H.E.R.S. Energy Rater - nrgrater.com

The Missing Link?

2011-01-30T15:54:00.004-05:00

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

2011-01-01T09:16:00.006-05:00

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

2010-09-10T11:23:00.002-04:00

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

2010-08-15T10:37:00.003-04:00

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

2010-05-05T19:43:00.003-04:00

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

2010-04-27T19:43:00.003-04:00

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

2010-04-17T09:10:00.002-04:00

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.

How deep is it here?

2010-02-20T07:32:00.002-05:00

In what now seems like a past life I was a tour guide in the USVI for a company called Aqua Action. We ran scuba tours in what was often the clearest water you could imagine. The most common question from our customers was "How deep is it here?" because it was so clean you couldn't tell. Our standard answer was 18' no matter how deep it was. Kind of an insider's joke amongst divers. The analogy I am reaching for is regarding deep energy retrofits. A stretch, perhaps. Here's my point. A clip board walk through usually results in Air Sealing, Duct repairs and Insulation Upgrades. Gets you to 18'. A performance audit with pressure and CO tests will recommend more extensive repairs to the home. (Deep energy retrofits) Our dive tourists rarely caught on, I suspect our homeowners don't know the difference either.
If I do a walk through audit on a home and leave behind a list of suggested repairs, there is no guarantee what the homeowner will do. Money, contractor "advice" and 1/2 measures can lead to some serious trouble. Where is the liability if air sealing leads to CO contamination or moisture and mold? At what point do we get to make-up air and humidity controls and who is responsible for commissioning? At what juncture in the repair process do we cross the line between simple energy upgrades and significant impacts on Indoor Air Quality. I have been involved in enough high performance home building to know that a really tight home takes some "tuning" to get the air quality, moisture control and thermal comfort working properly. This is a lot harder to do with existing homes. I see so many leaky homes sitting on festering crawl spaces with trampled insulation and porous duct systems. Of course I want them to do "everything" but not everyone can afford to do the work. Some of these houses are truly unhealthy.
Back to the 18' analogy. Is it good enough to hit just the Big 3?(Air Seal, Ducts and Insulation) or should we be chasing every Watt and retrofitting these buildings to the point of make-up air and humidity control. The former will impact the most homes the later is the more complete solution. Somewhere in the middle is potential for some bad building science.

REEP and HomeStar

2010-02-13T17:02:00.002-05:00

Currently in the hands of the US Senate: HR 1778 is an energy bill that includes a comprehensive energy conservation program to be wielded by Secretary Cheu and the DOE. Named in the bill (along with some mega dollars) are existing programs from RESNET and BPI and programs titled REEP (Residential Energy Efficiency Program)also titled HomeStar. Tax and cash incentives for home owners interested in becoming more efficient and less carbon creating are the happy part. The not so happy part is the attached cap and trade proposals. Our august Senators are, seemingly, taking a dim view of the "trade" portion of the bill. Not unlike the Health Bill there is now an effort to segment 1778 and send the "Homes" portion to a vote, I hope they do. Cap and Trade is a tricky sell to "smaller government" folks and has not been terrifically successful in the EU model. The Home component is an excellent tool for carbon reduction in the residential housing world while providing work for the construction workforce now relatively idol. I was fortunate to be invited to DC with a group of Green carbon cap advocates and met with House and Senate members from ET. Nothing conclusive, this is politics after all, but a good sense of understanding the value of energy efficiency in residential housing. There is tremendous good sense in more efficient housing, it is a "no regrets" legislation in the "Right if you are wrong, Right if you are right" concept.

Homes are Rockets?

2009-09-18T13:48:00.003-04:00

Rocket science or building science? While I am in love with the lab guys and all the great stuff that comes from our dollars and their hard work it seems like we are missing the point throwing science dollars at existing homes. The majority of our residential housing stock is suffering from a lack of common sense. Leaky envelopes, missing and trampled insulation, duct leakage, wrong sized HVAC are the issue. It is a problem best solved by the application of readily available existing technology and some elbow grease. While I am thoroughlyamazed by the potentials of phase change insulation, smart meters and smart appliances, the simpler, basic construction practices that we are so guilty of not applying are the real root of our energy consumption dilemma. Had we done the work carefully and correctly the first time our existing homes wouldn't be so inefficient today. But we didn't do the work right, homes hog energy and we need more than anything to go back in and fix the mistakes. Air sealing, upgrading insulation, duct sealing are a common thread in all my CSG reports over the last 3 months. I have not yet seen 100 homes, more like 70 for KUB, but nearly every home suffers from these basic problems. I think we need to repair these faults before we go on to applying any new tech to our homes.

Code? What Code?

2009-08-09T12:37:00.002-04:00

So, when (not if) we get to the point where all of our favorite best practices become code, what happens to all the current energy programs that now survive on voluntary clients? Energy Star / LEED / EarthCraft, etc. are all proscriptive processes that a builder/homeowner pays to participate in. Code is the law. There is not a choice, big ol' building inspectors show up and you either pass or fail. By 2014 I hear that typical Energy Star standards will be in the building code and inspected. Where does that leave Energy Star and it's battalion of HERS raters and QA / Providers?

The current bottleneck caused by the lack of qualified home energy raters is a community college gold rush, much like the wave of home inspectors created by the state mandated inspections a couple of years back. Of course they are all sitting on their hands at the moment because no body is building much of anything right now. Just ask the permit guys how busy they are. So what will happen to all these soon to be newly minted HERS raters? It is still great training but are we destined to become the code inspectors of the future? Certainly the new construction will go that way. One big question is how to put a fair efficiency rating number on existing homes? What kind of point-of-sale rating will appear on MLS? Seems like more and more real estate agents are waking up to the idea that home buyers are looking at energy efficiency ahead of the beloved granite counter top and fresh daisies in the window box. I hope that there will be a mandate to rate and upgrade existing homes to some energy standard at point of sale. How about a cash for clunkers program for the existing home inventory?

Energy Advisor

2009-07-24T14:50:00.002-04:00

Having spent the last month on board with CSG, I have to admit it has been a pretty fast track. There is no doubt the program is working and the response has been good. Nothing like a cash incentive to bring the customers out of the woodwork. While there are several power distributors on line throughout the TVA grid, currently KUB is the only PD in the E. TN region using CSG auditors. It is a daunting challenge when you look at the numbers. Let's imagine that 50% of the homes in the TVA grid make the call and schedule an audit. That's roughly 4.5 Million homes. The auditors are targeted to see 3 homes a day. Given holidays and sick leave suppose they work 200 days. That's 600 homes per year per rater. One rater would take 7500 years to see them all. 100 raters would take 75 years. 1000 raters would take 7.5 years. There are about 190,000 homes within the KUB umbrella. It would take me 316.66 years. Methuselah where's your blower door? You get the point, there needs to be A LOT more raters. I am not aware of the rater training schedule for CSG but I think there will be more auditor trainings before long. This is the first wave of green collar jobs everyone has been hoping for. The energy conservation repairs that follow will be the second. Every home I have seen needs air sealing, insulation and duct repair. Many need HVAC equipment upgrades. This is really good news for a dormant construction industry. I guess I always knew it woild take utility incentives to get the pubic interested in conservation, it is nice to see it starting to work.

TVA & CSG

2009-06-12T08:59:00.002-04:00

The Gorilla is in the room and will be noticed pretty soon. Conservation Services Group, the TVA subcontractor responsible for their home energy conservation program, is in launch mode here in East TN. Currently hiring energy advisers (yes I will be one) to run the program here. CSG has a system in place to help homeowners save a buck on utility bills. Here's how it will work: Power Distributors (KUB, LCUB, etc.) will stuff billing envelopes announcing $150 home energy audits. Once complete the home owner will get a visit from a CSG rep who will recommend improvements utilizing CSG approved contractors. If the homeowner spends $1000 the program will refund the $150 audit fee and rebate $500 of the $1000. Also, a CSG rater will return to the home to approve the work done. Obviously most homes will need more than $1k of improvements but it is a good start. This is not a performance test, no blower door, yet. The CSG goal is to get to the Home Performance with Energy Star level of home analysis. This is a good idea given a couple of things yet to be determined. The current state of affairs with BPI and RESNET seems to be unraveling as Energy Star and RESNET are preparing their own set of combustion appliance standards thus rendering BPI less than effective on their own. Energy Star is also in the process of changing their standards so it all becomes something of a moving target for those of us trying to get residential housing on a sound path towards conservation.

Hopefully the raters involved will be conscientious and the work we be done right as there is going to be little chance to get back in the home once we're done, like, how many times do you want the cable guy around?

1st Steps to Conservation

2009-05-09T09:39:00.003-04:00

These days we hear a lot about Solar as an alternative energy source. The cost question always seems to diffuse the conversation. "Costs too much, ROI is too long." I always struggle with the payback mentality as short sighted. Ground source geothermal gets the same gaff.

What is missing in this conversation is the Whole House concept of home energy conservation. There are 5 basic steps for new and existing homes that need to be accomplished before we look at alternative energy sources:

1.) Tight building envelope - If your home leaks you are paying to heat and cool your neighborhood. Caulking or air-sealing all of the penetrations in the skin of your home is, usually without acception, the first step towards a healthy efficient home.

2.) Ducts in conditioned space - Duct leakage commonly is responsible for 15% of your energy bills. Sealing crawlspaces and attics will bring the HVAC system within the conditioned space. Energy loss is reduced because, even if the air handling system leaks it is in the house not outside.

3.) Insulation - Super insulation (R-50 Attic, R-30 Walls) is a tested and time proven method. There have been homes built in this fashion for over 40 years that are still models of comfort and efficiency.

4.) Good quality windows and doors - We tend to have more, bigger windows than we really need. Older homes with single pane and metal attached storms are good opportunities for window replacement. New homes can be designed with double pane, gas filled low "E" glass that is very efficient.

5.) Make-up air - This is an important piece of the Whole House puzzle. This is the home's source for fresh air. Most homes today leak enough to provide sufficient air changes per hour (ACH) , trouble is they loose energy in the process. A really efficient, tight home is no longer voluntarily ventilated and needs a filtered, controlled air change system. There are several methods to accomplish this. The best of them exchange out going air temperature with incoming air and are over 90% efficient.

Once these steps are completed Solar and Geothermal become a more reasonable proposition. The home's energy needs are greatly reduced and the system size and cost can be reduced as well. Using a trained energy rater to help you through this process will guarantee a safe, healthy and efficient home.

LEED Tech Session

2009-03-27T12:31:00.002-04:00

GREEN BUILDING TECH SESSION

FEATURING
LEED GOLD HOMES, LEED GOLD CHECKLIST, HANDS ON WITH A BLOWER DOOR AND DUCT TESTING, VISIT A CONDITIONED CRAWLSPACE

DATE:
APRIL 15 2009
1- 4 PM

LOCATION:
KNOX HOUSING PARTNERSHIP
109 WINONA ST
KNOXVILLE, TN

CONTACT:
Bruce Glanville: bg@bruceglanville.com
space is limited so please confirm in advance

USGBC-ENERGY STAR-KHP-ELIZABETH EASON ARCHITECTURE
ON EARTH ENERGY GROUP

Looking to Invest?

2009-02-26T12:05:00.004-05:00

This will probably sound self serving and, to be honest, to some degree it is: There is no better time than now to invest in the energy efficiency of your home. Realistically, what else is there you can invest in, Stocks? CD? 401K? mattress? I am very aware of the lack of ready cash these days, we kneel before the alter of frugality and pray for wisdom to further tighten up the budget. Any form of weatherization is going to help you out, as will better appliances, glass, lighting etc. Keep an eye on the tax incentives for home energy improvement. While I have not yet had the opportunity to help a homeowner apply for tax credits or incentive money for home energy improvement, when (NOT IF) fuel costs rise again I expect more and more folks to explore this path to stretching their energy dollars.
There is a new TVA program in the works that will enhance their existing Energy Right Program with more comprehensive audits and some cash incentives. As I understand it there won't be any blower door style performance testing. To bad, in my view, because you can miss a lot without pressure testing.
When folks begin to regain confidence in their job situation and want to borrow for home loans again we will see a demand for efficient homes. It is already happening to some degree as folks want as much high performance from their homes as they do their cars. The idea that we get very little help from our home builders and sellers compared to the information you get when you buy a new car is finally begining to get some attention. I still advocate a HERS rating as part of the home sales cycle though there seems to be some push back on that idea.

Incentives for your home

2009-01-08T08:28:00.003-05:00

Home Performance with Energy Star is a program designed to help organize and administer funds for residential housing energy efficiency improvements. We will see a great deal of cash from the federal government soon for this type of program. Hopefully those who are channeling these funds are aware of the Energy Star system. State, local, and utility task forces have been convened to study energy use and conservation over the last year. I wonder which one will actually drive the energy conservation effort and how effective they will be in putting these funds to work? The Energy Star sponsor guide and the RESNET Mortgage Industry National Home Energy Rating Standards call for accurate home analysis that recommends home efficiency repairs. Following the home remediation there is a follow up analysis that verifies the results hit the target. Without a program like this we may fall into a situation where all the energy that is currently wasted is not captured.

Mining Gold in Park City

2008-12-10T16:42:00.003-05:00

Our area is about to jump up a few “green” notches with the December 11th open house celebration for Knox Housing Partnership’s 7 LEED Gold low-income homes in 5 Points. These are the first LEED Gold homes in the state and, I believe, the first LEED Gold low income housing in the US.
Mostly because my Energy Star Provider became a USGBC LEED for Homes Provider, I was privileged to be Green Rater for this project. LEED is the US Green Building Council’s program for energy efficient and sustainable home construction. KHP's construction project manager, Ken Block set the goals and Jason Estes from CAC provided the crew for the seven homes’ construction. It took a little bit of a push to get the USGBC program going but once we got past the Design Charrette (USGBC speak for planning meeting.) things went very well. I made regular site visits to verify that the LEED prerequisites were met and that the work quality for a Gold rating was accomplished. My roll was much more coach than cop and I found that the crew was very understanding and enthusiastic about the work we did.
A Green Rater’s roll is to provide an unbiased third party review of the construction process. Everything done is expected to be better quality work. From a builder’s point of view this might seem like a costly headache. In reality it was not. Nor is it significantly more expensive. These homes will appraise around $100,000. While we all know that material cost has become a moving target, the labor side was not much different. The gang at CAC is now much more aware and better trained to build homes to these standards so I expect the next group to be even better.
In the realm of subcontractors it helped that there was a Design Charrette and that they were all there. Some things, like caulking building penetrations, advanced framing techniques or sealed crawlspaces take some explaining both to builders and code officials. These systems stem from building science developed at places like ORNL and are more common in other parts of the US than here in ol’ East TN. Nevertheless, local builders will find that the techniques are not all that different from what they currently do, just more attention to detail.
Plan, pay attention to detail and be willing to give it a try and builders will find that LEED is a path to a new market.

"Too Tight" or not tight enough?

2008-09-23T14:15:00.005-04:00

As the heating season approaches and we face a 20% increase in energy cost, this is a good time to tighten up your home. There are many small things that you can do to improve your homes' efficiency. Infiltration is a term I use that refers to how drafty a home is, some call it a "voluntary" air supply. Here are some simple ways to reduce air infiltration;

Windows and doors are a common source of temperature and energy loss depending on what type you have. The newest, double pane, low emission, argon vinyl windows are very good. Be sure that they are clean and locked tight. They will leak if they aren't locked!

Older wood or metal frame systems are not as efficient and you need to be sure they are closed and latched firmly. Storm windows over double hung or sash weighted frames are likely to be a source of energy loss. Again make sure everything is clean and closes all the way. If you can see daylight you have a problem, often there is something stuck or out of line. Any of these window systems benefit from being exercised, raise and lower each one and look carefully to be sure they close all the way. Old fashion sash weighted windows leak around the pulley. There are caps available that snap over the hole and seal them up. Check the caulking on the storm windows for gaps and voids.

Weather stripping on exterior doors is another source of "voluntary" air supply. The seals should be clean, flexible and contact the door all the way around.

Another common pathway for air leaking into or out of your home is utility penetrations. Inspect your outside walls for gaps around the electric, HVAC, cable TV and water services where they go through into your home. A bead of caulking or some closed cell spray foam will seal these up. Look for penetrations up through your floor from the basement or crawl-space, if you have one and down through the ceiling from the attic. Remember that attics and crawl-spaces are usually colder or hotter than your living space and you don't want that air in your house. The electrical wires, water lines and duct boot penetrations are generally a pathway for leaks and energy loss. Ceiling can lights that stick through the ceiling into your attic are notorious leakers.

It is important to understand that as you air seal you are reducing the amount of "voluntary" air changes in your home. You are slowing down unwanted air infiltration and becoming more efficient. This effects the "V" or ventilation part of HVAC that is often neglected. We call it ACH (Air Changes per Hour) and the term refers to the amount of fresh air you get circulating in your living space. This is the "Too Tight" part. The idea is to control the air flow rather than get your air supply through energy robbing leaks. Once the house is tight you will want to install mechanical ventilation. This is a filtered source of fresh air that connects to your current system or can be a stand alone supply. It can be as simple as an air duct with a filter connected to your HVAC system's return or as sophisticated as an Energy Recovery Ventilator that operates on its own control sensor. Both are adequate for ACH, the ERV is more efficient.

Three "R's"

2008-07-26T10:15:00.002-04:00

Renew, Reuse, Recycle.

There is a terrific book called "Cradle to Cradle" published in 2002 that proposes methodology like the 3 r's and how the impact of what we do is usually much more than what we see around us. The Chamber in Knoxville has launched a Green movement to encourage its members to participate in the process. "Cradle to Cradle's" authors suggest that recycling is truly "down cycling" due to the fact that materials usually degrade during their life cycle and do not rejoin upstream manufacturing at the same purity as the original material. (See: beer cans at Alcoa) We have talked for years about recycled beer cans going to Japan and coming back as Hondas, well not really. The high grade aluminum used for pistons and other stressed parts are not made of beer can grade alloys.

My point in all of this is that if we are to really have an impact on our manufacturing process and generally wasteful life style we will need to take a much closer look at how to close the loop. Annie Liebowitz's "The Story of Stuff" points out the fact that we degrade many aspects of our environment as we go through the life cycle of product manufacture, delivery and use. I applaud the Chamber's efforts to encourage the 3R's. I hope that we can dig deeper into the subject. So far our Green efforts have grazed the surface and the marketing claims touted from these positions are pretty hollow when you get down to brass tacks. I hope we can engender a culture that will take an honest and in depth look at our over-all way of doing things.

Duct demise

2008-07-19T08:14:00.011-04:00

Yet another duct system that failed to pressure test! A very fine ~ 50 year old home in Knoxville is another example of the deplorable condition of our HVAC systems. This home fortunately has most of the ducts inside the conditioned space. Even so, the duct runs that were in the crawl-space were not particularly well insulated and leaking energy into the atmosphere. There is consistency in the occurrence of poorly designed and installed HVAC systems in these older homes. I guess the issue is that they were never designed for central heat and air to begin with. Some systems are just worn out, many troubles are the result of compromise during installation. In any case there is a lot of work to be done to bring these homes up to current standards. I am thinking that the national energy loss through duct systems is far over the claimed 15%.

Recent Rater

2008-07-04T08:52:00.006-04:00

Last Friday I rated two homes in Old Concord, a lovely colonial and a quasi-Craftsman. Both were double Energy Star, the colonial rated over 200! Both of these homes typify the challenge with energy savings in our existing homes inventory. The colonial is inefficient by design ( single pane, leaky windows and no insulation in walls or the frame floor ) or, as in the bungalow, losing energy through poor maintenance. I actually found a cat in the supply side of the HVAC! The potential for savings is huge and the investment is minimal compared to the value of the property. In both cases durability is part of the picture as bulk moisture and condensation are already destroying the buildings' structure.

The homeowner in this case is a good example of one of our failures as a service to the community. She is adamant in her desire to improve her energy consumption, but has had a hard time finding someone to do the work. Part of the problem is the attic and crawl-space environment where most of our energy loss occurs is a foreboding environment. Another issue is that there are several trades involved with energy loss. All the trades disrupt the integrity of a building envelope and few if any understand the consequences. Finally, the general public is pretty unaware of the problem, otherwise rater's and repairman's phones would be ringing off the hook. No demand no supply.

As demand for ratings increases the fulfilment part of this equation is a good business opportunity.

Is "Green" a Priority?

2008-06-26T08:59:00.004-04:00

Larisa Brass posed this question in her recent column. In my world her premise really begs the question - Why would Jane & John Q. Public spend their hard earned cash on a $500 rater fee? If the choice is between a rater plus the $1500 that will likely be needed to tighten up a home and say, a new leather couch, which way will they jump? Lately, it continues to be on the couch. So why pick Green instead? Energy savings is a good reason, carbon footprint works for some folks (though it appears to be a bit altruistic for E. Tenn.) how about indoor air quality? That's actually the best one though it is tough to put a number on the benefit. Folks seem to be distrustful of Green marketing campaigns and with good reason. Too many products haven't performed as advertised.

Fuel cost has changed so fast I don't think people have had time to react, other than in disbelief. The more we pay for energy the less we will want to use, right? Well, maybe, but I think its more complex than that. TVA is going to inflict rate changes, gas won't go down, natural gas is going to be high this winter. The point of this is that, so far, pain in the wallet isn't driving home owners to energy raters in the area. The Energy Star Home Energy Rating System (H.E.R.S.) is a proven method to determine energy use in a home and a direct path to where savings can be found. This is not new, Home Energy magazine (a rater mag) is in its 25th year of discussion on how to build an efficient home. I lived off the grid for several years in the 70's. Still we are struggling with a thin market for raters in the valley.

SO.....Do we think that the rise in energy cost will provide the momentum towards a busy rater/energy consultant market or will it be some other market shift in awareness that entices Jane & John on board with energy conservation?

Disruptive Technology

2008-06-21T10:34:00.008-04:00

A recent article forwarded from my compatriot at TerraShares, John Atkins, gives hope to the belief that technology might help us get a handle on our energy consumption. Solar panel development company, Nanosolar, has just raised the bar on manufacturing solar thin film panels.Using "ink" and printing techniques they are able to better panel manufacturing speed significantly. It's a big difference and the kind of quantum change we need in the renewable inventory to reduce our fossil fuel consumption. There is no question that conservation, by itself, is not going to get us out of our energy bind. A recent TVA study shows that, with current renewable resources fully deployed, demand side load still requires better than 65% fossil fuels to meet projected demand. New and disruptive technology therefore is the target. If Lamar Alexander's Manhattan Project grows any teeth we might just get a chance to brighten our children's future without burning the place down in the process.

TVA

2008-06-17T11:09:00.002-04:00

It occurs to me that the distributors within the TVA footprint are soon to be the source of energy conservation for our region. TVA has done its homework in a very public way and will soon be presenting the valley with some options regarding demand load reduction. Distributors will get to choose their own path from the TVA recommendations. I hope that the utilities will want to test their customers' homes to establish the best path to energy efficiency for each case. In my experience each building is different and presents a different set of issues that only become obvious when the structure is pressure tested and thoroughly inspected by an accredited rater. This leads me to the idea of a Energy Star HERS score for residential housing created at the time of sale and published with MLS. Like the cars we buy and their fuel milage estimate our homes should come with an energy rating attached. As the utility rates rise I suspect the efficiency of a home will become more important to the home buyer. And rise they will...........

What's the Point?

2008-06-16T09:24:00.003-04:00

Why bother to get a home rated?

The most obvious reason is to save energy and as a result save on your utility bills. Most homes today are very leaky do to building penetrations by electric, plumbing and HVAC installations. The average home is loosing 15% of its energy through HVAC duct loss alone. A home can't be too tight and most are very leaky.

Another reason that is less obvious but is really more important is indoor air quality. The combination of leaky ducts, unsealed building utility penetrations and the fact that the ventilation systems are usually in your attic and/or your crawl-space means that your home is a breeding ground for mold. Many ventilation systems create an environment that, do to condensation, help mold grow inside your home. Moldy, leaky ventilation systems cause respiratory health problems.

A tight, properly ventilated home will save on utility bills, add thermal comfort, provide clean fresh air and add value to your life.

Blower Door

2008-06-16T09:01:00.001-04:00

What do raters do with a "Blower Door"?

This is a diagnostic tool developed for raters to determine the total leakage of your home's envelope. (By envelope we mean the space you try to heat and cool or the conditioned space.) We want to know how much energy is lost through leaks from your conditioned space to the outside. The blower door is a fan that is precisely controlled to depressurise your home. This allows a rater to measure how leaky your home is and, by using visible smoke, find where the leaks are.

Duct blaster

2008-06-16T08:53:00.001-04:00

What is a "Duct Blaster" and what is it for?

The duct blaster is a tool we energy raters use to test your home's ventilation system for leaks. We can tell the total leakage as well as the leakage to the outside which is the kind that costs you money. If your system is leaking inside the home it may not be ventilating very well but at least the heating and cooling is still inside your home. It is the duct leaks in the attic or crawl-space that waste the energy. Essentially you are heating and cooling the outside and you might as well be throwing your money out the window. A rater can test for this and find the leaks.