From the DOE's Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy News

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory recently released a report on how governments and industry can spark homeowners to seek out home energy improvements, or retrofits, which save energy and money for consumers. Energy efficiency upgrades include energy saving improvements such as adding insulation, sealing air ducts, installing high-efficiency lighting, enhancing or replacing windows and doors, and replacing furnaces, heat pumps, water heaters, and air conditioners. Called "Driving Demand for Home Energy Improvements," this study will help ensure that the Department's investments in energy efficiency provide taxpayers with a high rate of return on their investments, deliver the maximum impact in local communities, and support a self-sustaining industry for residential energy efficiency improvements that will help grow America's economy and create new jobs.

The report is aimed primarily at policy makers and energy efficiency program designers, especially those new to the field. The authors examined 14 residential energy efficiency programs, conducted an extensive literature review, interviewed industry experts, and surveyed residential contractors to draw lessons from first generation programs. The report highlights emerging best practices, provides insights into how to increase the effectiveness of incentive programs for comprehensive home energy improvements, and suggests methods and approaches to use in designing, implementing, and evaluating these programs. The report's findings will guide future investments for DOE's residential energy efficiency programs and similar state and local programs. The report's conclusions include:

• It is not enough to provide information, programs must offer something people want: High home energy use is not currently a pressing issue for many people. It is more important to identify an issue that people are drawn to such as health, comfort, energy security, competition, or community engagement to attract interest.
• It is important to know your target audience: A blanket marketing campaign to reach "everyone" will likely be ineffective and expensive, especially at the start of a program. The more effective approach is to find and target early adopters and tailor messages directly to this important audience. Demographics can help program administrators better understand the market and select optimal strategies. Organizers can also segment the market by interest in hot issues such as health concerns or the likelihood of getting savings.
• Partner with trusted messengers: Larger subsidies and more voluminous mailings don't necessarily win over more customers. Programs can and should have a local face, with buy-in from community leaders. Tapping trusted parties, such as local leaders and local organizations, builds upon existing relationships and networks.
• Language is powerful: Avoid meaningless or negatively associated words like "retrofit" and "audit." Use words and ways of communicating that tap into customers' existing mental frames. Encourage program staff and contractors to use specific vivid examples, personalize the material wherever possible, frame statements in terms of loss rather than gain, and generate a public commitment from the homeowners.
• Contractors are program ambassadors: Contractors, more than any other party, are the people sitting across the kitchen counter making the final sales pitch to a homeowner – contractors are often the public face and primary sales force for the program. Most programs that succeed in performing a significant number of energy upgrades have worked closely with contractors. Conversely, poor first impressions or shoddy work by contractors can reflect poorly on the program.
• Make it easy, make it fast: Offer seamless, streamlined services such as packaged incentives, minimized paperwork, and pre-approved contractors. By making it simple, it will make the decision to invest in home energy improvements even easier.

The report concludes that success will require multifaceted approaches that acknowledge a deeper understanding of what motivates homeowners and what contractors are concerned about. Effective programs will tend to be tailored to the location, thoughtfully researched and piloted, personalized to the target audience, and more labor-intensive than simple incentive programs.

California takes another Giant Step

Just a few days ago, on Oct. 14, the California Public Utilities Commission introduced Engage 360 to the public.  Engage 360 is a new brand name and a web portal that the CPUC hopes the public will as a place to go for information an to participation in energy-saving activities.

Commissioner Grueneich of the CPUC says "This new name, Energy Savings Assistance Program, is clear and concise. Customers will immediately understand that this is a program that provides energy and cost savings, resulting in a true benefit for customers otherwise unable to take advantage of energy efficiency programs."

According to the new website:  Engage360.com, the program was developed through a year-long process based on an in-depth, collaborative approach between CPUC staff and the utilities. The brand is built on the core attributes of conveying progressive inspiration, meaningful change, and a trusted information source with the aim of galvanizing Californians to adopt more clean energy solutions throughout their lives.

Another part of the new program is called the Energy Savings Assistance Program. The CPUC acknowledged the importance of a single recognizable and trustworthy name for these programs.  The name, Energy Savings Assistance Program, will be used by all CPUC-regulated utilities for programs providing weatherization and energy efficient measures to low income households.

So far, the site is pretty simple with a mainly social feel but since there's quite a bit of government funding behind it, I expect it to move more in to public education on the hows and whys of energy efficiency and conservation.

Check it out and let me (and them) what you think.

Another voice is added

“Convincing millions of Americans to divert their time and resources into upgrading their homes to eliminate energy waste, avoid high utility bills, and help stimulate the economy is one of the great challenges facing energy efficiency programs around the country,” says Merrian Fuller of Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBNL).


LBNL has a research and information dissemination program that has been doing some fantastic research into how to best get homeowners to buy into the deep energy reductions that are necessary for us to control our national energy policy.  Some of their more interesting findings - to me, anyway - are that the words 'audit' and 'retrofit' don't make homeowners weak in the knees like they do me.  They are better sold on comfort, protecting their home's structure and value, or that their entire community is coming together to do this work en masse.  And the best inducement is seeing their local community leaders have it done to their homes and then give voice publicly on how much better their home is.


And since I'm considering going door to door, covering an entire targeted neighborhood, I'm particularly interested in a report on how well that worked out for a few that have already done it.  Haven't got around to reading it yet but will. 


I'd like to see this on the front page of the newspaper, talked about by the morning commute radio personalities, and billboards beside the freeway.  This *must* cover deep reductions in the proper loading order, not just 'let's put solar on the roof'.  Solar companies that are cold calling everyone in town and trying to sell them a solar electric system without talking about what's more cost effective - efficiency improvements first - drive me nuts, and I hope this clarification is part of any and all or the advertising strategies that are getting near (Yah!).

Certifications, Certifications....

Wow, do we got certifications.  It seems like every agency out there wants to have a piece of my bank account.

WARNING - feeling sorry for myself session ahead


Even though I was certified through CalCERTS as a HERS provider last year, it turns out that now I had to take another written test and field test, at my expense, to maintain my certification.

My original certification through the Building Performance Institute as a Building Analyst was fine up to this year but now, for the Home Star Program, I have to get Company Accreditation, also.  For that BPI requires another certification with another costly written and field test and extra insurance riders. Then they want $1,500 on top of that as the Accreditation fee - just for the first year - and without it I can't access most of the Home Star funding or business.

PG&E's Whole House Pilot Program requires a different set of requirements to access that program and, of course, more money.

Build It Green has their own classes, tests, and fees.

There's more but that's a taste of the current confused certification picture in California.  Oh, I forgot, each of the above also requires varying amounts of CEUs (continuing education credits) every year, all costing hundreds or thousands apiece and few fulfilling more than one agency's requirements.

OK, OK, enough complaining.

What I've received for all of the above: one fantastic education in building science.  I often think, "If only I had known this years ago.."  The house as a system was hardly considered until less than 10 years ago and 10 years from now it will be de facto for ALL new construction.  The world needs this if our kids kids are to have a healthy future or for US to all live in healthy houses.

Yes, you've just read paragraphs of complaining about how much it's all costing but the work is there, it's fulfilling work, and a living is still to be made doing it. A lot more fresh faces coming in to this field are required for us to meet, or even approach, two of our local Sonoma County goals:

13,000 existing housing units retrofitted by 2012 (!)
Greenhouse Gas reduction to 25% below our 1990 levels by 2015 (!)

Holy Cow, Batman, we need every SuperHero we can muster.

New products on the market

Just got back last night from PCBC in San Francisco - the Pacific Coast Builders Conference.  Lots of new technology and products on the main floor and plenty of speakers and seminars upstairs.


The State of California had a booth (amazing, eh?) where the Department of Housing & Community Development was tasked with getting out the word about next year's new and considerably more stringent building codes.  The new code system is two tiered in 2011, where - if I got this right - a mandated list of items in many areas such as site development, energy and water efficiency, materials conservation and waste stream, pollution control, indoor air quality and moisture control, and installer qualifications are all part of the prescriptive path.  And a 15% improvement in these areas above today's standards for the performance based path.  That's for the lower tier.  And in 2012 will kick in the higher tier of all the above except a more stringent prescriptive path and a 30% improvement for the performance based.  All good and necessary but/and there will be more inspections and more contractor training required.  So start now and be prepared for January 1, 2011.
http://www.bsc.ca.gov/CALGreen/default.htm for the website and http://www.documents.dgs.ca.gov/bsc/documents/2010/Draft-2010-CALGreenCode.pdf for the whole thing.  Note that it's still a draft.


Halo now has a line of LED 4" recessed cans that look *great* and they have a retrofit version.  Plenty of light and color temps from 4000K down to 2700K, or daylight to warm.  They'll be a big seller.  And I found out something new that I wish I'd known before: the module for their 6" LED recessed cans can be screwed in to an older existing non ICAT housing (which I'd known) and they make that non ICAT housing airtight, or AT (which I *hadn't* known and which I had after retrofitting so many cans in the last several months to get the AT rating).  FYI, their 4" line is different and can't be retrofitted to a standard can.  They've come down in price to below dimmable fluorescents, though still above standard CFLs.  Definitely competitive and I personally believe are the future that will make CFLs old school.


Eco - specializing in LED lighting - was there.  A newish brand from China, they do a lot of outdoor street and decorative lighting but also have a line of interior screw-in replacements for interior bulbs that are rated fairly good as far as lumen output but some were pretty weird looking.  They also had an extensive line of LED T8 and T12 fluorescent tube replacements that fit in the standard 2 pin on each end fixtures.  Might be good and can they also had some T5s that could be used under cabinet.  Unknown quality and the reps there couldn't answer my questions about longevity & lumen testing.  Innovative and could be good but I want to see 3rd party testing.


There were several spray foam companies there that tout soy oils, recycled content, and no ozone depletion.  Their words are carefully scripted to make them sound all green when they're not, but at least the percentage of non-nasty stuff is growing.  I am NOT against spray foam; I love the stuff, recommend it, and think it's the cat's meow for many problems, but it has a large and nasty upfront environmental cost.


I saw some new synthetic decking products that looked great.  Very realistic, in fact, I could hardly tell they weren't real wood.  Still as expensive as Ipe or high end wood, but though they're not made from post consumer recycled content, the long life span makes them at least worthy of consideration.  I'd love to see a real life cycle analysis and footprint of a synthetic deck product and high end wood like redwood or ipe.  Anyone have numbers on this?


Missing this year, and that WERE there last year, were a couple of water products.  Last year, there were two different companies coming out with plug and play type solar water heater products; basically a water heater/storage tank with an integral pump and control system so all one needed was to plumb to a solar panel on the roof and plug it in.  All electronics, freeze protection, etc. were included in a nice, compact package that would fit in a standard hot water heater closet.  I wonder why they weren't at PCBC this year.  And last year there were 2 different companies offering wonderful graywater storage systems.  Where were they?


Lots more, of course.  Hundreds of vendors and many great products but I focus on efficiency products that can be used in retrofits and that have either a small amount of embedded energy - meaning they're cheap to make and use simple, renewable materials - and/or are cheap to run and use.  All that other stuff used to get me excited but I'm a lot pickier nowadays.

Putting a Face on the Gulf Oil Leak - Lens Blog - NYTimes.com

I try not to get political and I'm guilty of burning as much petroleum as the next person but dammit, this hurts:

Putting a Face on the Gulf Oil Leak - Lens Blog - NYTimes.com

Let there be light. And let it be from LEDs.

The following link takes you to one of my favorite blogs.  And this one has a few thought provoking nuggets.  Each one of us can make a difference, however small, that our grandchildren will thank us for.  I want to leave as good a world as I can for them and this blogpost talks about one way.

Let there be light. And let it be from LEDs.