Rebuilding the Reservation

During the field portion of the training, participants engaged in an active learning exercise by using a digital manometer to test the pressure difference between the house and the return air system.

The workshop in Fallon included classroom and in-the-field training. Here the participants are listening to a presentation by Paul Knight on diagnostics.

The Fallon reservation has nearly 200 homes built by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in four phases between 1968 and the early 1990s. As part of HUD's modernization program, many of the houses are now slated for rehab. The planned rehabs provide a second chance to reduce the homes' energy consumption. Saving energy has become an especially critical issue for the tribe over the past several months as propane prices have increased by nearly 50%.

The rehabs will also offer the opportunity to fix existing problems, such as asbestos in the ceilings and wallboard and excess moisture in the crawlspaces. The tribe will also address worries over radon levels in their homes, which the members are now preparing to measure.

Another of the tribe's major concerns is youth employment. To address this concern, the workshop identified employment and business opportunities that create energy savings and healthy housing. The rehab construction staff is composed mainly of tribe members. These members profited greatly from the many presentations, but perhaps most especially from the field trainings showing the use of diagnostic tools and auditing methods. Paul Knight of Domus Plus demonstrated the use of a blower door and described what to look for in crawlspaces. Jim Taylor of Energy Rated Homes of Nevada instructed the participants in gathering data for use with the REM/Design energy rating software. The Rebuild team is working to create a mentoring link between Jim Taylor and the housing and rehab staff on the reservation in the hope that the lessons of the workshop will be reinforced by continuing close contact, and that a reservation-based housing performance business will be established.

The training materials that the presenters put together for the workshop included a notebook with several new Technology Fact Sheets from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Southface Energy Institute for the tribe's continued reference and a copy of Home Energy's book, No-Regrets Remodeling. (A complete set of the currently available Technology Fact Sheets can be downloaded from www.eren.doe.gov/buildings/partner_resources.html.) The materials developed for this workshop should be useful in other community housing development and assessment training efforts. They can be obtained through DOE's Rebuild America program representatives, who can be located through the Rebuild America Web site at www.rebuild.org/toolbox/customerservice.htm.

As a result of the workshop, the reservation's housing authority plans to hold a short, nontechnical training for residents of the reservation. The homeowners and renters will be instructed on how to do several no-cost, energy- efficient upgrades themselves, such as setting water heaters to 120°F. This should begin to produce initial energy savings until the construction staff is able to work in all of the homes.

--Jim Cavallo and Allie Smith

Jim Cavallo is principal owner of Kouba-Cavallo Associates in Downers Grove, Illinois. Allie Smith is the Rebuild America representative for the State of Nevada.

For more information: Rebuild America partnerships dealing with public and affordable housing work closely with Mark Ternes of Oak Ridge National Laboratory on technical issues. His e-mail address is tmp@ornl.gov.

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