Energy raters aim to put a stop to drafty houses

Leslie Mann, Special to the Tribune.
Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Ill.: Nov 19, 2004. pg. 6; [Chicago Final Edition]

Want to get wise about energy? First, do the math

Q. What resources do you recommend for homeowners who want to educate themselves about home energy use?

A. "Start with ‘Home Energy’ magazine and its online archives (www.homeenergy.org), ‘Fine Homebuilding’ magazine and a book called ‘No Regrets Remodeling.’ And go to the Illinois [Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity] site, www.energywisehomes.org," said Porterfield.

Q. Are this year’s higher-than-ever heating bills prompting more homeowners to review their houses’ efficiency?

A. "People tell us they always knew it was the right thing to do," Kidd said. "But, now, $400-per-month bills are making them take action. And now homeowners know that energy efficiency counts at resale. Although houses are advertised for their curb appeal and granite countertops, buyers want them to be efficient too."

Q. Is there a magic formula to determine if a house is basically energy-efficient or not?

A. "Divide the amount you pay annually for electricity and gas (heating, cooling, lighting) by the number of square feet in your house. Don’t count the unfinished basement and garage. If the result is more than 75 cents, there is probably room for improvement. We’ve seen houses ranging from 15 cents to $2 a square foot," Kidd said.

—Leslie Mann

(Copyright 2004 by the Chicago Tribune) Reprinted by permission.

The owner of a 40-year-old, all-electric townhouse in Oakbrook Terrace, Wes Edfors knew his home was more energy-efficient than many of its vintage. "It has double-pane windows and a lot of insulation, so I knew it was in pretty good shape," he says. "But I wondered if I could make it better."

So Edfors hired Cappy Kidd and John Porterfield, co-owners of Chicago-based Informed Energy Decisions, to give his house an energy rating. The partners spent four hours checking every nook and cranny of Edfors’ house for air leaks and testing his house’s equipment for efficiency.

The diagnosis: Edfors’ heating/venting/air conditioning system (HVAC) is efficient (albeit more expensive to operate than gas systems). But they did find several escape routes for heated air: a hollow-core door leading to an attic space, attic insulation holes resulting from ceiling fan installations and, worst of all, huge insulation voids under his mansard roof.

Bottom line, Edfors can slash his heating/air conditioning bills by 25 percent by making improvements that cost less than $500, Kidd and Porterfield told him.

Kidd (who goes by his childhood nickname, Cappy, rather than his given name, Earl) and Porterfield are among a small but growing number of energy raters. They are both certified by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Their clients, owners of single-family and multi-family residences and commercial buildings, hire them to figure out just how energy-efficient their buildings are or are not.

The partners’ tour the house with the homeowner and hear about the house’s symptoms. "People say, ‘This room is too cold,’ ‘This room is too hot,’ or, usually, ‘We’re freezing!’" says Kidd.

"We ask about habits too," Kidd adds. "Do you turn down your heat while you’re at work? Do you dry your laundry or hang it? Do you turn off lights when you leave the room? Do you use your whirlpool tub every day? Do you keep your garage door open? All these make a difference when it comes to energy use."

Then they do a series of tests, including the blower-door test, which involves closing the doors and windows and pulling air out of the house with a fan that’s secured in a sealed doorway. As the fan pulls the air, the men use hand-held "smoke pencils" to find spots where outside air can get in.

"The average house has an aggregate hole the size of a medium pizza," says Porterfield.

While the blower-door test helps them locate air leaks, their infrared camera indicates where heat escapes right through walls, windows and doors. The camera may indicate, for example, that one wall lacks insulation or that there are uninsulated gaps between windows and window frames.

Every protrusion and indentation, such as an overhang or chimney, is an area of concern, says Kidd, as well as building cavities such as ductwork chases and suspended ceilings. Although the general rule is "hot air goes up and cool air goes down," the routes they travel within a house can be pretty complicated, he says.

"One client told us his pipes froze on his north wall," he says. "But it turned out air was coming in the south wall and going between floors to the north wall."

After they conduct the audit, they draft a "condition survey" for the client. It tells specifically what the client’s house lacks in insulation, air tightness, window and HVAC equipment quality, among other things. Their "action plan" explains how to fix each problem, in order of cost-effectiveness. They recommend reputable contractors, including insulation contractors, glazers and window installers.

Too often, they say, a homeowner sinks money into the wrong home improvement. "The furnace guy tells you that you need a new furnace and the window guy tells you that you need new windows, but the real problem might be a hidden air leak," says Porterfield. Thus the duo’s motto: "It shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg to warm your hands and feet."

Workmanship affects efficiency, too, they add. "One client had spent $16,000 on new windows and actually had more air leaks afterward because they were installed so poorly," adds Kidd.

In general, the older the building, the more the owner can benefit from an energy rating, says Kidd. "Older ones were built to bygone building codes that didn’t even require insulation," he says.

Their ideal clients, says Kidd, are those who are still in the planning stages of building their homes. Then, they can help them incorporate energy-efficient practices and products. "It only costs a little more to build it right than to build it wrong," says Kidd. "... Part of our job is to keep up with all the building science studies—how heat moves through buildings, which insulation and windows work, best practices for reducing electrical costs—and relay that to the homeowners."

In addition to educating homeowners, Kidd and Porterfield talk to condo associations and builders’ groups. They are currently developing a talk for high school students—the next generation of architects, builders and engineers—about energy-efficiency.

Kidd and Porterfield joined forces in 2003 after doing the same type of work independently. Kidd is a licensed home inspector and has a degree in environmental control technology. Porterfield has a degree in architecture and is the author of a book about home energy diagnostics.

A resident of Hyde Park, Porterfield spends his spare time riding his bicycle and volunteering as a mate in the Boy Scouts of America’s Scout’s Sea Scouts program.

Kidd restores the 100-year-old Albany Park house he shares with his wife, cabaret singer Claudia Hommel.

Thanks to parallel resumes that combine construction and design with science, their partnership works. But they also share a passion for reduction of energy use.

"And on a personal level," adds Kidd, "it is so satisfying for us to help homeowners make their homes more comfortable."

----------

For more information, call 773-INFORMS (463-6767) or visit www.energydetectives.com.

- - -