Costco Lacking Labels

I visited my local Costco this weekend, and much to my chagrin, there were no EnergyGuide labels displayed on any of the various refrigerators and washers being sold. When I tracked down a manager and reminded him that, by law, these labels are supposed to be displayed, he said that they were "usually" on the appliances, (though he did not sound convincing).

Having read your editorial ("My Discouraging Visit to Costco," Nov/Dec '99, p. 2) and the company's response ("Costco Replies," Jan/Feb '00, p. 4), I found myself more disappointed by the lack of any EnergyGuide labels than by the low efficiency levels of the appliances that they do sell.

Clearly your editorial hit a nerve with the company. Please keep the pressure on!

Fredric Goldner
Energy Management & Research Associates
Brooklyn, New York

Contractors Bring Transformation

In rereading my article about establishing a home performance contracting business ("The Building Science Soft Sell," Mar/Apr '00, p. 20), I wish I had said something about the implications for market transformation and how building performance improvements almost always save energy. As many utility and government groups wrestle with ideas to move efficiency programs into the private market and build strategies to create demand for energy services, many private building performance contractors are already saving energy by taking a whole-house approach. Energy efficiency is not a hot-button issue for many consumers. However, good health and better comfort combined with energy savings does motivate homeowners to pay for building performance services. Since many home performance contractors have a high closing rate for selling services, let's hope the market transformation folks will take a closer look at the relationship between building performance services and energy efficiency.

Bruce Torrey
Building Diagnostics
Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Disaster Relief and Insurance Benefits

Your recent article on the link between disaster mitigation and energy efficiency ("Building for Disaster Mitigation," Jan/Feb '00, p. 28) was extremely important and timely. Until recently, this link was normally overlooked by disaster management agencies. Especially encouraging was your mention of the potential role insurance companies can play in promoting energy efficiency for risk management.

Energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies can help reduce insurance losses from natural disasters and from disasters resulting from technology failure or misuse. An inventory of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) laboratories found 78 technologies and techniques that provide such opportunities for the insurance and risk management industries. The most common physical perils associated with such losses were power failures, fire and wind damage, and home or workplace indoor air quality hazards. All of these can be mitigated by energy-efficient and high-performance home strategies.

The DOE report that explores these risk management opportunities is Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Options for Risk Management and Insurance Loss Reduction: An Inventory of Technologies, Research Capabilities, and Research Facilities at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Laboratories. It lists promising technologies such as energy-efficient and fire-resistant windows and light fixtures, IAQ-monitoring devices (such as CO monitors), and the use of photovoltaic power systems to reduce business interruption losses. The report also identifies current and potential collaborations between laboratories and the insurance and risk-management industries. The report is on the World Wide Web at http://eetd.lbl.gov/CBS/Insurance/CIpubs.html.

Keep up the great work, and I hope you continue to publish more articles on this topic.

Edward Vine
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab Berkeley, California

Make Your Leakage Measurements Count! Berkeley Lab Needs Your Leakage Data! LBNL is putting together a national leakage database (building envelopes and ducts). It will focus on new construction and measurements taken within one year of construction, but data for other houses are welcome as well. The database will include blower door data, duct leakage data, and house characteristics. LBNL's Max Sherman and Nance Matson (also one of Home Energy's technical editors) will use the database to examine and report on national trends in air tightness and energy efficiency (see "How Tight Are America's Houses?" HE Jan/Feb '98, p. 10). Your participation will help them make sure their analyses and policy suggestions reflect the houses you work with. To contribute: Go to the Energy Performance of Buildings Web site (epb.lbl.gov/database) or contact Nance Matson (nematson@lbl.gov) at 510-486-7328.

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