Construction company shifts focus to making older homes more energy efficient

When Beau Value’s custom-home construction business, slowed to a crawl in 2008 due to the struggling economy, Value started thinking about how to diversify to reach a market with more potential—maybe existing homeowners, rather than homeseekers. In January, 2010, Value started Green Home, LLC., a new company separate from his original firm, Everest Construction. Headquartered in Donnelly, Idaho, Green Home also has offices in Spokane and Boise and specializes in energy efficiency upgrades to existing homes. Although Everest Construction is still in operation, Value said Green Home has received most of the focus lately. “Homeowners are starting to see their energy bills go up and they want to know what they can do to get them back down,” said Value. “In addition, the federal [Residential Energy] tax credit expires December 31, so everyone wants work done before then.” In January, 2011, he said more federal tax rebates should be available, including subsidized loans, which Value is available to help homeowners with. Under the current federal tax credit, customers can receive a rebate of up to $1,500 for energy home improvements made in 2010, including insulation, windows, doors, metal roofs, and heating, and may even be able to recover up to 30 percent of energy-efficient upgrades made in 2009, to a maximum of $1,500 for 2009 and 2010 combined. In addition to the federal tax credit, there are Avista and Idaho Power rebates which do not have expiration dates, but their rules may change in 2011. Incentives vary depending on improvements made and may need to be taken advantage of within 90 days of work being done, but the money recouped can be significant. In addition to providing a free whole home energy audit and installing energy efficiency upgrades, Value and Green Home also educates its customers on available rebates. They provide the paperwork and help the customer fill it out so the process is quick and painless. “The utility companies offer good rebates and both Avista and Idaho Power are working on some new things for 2011 so they may even get better,” said Value. After the rebates, Value says homeowners will continue to see savings on monthly utility bills of 20 to 40 percent. When Green Home inspectors perform a walk-through audit of a home, they give the homeowner an estimate of how much monthly savings they should expect per improvement. This way, homeowners can attend to the most necessary improvements first, which will save them the most money. Insulation is often at the top of that list. “Up to 42 percent of a home’s energy can be lost through the attic if the insulation doesn’t have an R-value [level of thermal resistance] of 38 or higher; many older homes don’t have any or if they do, it could be as low as R-19 or lower,” says Value. “Energy Star requires R-50.” Not only is Green Home committed to lowering homeowners’ impact on the environment through energy efficiency upgrades, but by providing the best materials available and working with suppliers who continually strive to research and produce products that can improve environmental quality. According to the Building Performance Institute, there are 128 million homes in America—many built before modern energy codes were established. This translates to residential structures being responsible for 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the country, due to their excessive use of fossil fuel. In 2007, Value had begun incorporating greener options into his custom-home building projects, making keeping up to date with LEED certification and Energy Star code a priority. He also started managing his business with a focus on producing less waste. “In the home building industry, there is just so much throw-away,” said Value. “Seeing that for so long just really drove me nuts; I wanted to make our process a greener process…one that was kinder to the environment. The better thing for the environment is not to build a new “green” home, but to use existing resources—update your existing home.” Currently Value is working on getting all his employees and contractors BPI certified by Dec. 15 which will mean their knowledge and performance has met stringent technical standards and requirements as specified by BPI’s National Quality Assurance Program. A typical Green Home energy audit consists of a whole-home inspection during which Value’s inspectors may use an infrared camera to get a visual on temperature differences in different areas, and conduct a blower door test to depressurize the house and assess air leakage. They will also perform other function and safety tests on HVAC equipment, including carbon monoxide levels and combustion appliance back-draft testing. Inspectors also guide the homeowner regarding which fixes are suitable for a particular skill level, and which will require expert installation. To be eligible for some rebates, the work must be done by a certified technician. Once the work is completed, a Green Home inspector will conduct a second whole-home assessment that follows all the same steps as the first, to assure that all work done accomplishes the desired performance levels. Upon Green Home’s BPI certification, all Green Home tests will be required to be forwarded to BPI which audits files for compliance with standards. In January, Value hopes to be partnered with some financial institutions to offer homeowners ease of applying for subsidized loans to finance home energy improvements. His two-year plan involves looking at adding solar and wind power assessments and installations to Green Home’s services. “We want to eventually show homeowners how they can completely get off the grid if that’s what they’re interested in,” says Value. “However, whatever improvements homeowners make are so valuable; everything each of us does really does add up, no matter how small.”