Home Revival Project Demonstrates Affordable Comfort Iowa

As the green building and remodeling movement reaches critical mass, many remodelers and contractors have taken a practical approach and have chosen to focus on energy efficiency as a good first step in that direction. Toward that end, Affordable Comfort, Inc. is producing a demonstration project called Home Revival in conjunction with the ACI Home Performance Conference April 7-11, 2008, in Pittsburgh, Pa.

An existing home will be retrofitted with state-of-the-art products and installation techniques in order to enhance energy savings, occupant comfort, and health and safety. The site will be featured during the conference and research results will be published in this magazine. A small, prewar, two-bedroom cottage, the home is located in Etna, Pa., and is representative of tens of thousands of similar units built in the mid-1900s.

The project will be monitored by McGrann Associates who will provide a comprehensive home assessment; baseline testing; analysis of previous energy bills; recommendations prioritized with cost estimates; field training of crews about how this job is different from standard practice; pre-drywall inspections and/or thermal bypass checklist; post-work field measurement and verification to ensure that the performance improvements have been achieved.

The builder for the project will be William Asdal of Asdal Builders LLC, of Chester, N.J. Bill Asdal is a Building Performance Institute accredited contractor who is the 2006 Green Remodeler of the Year awarded at the Green Building Conference, the 2000 National Remodeler of the Year, and was recently inducted into the NAHB National Remodeling Hall of Fame.

"I have had the opportunity to work with some of the finest housing engineers in the country. Together we have produced a number of demonstration homes. Invariably the question arises: Does green make financial sense?" explains Asdal. "For remodelers, I think there is market opportunity for those with a grasp of building science and the ability to deliver value to the owners who will buy these services. Owners looking for a high return on investment and lowest first cost are likely to be disappointed in their search. Higher skills and performance likely will increase the scope of work details and therefore cost more. To these long-term investors the investment in higher performance, comfort and durability is worth every first-cost penny.

"From a community perspective," concludes Asdal, "the impact that better-performing buildings can have on a community, and yes, on society overall, can change the global political balance. This is a tall order for some caulk and insulation, but the fact is that 39 percent of domestic energy consumption is in buildings."

The Building Performance Institute Inc. (www.bpi.org) is supporting the project with outreach efforts into the manufacturing community to support the whole house approach to home performance improvement and in coordinating the marketing and media opportunities.