Blog

April 29th 2010

Join us at The 7^th Annual City of Santa Monica AltBuild Expo http://www.altbuildexpo.com Friday and Saturday, May 7‐8, 2010 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium (1855

Main Street, Santa Monica, CA). The expo is free and open to the public and includes over 150 exhibitors featuring the best in green building materials, energy efficiency, and water conservation. Demonstrations and discussion groups for the general public led by area green building experts offering knowledge on what green Bbilding means to them – from a design, carbon footprint and pocketbook perspective.

I’ll be speaking on a panel on Saturday at 2 p.m.  http://www.altbuildexpo.com/speakers-schedule.html on practical financial analysis for energy efficiency retrofits and welcome your questions. Hope to see you there!

March 19th 2010

I have been too busy to write a blog for quite some time but do post updates to The Building Doctors Facebook  and Twitter pages.  Please click on either icon below and follows us there, then remember to come back and keep exploring our site.  Thank you for your continued support.

January 8th 2010

This is from Efficiency First and really informative about the proposed Home Star “Cash for Caulkers” Program

What is HOME STAR?
HOME STAR is a proposed federal program that would provide direct incentives to American homeowners who invest in improving the energy efficiency of their homes. The basic structure of the HOME STAR program was developed by an ad hoc committee of private sector advisors, with strong participation by Efficiency First. Silicon Valley venture capitalist John Doerr presented the program at a meeting of President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB) on Nov. 2, 2009, and the plan is now under consideration by the White House.
As outlined in a memo that was formally endorsed by PERAB members on Dec. 4, HOME STAR would reimburse homeowners for residential energy upgrades such as air sealing, insulation, new light bulbs and new appliances. Homeowners would be eligible to receive up to $2,000 for implementing at least two upgrades from a list of qualifying measures, or up to $3,500 for at least four qualifying measures. Higher incentives would be available to homeowners who achieve energy savings of at least 20 percent. Weatherization projects that reduce energy consumption by 20 percent would be eligible to receive up to $4,000 in incentive money, plus $1,500 for every additional 5 percent reduction in energy consumption. The Times also notes that all HOME STAR incentives would be capped at 50 percent of project costs, and a percentage of projects would be audited to ensure that the improvements perform as expected. The plan is projected to cost $23 billion over two years.

Economic Benefits of HOME STAR
Unemployment nationwide now exceeds 10 percent, and the situation is particularly dire for the construction industry, which has lost 1.6 million jobs since December 2007. With unemployment in the construction sector at a shocking 17 percent and demand for new buildings in a tailspin, there is an urgent need to create new high-paying, long-term construction jobs that cannot be outsourced overseas. The HOME STAR program leverages private investment to create a strong market for home energy retrofits that would put hundreds of thousands of unemployed Americans back to work and stimulate demand for building materials produced by American factories. A $23 billion investment in HOME STAR incentives would support 5.9 million residential energy retrofits and quickly create new local jobs in construction and related industries.
Lower Home Energy Bills and a Healthier Planet
HOME STAR would help Americans pay for cost-effective home improvements with the potential to deliver permanent reductions in household energy bills and significantly scale back our national carbon footprint. Residential energy efficiency improvements covered by the HOME STAR program can reduce energy waste in most homes by 20 to 40 percent, and when combined with low-interest financing, can be cash flow positive as soon as the project is completed. A nationwide initiative to improve the efficiency of America’s 128 million homes would unlock significant reductions in building-related greenhouse gas emissions and generate long-term energy savings for American consumers.

October 8th 2009

Mr. Thomsen goes to Washington Day 3

The extra half hour that I got to sleep in was wasted on the extra 45 minutes it took to sit in traffic on the way into Washington DC. My group met at the Circle Café in Union Station at 8 AM to get ready for our 9 AM meeting with Congressman Perlmutter (CO). His aide Amanda Slater was very knowledgeable about REEP and fully supported it.

I skipped the meeting my group had with Senator Begich of Alaska, although I heard it went well. I had an impromptu meeting with Congressman Patrick Murphy (pictured below) from Pennsylvania.

He is a co-sponsor of REEP and a huge supporter of the legislation. I know him on a personal basis and wanted to say hello while I was in town and to remind him and his staff about some of the finer points of REEP. Like most of the others on the Hill, his time is consumed with the Health Care debate. He was able to spend a few minutes catching up and do a little REEP talk. I then sat down with his energy advisor Marc Boom and talked in greater detail about REEP. It was quite obvious to all of us that these Senators and Congressman have so many things going on and that they depend on the support and knowledge of their aides to keep them abreast of what is going on and what is important and what is not.

I raced over to our 11 AM meeting with Senator Barbara Boxer’s (CA) office. Her aide, Bridget Patusok was very knowledgeable with REEP and was thankful for us reassuring her and Sen. Boxer that there are jobs that will soon be created once this Bill is made a Law. On our way to the meeting place for lunch at Tortilla Flats, our fearless leader, Amy Jarvis, took a picture of us by the Capitol. (from left to right Bruce Mast, Mark Berman, myself, Stephen Self, and Linda Bilsens)

Before lunch, I met up with Matt Golden in front of the Library of Congress and lent him my Infrared Camera for a meeting he had at the White House.

We had some extra time before our 2 PM meeting and a few of us did the Capitol tour. I had not done this tour since I was a child and found it fascinating. Luckily, our next meeting was with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (CA). Kara Saul Rinaldi (our lobbyist) joined our group and we met with her energy advisor Karen Wayland and again we reassured her of the jobs soon to be created as well as the savings Americans are going to have on their utility bills.

The other two California members had to leave to catch their flights back home so it was just Amy, Kara, Linda, and myself on our way to the next meeting. We had a little time so we decided to take a little break in the courtyard of the Rayburn House Office Building and have some frozen yogurt from their cafeteria, so good!

Our next meeting was particularly important to me because it was with my Congressman, Diane Watson. Unfortunately, she was on the floor in a vote but her aide Jillian Schlotter was very helpful and knowledgeable. I suggested that when Rep. Watson comes back to Los Angeles that we find a home to test, of her choosing, that I can demonstrate what all is involved in a quality Energy Audit and we could have press there to help spread the word.

Since our group was small we tried to join the meeting with Congressman Markey of Maine. All of us wanted to meet the co-author of the American Clean Energy and Security Act. However we were not the only ones with that idea and it ended up over 20 people for that meeting. A few of us split off and went to our last meeting with Congressman Thompson of Northern California. His aide Johnathan Birdsong was very knowledgeable about REEP and made some great suggestions.

On the walk back we decided to take one last picture with the capitol. (Below from left to right Jenna Dern, Greg Thomse, Jeff Tamburro, Jared Asch, and myself)

On the National Mall, which is the grass between the Washington Monument and the Capitol, there happened to be the Solar Decathalon.

The temporary homes are entries in the Solar Decathalon, which is a biennial contest designed to spur college students to pursue careers in science and engineering, encourage the development of green technologies and raise public awareness of energy efficiency issues.

Colleges and Universities from around the world worked as long as two years to plan, design and build the solar-powered houses. Then they brought them to Washington for a week and a half of public exhibition and judging in 10 categories, such as comfort and how much energy they produce relative to how much they consume.

Not all of the homes had been reassembled yet but the ones that had been were fascinating. I understand that Team California took first place in the architecture category, way to go! There was also a display home sponsored by the US Department of Energy that was all about Home Performance and Energy Audits. I had to take a picture in front of it.

We went to a happy hour at The Dubliner and talked about our day’s meetings. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this the day before but for those of us that were left, we gathered for a group photo.

We then went across the street to the Capitol Hill Brewery and had a great meal. I truly enjoyed this part of the trip because I really got to spend some quality time getting to know fellow Home Performance contractors, share marketing ideas, and stories.

The most refreshing thing that I take away from this trip is that all of the members of Efficiency First, that came to lobby the Hill, have a great passion for our industry and are willing to work together to achieve the same goals in our field. I know we made a difference the past few days but realize this is just the first step towards a bright and efficient future.

October 7th 2009

Mr. Thomsen goes to Washington. Day 2

The next morning I was up before dawn to avoid the traffic rush. You would have thought that the lack of sleep from the day before would have helped me go to sleep earlier than 4 AM but no chance. The sunrise over the Capitol was beautiful but tired me forgot to take a picture.

We had a briefing and overview of the Lobby Day Schedule then got on the buses to the White House at 8:30 AM. I had already been pre-appoved with my security background check but the line through the White House check point still took forever. This was the first time our meeting space was being used by the White House administrative offices. Top members of President Obama’s energy team began the meeting including Obama’s chief energy and climate policy coordinator, Carol Browner. She reassured the crowd that President Obama’s commitment to Clean Energy was still strong. “It was one of his top three campaign promises and he is still committed to it.”, she said. Ms. Bower had a short question-and-answer session then introduced with Energy Secretary Steven Chu who gave a great presentation. One of the things that he said that stood out from his speech was “The cost of not doing something is we will lose the chance to lead, in this next Industrial Revolution”. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke followed with a great talk. They both sat (pictured below Sec. Locke on the left and Sec. Chu on the right) and had a question and answer period with our group.

I was fortunate enough to be able to ask Secretary Chu the last question of the session. I introduced myself and told him I was there to make people aware of the REEP (Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance) legislation. I asked him how the “Retrofit Ramp Up” program was proceeding. He went into great detail explaining some of the test programs they are working on with the goal to retrofit city blocks at a time. He then proceeded to tell the story of his experience with an insulation contractor when he was at Stanford in northern California a few years ago. He said he got three bids and choose the lowest one, to his regret. They were supposed to blow 10 inches of cellulose in his attic but when he got home they had only put in two inches. He proceeded to explain to the crowd that there are tools out there now that can show when insulation is installed improperly, like an infrared camera.

I piped in “Secretary Chu, I brought mine with me to show these Congressman what they actually do”. He laughed and said “I guess I should have used you then.” I was now relieved that all the hassles I got for carrying my Infrared camera through all the security check points was worthwhile. He continued on telling more about the Retrofit Ramp Up and at the very end of his answer I added this last statement, even though I don’t think I was supposed to talk.

I said, “Secretary Chu, please keep in mind when you and your staff are writing this legislation that all retrofit work should be done by BPI (Building Performance Institute) certified people and companies because we are held to the highest standard. He said that he is aware that we (BPI certified contractors) are the best of the best and they are adding that to the legislation.

I cannot tell you what an honor and privilege it was to speak with this Nobel prize winning member of Obama’s staff. It is obvious he is very passionate about Clean energy and efficiency for the United States. When the meeting let out I was able to talk with his staff person and get his information for a follow up email.

We had lunch on the bus on the way back to the Hyatt. I then headed over for my orientation meeting with the Efficiency First group at Union Station at B Smiths Restaurant.

Our Efficiency First group is 36 members strong and represent 15 states. Our orientation started at 1PM with introductions of key people in our group, a brief talk of what to say and what not to say, and got our information packets, schedule and maps. We then broke up into four smaller groups tin which we would be visiting offices.

I had what I thought was a meeting with Senator Barbara Boxer at 2 PM at the Hart Building with the previous group. It ended up being just a photo op so I caught up with my group that was already meeting with Senator Mark (CO) Udall’s aides Kelly and Mathew Bowen. Our group had four people from Colorado, two from New York and myself form California. Senator Udall is already for Clean Energy but it was great to get his people caught up on the specifics of REEP.

We then took the long walk over to the Congress offices, past the Capitol where I was able to snap a photo of the skywriting that The Building Doctors sponsored to bring awareness to REEP. Sadly, nobody in the rest of my group was able to see the writing because of the high winds that day.

We went to Rep Betsy Markey’s (CO) office in Cannon House Office Building but that meeting was changed to the next day. Our next meeting was with Congressman Hall (TX). He is the oldest member of Congress at 86 and a Republican through and through. He was on the floor voting, so for the first 15 minutes we spoke with his aide. When the Congressman showed, he was still very focused on the Health Care issue and went into great detail of how the Democrats were wrong on this issue and how wrong Obama was. It became very obvious to me that we had our work set out for us. We were finally able to talk about the REEP legislation and I was happy to hear the congressman say that he agrees with Energy Efficiency and was not against it but he would not be voting for anything that had to do with Cap and Trade.

A few of us had to duck out early for our meeting with Senator Dorgan (ND) and jumped in a cab to make it over to the Hart Senate offices. Our meeting went well with the Senators aide, Jonna Hamilton. She also agreed with the benefits of the REEP legislation although not a fan of Cap and Trade legislation.

We went back to B Smiths Restaurant in Union Station to regroup for a mix and mingle and a working dinner. It was great to finally meet many of the people I have read about and seen on the Efficiency First site. I finally got to meet the infamous Matt Golden of Sustainable Spaces and President of Efficiency First as well as the other members of the board. Congressman Welch of Vermont (pictured below), who is the author of REEP, came by for a short visit and graciously thanked us for making the decision to write the REEP legislation such an easy one. We wrapped up the day with more networking at B Smiths bar.

October 6, 2009

Mr. Thomsen goes to Washington. Day 1

About a month ago, Efficiency First (the nonprofit trade association I am a founding member of that represents Home Performance contractors, energy auditors and manufacturers and is dedicated to bringing building science and energy efficiency to every home in America) set up lobbying days in Washington DC for October 6th and 7th 2009. Another group called the National Save Energy Coalition said they had lobby days for October 6th and 7th, and invited me to join their effort. This is the story of that trip:

I took the Red Eye out of Los Angeles Monday at 11:40 PM, slept for maybe an hour on the plane and landed at Dulles in Washington DC at 7:40 AM. On the drive into Washington I got stuck in traffic as I watched a long motorcade, which turned out to be President Obama’s on his way to a meeting. I won’t lie, it helped get the political juices flowing. Finally got to the Hyatt for registration check in and my orientation meeting.

The group I was invited by for the first day and a half was called National Save Energy Coalition, under the umbrella organization We Can Lead. They along with Ceres and the Clean Economy Network helped organize the event. What started out as about 100 companies when I signed up, ended up with over 180 clean energy businesses (including Nike, Dow Chemical, Entergy Corp, and Duke Energy) representing 37 states, the largest lobbying group for clean energy in history.

Our orientation meeting was quite impressive with presentations from Mark Mellman on “Public Perspectives on Climate and Energy Legislation”. Followed by a presentation on “What works with the press? High Level Message Points and Media Opportunities”. In this orientation I found out that I made to list of people going to the White House in the morning for a meeting with Energy Secretary Chu and Commerce Secretary Locke, exciting stuff.

After orientation, we had a reception for all the attendees at a complex with an incredible view of the Capitol (see picture above) then a large dinner with US Department of the Interior Secretary Salazar. He gave an uplifting speech about his commitment to clean energy and renewables. He then took over 45 minutes of questions from the crowd. He remembered and mentioned every question giver’s name and made it obvious to me how he became to Governor of Colorado. I wanted to ask him if he has any plans to bring interpretive programs back to the responsibilities of the National Park Rangers (what I had always planned on being until I realized I am a white male, not a good mix with the Government’s quota system). But I decided to keep the subject matter on clean energy but now I regret not asking. How many chances do you get to ask the Secretary of the Interior a question?

The route back to where I was staying in right along Constitution Ave. I pulled over to admire the Washington Monument for while, then on home to prepare for the next days activities, especially my meeting at the White House.

September 17, 2009

Five quick and easy tips to lower your Electric Bills:

1. Install a programmable thermostat and use it. Set it to 74 in the summer and 68 in the winter when home and higher and lower when nobody is home or all are sleeping.

2. Use compact fluorescent light bulbs with the ENERGY STAR® label.

3. Air dry dishes instead of using your dishwasher’s drying cycle.

4. Turn off your computer and monitor when not in use.

5. Plug home electronics, such as TVs and DVD players, into power strips; turn the power strips off when the equipment is not in use (TVs and DVDs in standby mode still use several watts of power).

September 10, 2009

Here is some information I came across recently about why it’s so important to California for Congress to pass the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which passed the House of Representatives in June 2009:

Energy Efficiency:
a. California will receive approximately $4 billion from carbon emissions allowance revenue for energy efficiency over the 8 years from 2012 to 2019. 1
b. The $4 billion invested in efficiency will save consumers an estimated $12 billion on their utility bills. 2
c. The $4 billion will DIRECTLY employ 36,196 people. 3

Renewable Energy:

a. California will receive approximately $22 billion from carbon emissions allowance revenue for renewable energy over the 8 years from 2012 to 2019. …and these figures don’t include the Renewable Energy Standard, Federal renewable energy purchases and other renewable energy provisions in the bill, which will provide additional funding!4

It’s a win win situation, more jobs for California and more savings for California residents.

1 ENE (Environment Northeast), ACES Funding for Efficiency Investments, 2009. For complete state-by-state figures for efficiency investments, jobs, and savings: http://www.env-ne.org/resources/open/p/id/895
2 ENE (Environment Northeast), “”, “”
3 “Energy Efficiency Workforce Needs in Massachusetts” by Kevin Doyle/Green Economy for New England Clean Energy Council, June, 2009
4 Calculations based on assumptions and methodology from ENE (Environment Northeast), ACES Funding for Efficiency Investments, 2009, http://www.env-ne.org/resources/open/p/id/895. Assumes 20%-67% of SEED funding going to renewable energy.

Apr 25, 2009 | Categories: Options | Tags: air sealing, BPI, Building Performance Institute, Cash for Caulkers, clean energy, efficiency first, energy audit, energy auditors, energy bills, energy efficiency, energy retrofits, energy savings, Energy Star, energy upgrades, greenhouse gas, home performance, home performance contractor, Home Star, Home star incentives, Home Star program, infrared camera, insulation, programmable thermostat, reduce energy, REEP, residential energy, retrofit ramp up, The Building Doctors, utility bills, weatherization | Comments Off