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September/October 2009 Editorial: Home Energy’s New Compilation of Articles
Alan Meier
I am pleased to announce the availability of a compilation of Home Energy articles from 2000–2008. It’s available as a CD and costs only $75. These articles capture the state of the art in home energy conservation, from retrofit techniques to business strategies. [continue reading]
Davis-Bacon and Award Winners at National Weatherization Training Conference
Jim Gunshinan
At the awards lunch today, Gil Sperling, Weatherization Program Manager for the Dept of Energy (DOE), mentioned that the Dept. of Labor (DOL) is making good progress in discussions with local weatherization agencies to determine the prevailing wage for a new classification of worker, the weatherization worker. The Davis-Bacon legislation from a decade ago (?) requires that organizations receiving federal government project money must hire people at the prevailing wage for similar work in the area. ... [continue reading]
Van Jones Inspires Wx Workers
Jim Gunshinan
Van Jones, White House green jobs czar, spoke to weatherization workers at the National Weatherization Training Conference, "You are the quiet heroes. Your job is to take the inhalers out of little girls' pockets; little boys pockets." [continue reading]
National Weatherization Training Conference
Jim Gunshinan
There are 3,200 people here for the conference in Indianapolis! This is more than twice as many as the last time. Heard from Gil Sperling and others at opening plenary. Some buzz about Davis-Bacon prevailing wage legislation. Dept. of Labor created a new category "weatherization worker" and is polling organizations around the country to come up with prevailing wage numbers. Dept. of Labor staff are here to get feedback. [continue reading]
July/August 2009 Editorial: After Weatherization—Career Paths in Energy Efficiency
Alan Meier
The government’s breathtaking investments in energy efficiency—and notably in weatherization—are creating a boom in the industry. If all goes according to plan, hundreds of thousands of new people will soon join the home energy efficiency sector. Most of these new jobs will require little training and offer commensurately low pay (but hey, it’s a job). This level of government expenditure cannot be sustained, so now is the ... [continue reading]
A 25th Birthday Recognition
Tom White, Publisher
I was honored to accept on behalf of Home Energy magazine an award given by Andrew Fisk, ACI VP, at the opening plenary of the recent ACI 2009 Home Performance Conference in Kansas City, MO. The ACI award recognizes "the outstanding contributions of Home Energy magazine. Congratulations on 25 years of success in your mission to disseminate objective and practical information on residential energy efficiency, performance, comfort and affordability." I presented the award to the Home Energy ... [continue reading]
May/June 2009 Editorial: Saving Home Energy After the Stimulus
Alan Meier
The residential energy business is scurrying around trying to digest the billions of dollars thrown at us to weatherize and reduce the energy use of our country’s homes. Few of us, even in our wildest dreams, could have imagined the scenario unfolding in 2009. In the midst of trying to spend this money wisely, we also need to consider what will happen to the efficiency industry after the stimulus? I don’t have ... [continue reading]
Turning Lemons Into Efficient, Affordable Homes
Jim Gunshinan
I'm in Kansas City at the annual national meeting of Affordable Comfort, Incorporated, (ACI), an organization that helps train weatherization technicians, energy auditors, and other home performance contractors. It's an exciting time to be in the field. While new housing is stalled in the United States, there is lots of funding-in the billions of dollars-on the way for weatherization, residential energy efficiency, and renewable energy through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. [continue reading]
ACI Home Performance Media Forum: Where are the HP Heroes?
Tom White, Publisher
At the ACI National Home Performance conference media forum tonight, panelist Henry Gifford spoke about the need to create media savvy home performance heroes that the public can identify with, along the lines of a Babe Ruth, Rosie the Riveter or Bill Gates. Someone who can change the media's perspective on energy efficiency and motivate the young generation of green collar workers (and homeowners). [continue reading]
March/April 2009 Editorial: How Private Should Utility Bills Be?
Alan Meier
The cover of this issue depicts extraordinarily useful information: the homes whose attics are inadequately insulated. British residents can go onto the Web and find their homes—or their neighbors’ homes—to determine their thermal efficiency. [continue reading]
