Home Building Science and Technology this Weekend in Huntsville

Two community events in Huntsville Saturday will demonstrate the leading edge of home performance technology from AlabamaWISE partners.

Nexus Energy Center will be highlighting Home Performance with Energy Star, home improvements that saves energy at the 5th annual Green U: A Home and Health Initiative hosted by the Huntsville Botanical Garden Saturday, August 24th from 9 am to 3 pm. Nexus Energy Center manages AlabamaWISE, a home improvement loan program and contractor network and offers rebates for home energy assessments.

Participating AlabamaWISE contractors will be on hand during the Fall Home & Garden Show at the Von Braun Civic Center Saturday and Sunday to explain the latest home performance diagnostic tools and home improvement strategies. They use building science concepts to diagnose comfort problems and identify where your home is wasting energy.

Home performance is a relatively new approach to home improvements because it breaks down the trade-specific silos in home construction. For instance, a home’s energy consumption is related to the HVAC system and the insulation and air-tight construction. However, HVAC contractors traditionally do not evaluate insulation or building air-leakage when installing new heating and cooling equipment, often resulting in oversized equipment that wastes energy, cost more to operate, and may wear out sooner than equipment that is properly sized to the building’s thermal enclosure.

The AlabamaWISE program connects homeowners with trained and certified home performance contractors to install home improvements that save energy while maximizing comfort and indoor environmental quality. Home Performance Contractors are certified by the Building Performance Institute (BPI) or RESNET in addition to standard, trade specific certifications for heating, cooling, insulation, windows, siding or roofing.

Participating home performance contractors use diagnostic tools to identify hidden problems and performance test the quality of completed work: a thermal camera to identify air leakage paths; a blower door to quantify air leakage through holes in walls, floors and ceilings; and a duct blaster to quantify leaks in the duct system. Building characteristics are usually analyzed using computer software to identify how much energy savings specific home improvements can achieve. Contractors will prioritize the improvement recommendations by simple payback.

Nexus Energy Center offers rebates and low-interest loans to make energy-saving home improvements more affordable. Nexus also manages the AlabamaWISE contractor network and performs third-party quality assurance of contractor work.