Willowside Project, Day 64

Since we finally submitted all the paperwork to SCEIP last week, I know we have a certain amount of down time with this project, since we have to wait for both SCEIP an EC to go through their beurocratic before then will let us have funds. So we still have a week or so of time that I'm spending for other jobs and to get them in to contract.  So not much news here; Muchtar called to say that he'd heard SCEIP would be quick.

On another note, here's a moderately done video bleeb on what constitutes an audit.  It's done by the Redding Electric Utilities and it's well enough done to keep on you web site for a while.

Willowside Project, Day 50

Wow, where do the days go?  I thought I'd get the EUC filing done and uploaded to the EUC website yesterday but here I am, late on Wednesday, Day 50 finishing it up.  After the monotony of assembling all the data and getting it all stuck in the right fields in EUC's Excel spreadsheet, I find I don't have one piece of information that they require: the account numbers from the Salzmann's gas and electric bill.  Arghh. Too late to call tonight but will first thing in the morning that then it's assemble, zip the file, and hit Send.  Whoopee.

Willowside Project, Day 48

Today, we're finally getting the contracts together and signed.  It's been a month and a half but we have an excellent package put together and one that they can afford.  I've got a separate contract for the HVAC contractor and another for the solar electric installer, plus mine equals three.  If the other two companies and I didn't know and trust each other, I don't think this would work because if one of us drops the ball or doesn't get finished by June 20th or so, we're all three screwed.  The last day to submit the final papers, including all closed contracts and final inspections, to the funding agency - the Sonoma County Energy Independence Program or SCEIP - is 5pm on June 23rd.  If all is complete and on time, SCEIP will send out a check for the full amount on July 1st.  If we don't get it in by the 23rd....well..they'll be $60,000 that the three companies involved won't get until the next pay date on August 1st.  Ouch. That'll put a dent in my cash flow.

So we're off to the SCEIP office, John Doe and I and 3 contracts.  We were very careful to get all our little ducks in a row so an hour or so across the desk from Taylor and we're submitted.  Right now, the SCEIP office has around a 10 day turnaround for approval, which is pretty quick.  Next I have to get the Energy Upgrade California (EUC) files together and submit those online, another multi-hour project, because they need to approve the project before we can start, also.  They're not doing any financing, but they will send John Doe a check for around $2,750 after the project is completed so it's well worth the application hassle.

But we all three swear that we can make it.  The companies:
Zero Energy Associates from Sebastopol, doing the furnace, AC unit, ducts, and DHW.
Harmony Farms from Sebastopol doing the solar electric system.
And I'm doing the air sealing, insulation, miscellaneous framing, and shepparding this project through.  Interesting way to do business, eh?

Also, John and Jane Doe have decided that now that we're in contract, they're willing to come out of the closet, so to speak.  John and Jane are actually Muchtar and Rohana Salzmann on Willowside Road.  They are the owners of Emerisa Gardens Nursery just west of Santa Rosa (my favorite in the County, and I didn't know they owned it when I first started this project).  Besides going public with their names, I'll now be able to take more photos.  That'll make the work much clearer.

Willowside Project, Day 43

OK, John and Jane have decided.  I calculated that they should have about $2000 left in their budget and they've decided to go over their budget a bit by choosing the 95% State water heater.  This will send them about $2000 over budget, which they will have to pay for themselves.

Time to get all the contracts together and plan out the work schedules:

Harmony Farms in Sebastopol is handling the solar electric installation and will have their own contract.

Zero Energy Associates in Sebastopol will handle the HVAC and water heater and will have their own contract.

I - Advanced Home Performance - will handle the organization, oversight, electrical, framing, air sealing, insulation, permitting, and lighting and will have my own contract.

These are the logistical issues:

In order for SCEIP to pay out on July 1, I have to have the permit finalled and final SCEIP paperwork in to their office by 5PM on June 23.  That's going to be tight for ZEA but they say they can do it.  HF says it should be no problem.  If one of us fails to finish, we all suffer through another month before seeing payment so it takes some trust in each other to step in to this.

Problem is, we can't start until SCEIP gives us approval for financing and Energy Upgrade California (EUC) gives us approval to proceed.  EUC is a week or two, SCEIP is around 2 weeks and here it is, May 18th.  It'll be tight but at this point, I'm going for it.

Today's job is to get all three contracts signed and head to the SCEIP office with John Doe for the signing, then work up the EUC file for submittal.

Whew!

Willowside Project, Day 42

Met with John and Jane Doe today to go over their decision making process.  It's something I see quite a lot: they've decided on the major items but dividing the small amount of their budget that's left after the 'have to's' can take a while.  He wants this, she wants that, and that's what marriage is all about, eh?  I think they're close to deciding.

Willowside Rd., Day 29

Yesterday, John Doe called and said he was ready to discuss options.  Great.

This morning, Daniel from Zero Energy Associates and I sat down at their dining room.  John had examined how much the Sonoma County Energy Independence Program (SCEIP) would finance. SCEIP has a couple of limitations – not over x% of Loan to Value, or .  The limit SCEIP would finance on his property, less the cost of his proposed solar electric system, was $20,000.  Since I'd already modeled the proposed improvements we were considering to his home in EnergyPro and found a possible 50% improvement, I knew the Energy Upgrade California (EUC) program would send him a rebate of at least $3500 so his real total that he could spend on energy improvements was more like $23,500.  OK.  That was my target.  Now how much could I fit in that amount?  That's basically the question he asked me to answer.

Let's see, the definite items are:

Air sealing walls and ceiling, doors and weatherstripping:  $1600

Replacing the 9 recessed fixtures in the kitchen w/ ICAT  CFLs:  $900

Tidy up the R19 attic insulation and blow more to end up with R38:  $3000

Replace FAU with 95% direct vent unit with all new ductwork:  $9900

Replace AC heat pump with SEER 15 unit:  $3700

Test in, test out, SCEIP paperwork, EUC application:  $1400

Weatherstripping and properly venting the DHW closet:  $450

Repairing the floor where existing floor registers are removed:  $1200

Total:  $22000

OK, there's $1500  left.  Here's the options:

Air seal the subfloor from the crawlspace:  $400

Insulate the floor with batts to R19 (joists 48”OC):  $4000

Insulate the floor with closed cell foam to R10 (less $400 because I don't have to air seal the subfloor:  $6900

Replace the water heater with a 95% direct vent:  $4200

Move the washer/dryer into the garage:  $1500-2000

Ditch, drain, sump pump, and vapor seal the crawlspace & monitor:  $TBA

If he chooses to insulate the floor with batts, I will have to air seal the subfloor; the upcharge to use spray foam under the subfloor is 6900 less 4000 or $2900.  If he chooses to replace the DHW, I don’t have to do as much work on the closet so the DHW is 4200 less 200 or $4000.

If John is willing to go a bit over his $23,500 limit, which do YOU think is the best choice, considering both energy savings and indoor comfort?

Willowside Road, Day 23

I'm taking an unexpected trip, for family health reasons, and will work from the road from the next week or so.

Willowside Project, Day 22

John Doe wants my part of the work scope proposal included in the audit report to be broken out and summed up so he can see the blocks of money that the various parts of this energy efficiency project require and prorate them in terms of loading order and importance.  The first parts - air sealing and insulation - add up to $7500, a State or AOSmith condensing water heater with direct vent through the roof is $4300 and the full HVAC system with all new balanced ducts, 2.5 ton AC instead of the old existing 5 ton,etc., is just under $10K.  So we're over $20K without even touching the lighting or washer/dryer moving to the garage, nor any crawlspace remediation, which it *really* needs.  Grand total will approach $30K if all measures are addressed.

The modeled improvement in EnergyPro is 53%, which qualifies for an Energy Upgrade California rebate of $3500 but it's still a chunk of change.  It will, however, - and I keep coming back to this with them - greatly increase their indoor comfort and remove the vast majority of their indoor air quality issues: combustion byproducts from the HVAC closet, moisture and smells from the washer/dryer, crawlspace air drawn in through the floor, and more.

I hope they go for all of it, partly for the work that my company gets out of it, but more so because of how much better their home will function when they're done.

Willowside Project, Day 17

Zero Energy Associates has finished their bid for the HVAC and DHW systems, both of which really should be replaced with direct vented appliances so we can seal up the closet doors and don't have to worry about combustion byproducts in the interior air.  Daniel and I are at John and Jane Doe's today to deliver their audit report and answer all questions.

Once again, they show themselves to be ideal clients.  They ask a lot of informed questions that show they're not only listening, but thinking over what we're talking about and applying it to their vision of what they want.  Since they're so engaged, the talk and report delivery take 2 hours and I stay another 45 minutes after Daniel leaves to talk about lighting options and other livability issues with their home.

Part of the lighting discussion revolves around the recessed ceiling cans in their kitchen which, besides being non ICAT and not giving any general lighting, are far enough away from the upper cabinets that a person working on a counter has their hands in the shadow cast by their head; an all to common occurrence and one that is just plain bad design.  We'll try a new trim ring on one first to see if scattering the light with a fresnel lens creates enough ambient light and then undercabinet lights takes care of the task lighting.

Besides all the talk about HVAC and DHW changes, we talk about the reasons for an all new, balanced, duct system, whether to move their washer/dryer out into the garage (their's always pros and cons), and whether the patio doors in the dining room are worth keeping, adjusting, and replacing the weatherstripping or whether it's better to just replace them.  All goes well and as part of the lighting discussion, I learnt that the lights in their range hood don't work; looks like the switch is broken/worn out, so I take the whole control unit home with me to fix it for them.  Easy for me to do and well worth the effort.