Homes are Rockets?

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?

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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.