One of the best ways for homeowners to reduce their carbon footprint starts with home energy audits. Within hours they learn how efficient their home is and what they can do to improve it. Another way is to build a home that meets or exceeds state energy efficiency standards.
Research has shown that housing accounts for approximately 40 percent of energy usage. If everyone took steps for making old and new homes more efficient, that number could be cut in half.
In 2010, when the country was reeling from the Great Recession, Sisler Builders created a division within their company that focuses on energy efficiency in current and future homes. “I’ve always been interested in making our building envelopes as tight as possible,” says president Steve Sisler. “I saw the energy efficiency training for my staff as a symbiotic benefit. We would learn methods to make our new home projects better, while learning how to enhance older homes. We were in a recession and this seemed to me an excellent alternative to layoffs.”
Sisler Builder’s energy division has grown to include six employees. Mike D’Muhala is the technical and “science guy,” while Brian Irwin is the business manager and marketing director. A crew of four does home energy audits, installations, and retrofits. Since 2010 they have performed several hundred home energy audits, resulting in over 160 home and commercial energy retrofits. To date D’Muhala estimates that these customers have saved 16 billion BTUs and 109 thousand kilowatt hours of electricity. This equates to about a quarter million dollars in savings and a 2,000-ton reduction in CO2 emissions, roughly the same as removing 500 cars from the road for one year.
“The most common problem we see when we do home energy audits is air leakage,” says D’Muhala. “We partner with Efficiency Vermont, and they will give a $1,000 rebate if a client reduces air leakage by 35 percent. This can be done primarily through blower door-assisted air sealing of the attic deck, basement, and living spaces.” Additional incentives are available for upgrading insulation and heating systems.
Sisler Builders charges $450 for home energy audits and Efficiency Vermont gives an instant $100 rebate, so the cost to the customer is $350 for a typical house. D’Muhala conducts the audit, spending an average of three to four hours on site, inspecting and conducting tests. He uses a blower door, a machine that measures the air tightness of buildings, and a thermal camera to locate air leakage sites.
D’Muhala then puts together an energy model of the home which he uses to generate a list of recommendations including their costs, energy savings, and estimates of Efficiency Vermont rebates. This model can be tweaked to meet budget, lifestyle, and aesthetic preferences.
“If a house is already tight, we can still find ways to make it even tighter,” D’Muhala says. “Once a house is pretty tight it requires a heat recovery ventilator, which brings fresh air into the house through a heat exchanger. It’s all about ventilation. Send the stale, moist air out and bring the fresh air in.”
D’Muhala has been imparting the lessons he’s learned to the site supervisors and carpenters involved in Sisler Builders’ new home and significant remodel projects. The symbiotic relationship Steve Sisler was hoping for in 2010 has borne fruit! Of the six new homes they completed since 2012, all have exceeded the rigorous state-mandated testing amounts by at least 300 percent. One earned kudos from Efficiency Vermont Senior Energy Consultant TJ Holloway when he noted, “The air density (temperature) corrected blower door number is 509 CFM. This is really, really tight! Passive house tight.” This attention to detail results in reduced energy consumption, pollution, and maintenance coupled with increased interior comfort.
Sisler Builders is a member of Efficiency Vermont’s Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program and their Efficiency Excellence Network. To schedule an energy audit or for information about reducing your carbon footprint call Brian Irwin at Sisler Builders, 802-253-5672.
