware of when I was old enough to fall in love with hot cars. The muscle cars I grew up with would self destruct in 50,000 miles while Volvos and Beetles were buzzing along nicely through 100K+. What galled me was the fact that the Big Three were building these grenades on purpose so the next model year was sure to sell. My frugal engineer Dad was always lamenting about Detroit Junk, particularity through the 70's and 80's.

So today we have WalMart, the landfill without the dirt, import cars that make US products play catch-up and stick built, leaky, poorly insulated tract/development homes (see where I'm going?) with through the roof energy consumption. So......if we want sustainable we have to create maintainable. No more throw-away life style. The good old US of A needs to wake up and weed the roses. Our housing stock is "Dying the Death of a Thousand Razors."

What I love the most about HERS Raters is that they all get this idea. It's not just altruism either. To woman/man raters want to see homes improve their energy efficiency and CONSERVATION. Being more efficient with your building envelope doesn't mean you can buy another plasma screen or leave the lights on. Back to the car analogy, we have improved the efficiency of the internal combustion engine 10 fold, and do we build smaller more efficient cars? Does SUV ring a bell? Why is the F150 still such a big seller?

How do we get us 'Merkans to figure out that conservation is the only way we can keep the show going? Maintain what you have, improve its efficiency, use less resource as a result.

Got a Tiger by the Tail

It has been 3 weeks at KHP and the growth has been logarithmic. We have major projects under way in the multi-family and single family attached world. For those of us not familiar with those LEED distinctions I have to refer you to the prodigious LEED checklist. I will confess to confusion regarding the minutia. KHP has a string of projects underway that target very high LEED certification and are on track to meet the goals we all hope for. What I like the most is that the Knoxville building community is embracing the idea of sustainable housing and has been receptive to helping achieve our goals. Without exception local contractors and developers have been welcoming the information KHP has presented regarding the standards LEED for Homes and Energy Star require. I think one reason is the collaborative "Coach" not "Cop" posture that the staff at KHP has taken in the administrative handling of the sustainable processes. In particular I congratulate those at the drawing board and on the job site we have spent time with for their flexibility and willingness to learn the steps to attain certification. Meanwhile, as our local elections unfold, I encourage a bipartisan support for housing that is healthy, durable and energy efficient. Our current officials have been the driving force behind the success of sustainable housing for our community. It is only through their mandates and funding that we are able to set these high standards and then achieve them. Let's vote, lobby and advocate to continue to support the effort and improve the quality of our homes.

The Demise of the Independant Rater

When I began this column in 2008 I had high hopes for my future as an independent energy rater. The business plan was to provide Energy Star HERS Rater services for contractors building new homes and retrofit advice for existing home owners. Seems it was a good idea as there has been a plethora of utilities and non profits jumping into the market providing the equivalent of LEED for Homes and HERS rating services. Indeed I have been a part of that new nonprofit service sector since last June. While I am appreciative of the services available now that were not prevalent here in '08 I lament that there is little room left for the individual entrepreneur in the energy advisor field. If I had a dime for every time I have had someone ask me how to "Do what I do" or heard "You are the crest of the wave!" I have to say that the market has not been good for the independent rater. While I can't deny that there are far more services available to home owners, there is no doubt that the utilities and non profits have made it difficult, if not impossible, for the small business man to compete in the market here in East Tn. The hope remains that with increased home owner interest the market will continue to grow I suspect that the actual monetary value placed on a thou rough energy audit will be disproportionate with the time required to do it right and make a living on your own. So, my advice to those who want to "Do Want to do What I Do," is to get some training (BPI / RESNET HERS) and get a job with a government service or non profit that is set up to offer energy rating. All in all it will turn out fine as the folks paying the bills will have more access to the skills of a competent rater. I lament the demise of the free lance entrepreneur whose values and goals are aligned with the American Dream of the small independent business man.

Knox Housing Partnership

After 9 glorious months of crawling through attics and slithering into crawl spaces for TVA and CSG I am joining KHP as Project Manager for Sustainable Housing. Having been Green Rater for the previous construction of the 7 LEED Gold homes in Park City I am looking forward to more of the same with the many projects on the table with the Team at KHP.