Blogs

In April, the Building Performance Association put on their 35 th annual home performance conference. And, just like many of our members, we’ve been on quite a journey to get where we are today. We started as Affordable Comfort in 1986, but some of you may know us as ACI. No matter the name, we’ve always believed that all buildings should provide an energy-efficient, comfortable, healthy, and safe indoor environment. But enough about us. We wanted to know more about you! So, we reached out to learn more, and we talked to 35 industry members who help this industry achieve its greatness each and every day. In this 12-week series, we shared the stories of ...

Texas has two climates: too hot and dry or too cold and wet By Rives Taylor and Betsy del Monte My grandfather’s family founded Waco, Texas. Growing up, I listened to him recount the challenging years of the early 20 th century terms of weather, the economy, and peoples’ fortune. As I listened, I was naïve to the fact that Texas’ weather wasn’t like anywhere else. One is foolish to try to predict Texas weather in the short and long term—and its impact on our lives and our communities. Our “power industry” has only added to that unintended climate consequence. This has been proven hundreds of times, but not any better than in February 2021. ...

Following are state-level policy updates from around the United States. Pennsylvania On April 20, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) proposed final rules for Pennsylvania’s CO2 budget trading program. These rules would establish a “Strategic Use Set-Aside Account” to fund projects that eliminate air pollution, including through residential and commercial building efficiency measures such as upgrading appliances, lighting, and HVAC, weatherizing and insulating, and improving industrial processes. The proposed rules are currently being considered by the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board, and if approved, will be sent to ...

On Tuesday, May 25, Building Performance Association is hosting a day of meetings with Congress in support of the HOPE for HOMES Act of 2021! And they need you to tell Congress why this bill (which would provide $500 million to support online training for contractors and $8.4 billion for a residential energy efficiency retrofit program) is absolutely vital for our industry. Who Should Participate Business owners, contracting, and home performance company employees Raters, auditors, trainers, installers, QCI, technicians, crew leaders, and other field employees Administrative support, program managers, and anyone who would benefit from online ...

Last week, our 35th annual home performance conference took place with live, virtual sessions over the course of 5 days. If you missed it, you can still register for on-demand sessions, which will be available until October. Now that the live conference is over, this also means that this is our final week of stories. This interview series has highlighted 35 people in our industry that make the world a better, more efficient place every day. This week, we've got Q&As with Shawna Henderson of Blue House Energy, Patricia Plympton of Guidehouse, and Linda Wigington of Linda M. Wigington & Associates. Below are stories 33, 34, and 35. If you missed ...

by Macie Melendez Images courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon For those of us in the home and building performance industry, every day is Earth Day. No matter how cheesy that sounds, it’s true. The work done by home performance contractors, weatherization professionals, auditors, contractors, architects, builders, manufacturers, and energy efficiency experts always comes back to one simple goal: efficient homes and buildings that are better for the planet. This Earth Day, we need to look toward the future—beyond this year or next—into the generations that will inherit the planet we’ve left for them. Just this past week, Secretary ...