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WHY ENERGY EFFICIENCY IS KING BY JONATHAN WATERWORTH
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any of you are likely not familiar with energy efficiency, but I have made it my career for the past 11 years and would like to share some of what I know with you today. We spend most of our time in our homes, and assume or expect that they were built well, safe, healthy, and comfortable—and for some that is true, but for most it is not. On average, a home has about 30% waste built into it, with some having more and some having less, bringing with it higher operational costs, along with comfort and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) issues. Over time, codes have changed the way we build things, all with the aforementioned issues in mind. And yes, although efficiency has improved, we are still finding and correcting inefficiencies in today’s housing stock. So whether your home was built in 1950 or 2019, you should consider having an energy assessment done to see where and how much can be improved.
HOME ENERGY EFFICIENCY IMPACTS I will not go into detail about how we do our assessments, but rather that we are looking to address safety, health, comfort, and costs. These are the four pillars to a proper energy retrofit, although your concerns are usually cost and/or comfort. You are probably wondering why health has anything to do with energy efficiency. I have witnessed the positive impacts on IAQ and subsequently occupant health when there is an
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emphasis on improving the living environment. When you have the knowledge and training to identify probable triggers within the home and eliminate the envelope and mechanical leakage while introducing proper balanced ventilation, there is a great probability for success. So, I have described the benefits of incorporating energy efficiency to the home, but let us recap: •
Identify and address safety issues
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Improve comfort and eliminate hot/cold rooms
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Improve IAQ and health
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Reduce operational costs
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Improve the durability and life cycle of HVAC
We can achieve this and a 30%-40% cost reduction on utilities while avoiding big-ticket items with long returns on investment, such as new windows and HVAC replacement.
REDUCING UTILITY COSTS Sound too good to be true? Wait, it gets better! What if I told you there is an additional 15%-25% reduction on utility costs that can be achieved? Let me start first with how we arrived where we are. Residential solar! I bet you’ve heard of it. The industry propped up by the taxpayer, that at best requires a large greenlivingaz.com
