Is "Green" a Priority?

   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

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

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?

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

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

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.