At a time when work is slow for most remodeling contractors, there is another area where consumer demand is high and where a remodeler’s expertise is aptly suited. With the new administration directing billions of dollars to address these concerns, there is work waiting. Simply, there are millions of older homes in the United States that have minimal insulation, old windows and doors, inefficient furnaces, and old air conditioners. There are the millions of older homes that that leak cold air in the summer and warm air in the winter. They were built when energy was cheap. Those days are over.
If a building contractor wants to maximize his or her value to a potential customer, learn about energy audits, how they work and how to do them. In an energy audit, there is something called a blower door test when a negative vacuum is created within a house, and due to this negative air pressure, you can determine where the house is “leaking”. Addressing these leaks can save a homeowner thousands of dollars in energy costs annually, and reduce their carbon footprint. Depending on the house and what is needed, there is a hierarchy of repairs that address these energy leaks. Depending on what a homeowner can afford, here is a list of potential energy saving projects that increase in cost as you work your way down the list:
1. Insulation and weather-stripping
2. Updating furnace/HW heater (and AC)
3. Replacement windows
4. Solar HW and PV
Understanding the “energy rating” of a house can assist both homeowner and contractor in deciding on the appropriate home improvement project. Providing this service to all your customers, both past and future, will establish you as what a remodeler should be, which is a true building professional. As a building professional, you not only assist in remodeling projects, but you will understand and communicate how the actual building performs as an integrated whole, and with this understanding begin to deliver a total project to each and every client. This is what a true pro delivers. This is the future of the remodeling industry.
David Lupberger
303-442-3702
