Conservation

Dave Yates (PAH)

Our guys plant the seeds of energy conservation by pointing out they (the customer) could be saving money by investing in their comfort and high eff equipment. Not all "seeds" germinate, but I'm impressed by how many sprout into requests for proposals.

We're busier this year than any other year in our past. Lots of boilers to be installed!

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mp1969

Conservation

Conservation is on everyones minds these days yet I still see an unwillingness for consumers to give up and cut back. Is it simply too soon, are Bush and his backroom planners just glossing over the problem in order to save face? Are the majority of Americans in denial?
I would like to see a discussion showing the true colors of our industry. We are qick to respond with high efficiency heating and cooling eqipment, yet hesitate to point out cost inefficient practices for fear of alienating customers.How do we tactfully approach this problem?

MP 1969

Constantin

I think it largely depends on what kind of an impact you can have with a customer. As we've preached over and over, the building envelope has to be addressed first. There is no point in efficiently heating the outdoors via a leaky indoor buffer tank (a.k.a. the house). So, at what level do you have to come in?

IMMHO, you need to sell yourself as an energy/fuel/heating guru, not the guy or gal that will just swap out the boiler. Customers have to recognize you as the authority when it comes to addressing their thermal envelope, weatherization, heating systems, etc. Thus, blower doors, more nights with HVAC-Calc or Wrightsoft, etc. are ahead. On the other hand, I'd like to think that homeowners will be willing to spend more on people they recognize as experts that straddle and perform well across several disciplines.

There are many cost effective ways to get homes up to snuff, as the many case studies at Building Sciences Corp. show. As with any project limited by budgets, there are tradeoffs that have to be made. Yet, the name of the game is to get involved as early as possible. This is your opportunity to really shake the creative box and see what happens.

GMcD

Industry resistance

I guess it cuts into profits, and of course well "know" that short term profit is better than long term thinking....“Builders Prevail Against Costly Energy Code Change…NAHB prevailed in an effort to roll back new, more stringent insulation requirements at International Code Council hearings in Detroit on Sept. 29.”

NAHB Press Release

Sigh....

Bob Morrison_3

Conservation's best friend is high energy cost

I have heard a few people declare that they won't heat their houses to higher than 62 F this winter, etc., but only in response to high fuel cost. I have not heard anyone say that global warming or energy independence would cause them to add sweaters to the wardrobe. Meanwhile, The U.S. government (both political parties) has insufficient vision to provide incentives for conservation and to plan for the alternate energy infrastructure that is needed to for energy independence and to mitigate global warming. What's needed?: a consumption tax on BTUs, which is exactly what Al Gore (almost) proposed during 2000 presidential election.

Bob Morrison

mp1969

Consumption Tax

I heard something like this is going on in Canada. Could any of our colder northern friends enlighten us???
I heard something about averaging consumption and penalizing abusers with higher rates while rewarding those who conserve. I believe I heard this as I tuned in late to an NPR broadcast.

MP 1969

Constantin

Actually,

I'd turn the rate structure used in many areas of the country around.

Currently, in many areas, the more you consume, the cheaper energy gets.

Perhaps more of our energy distribution/consumption issues would be addressed by the market if the utilities rate structures were changed so that they would charge increasingly higher rates to residential customers as consumption increases. Why should grandma living on a SS check in an economical apartment pay more per therm than the guy heating his driveway?

It's a free economy. Let the rich waste energy, if they want to. But at least make them pay for their largesse.