March 2011 Blog Posts (30)

It was hard to get excited about IBM’s Watson besting two humans in the TV game show Jeopardy and walking away with a $1 million prize last month. After all, thanks to the entertainment industry, we’ve seen robots and computers win in all kinds of ways, from HAL duping the smart astronauts in 2001: A Space Odyssey to R2D2 disabling the Death Star. What’s the big deal about racking up some trivia…

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As my good friend Rana Belshe says.  Let's not forget that the people who live in houses are the ones who are in charge of how the house loses and gains energy and how the appliances and HVAC use energy.  People are the key and heart of gettin' it done! 

I’m just back from the RESNET national conference in Orlando and I am very excited to report that RESNET certification is now available!

 

What’s needed?

• You must be a RESNET Building Performance Auditor or a Rater

• You must have 3 months experience using thermal imaging and a blower door

• You must have taken a training course that complies with the standards of the American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT)

 

If you have these…

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The push for energy efficiency has clearly become worldwide, creating new prospects for US green energy companies to pursue export and foreign partnerships.

One such opportunity comes from Israel, with the help of the United States-Israel Science and Technology Foundation (USISTF), a Washington-based non-profit organization.

Israel is not a country we hear much about in terms of energy opportunity. China, India, North America, South Korea, Japan – these countries tend to steal…

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So are you curious about what is going to be covered in this class for Raters? This blog post was pulled from my original article done back in February. This class was taught by Allison A Bailes III of Energy Vanguard, and was tweeted live with the hash tag –…

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So are you curious about what is going to be covered in this class for Raters? This blog post was pulled from my original article done back in February. This class was taught by Allison A Bailes III of Energy Vanguard, and was tweeted live with the hash tag –…

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Thanks to the federal tax bill signed into law in December, there are still energy tax credits available for 2011. That's the good news. The not-so-good news is that the amounts available in 2011 have been reduced for certain improvements. From 2009 through 2010, homeowners were rewarded with a 30% tax credit for making their homes more energy efficient ($1500 maximum credit). For 2011, homeowners will receive only a 10% tax credit for home energy efficiency improvements ($500 maximum credit).… Continue

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CHEERS and The CEC

 

While I feel this will fall on deaf ears I felt it worth a try. I am (or was) a HERS Rater here in California. The CEC and CHEERS have “locked” many of us raters out of conducting business here in California. I have personally passed on jobs due to this squabble.

This lockout began in early October. It was thought that this would be resolved quickly. After a five month moratorium this obviously is not the case. As far as I know the problem is data…

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