Hi, Nate Adams here.
First off, this site is not about me. It's meant to help you solve problems. It's only possible because of my partners and mentors who have taught me the material on this site, my predecessors who figured out the technical stuff we execute, and our clients who have been kind enough to let us experiment on their homes.
I don't like writing the about us page. It's hard to write about yourself, but here goes...
You may be wondering if you should trust us. I hope that you are. It means you are a savvy consumer, likely fed up with conflicting information and possibly poor results from previous attempts to solve problems in your home.
The most important thing to know about us is we actually work on houses and confirm afterwards that we solved problems. You can't learn from your mistakes if you don't go back and find out what mistakes you made.
I've been on 3 different podcasts, presented to the Department of Energy, Ohio State University, ACCA (Air Conditioning Contractors of America), and more. We have published 85+ articles on the Energy Smart blog, plus articles for a bunch of outlets like The Journal of Light Construction, GreenTech Media, Green Building Advisor, CleanTechnica, and more. You can see the full listing of published and spoken work here.
Our practice is primarily in Cleveland Ohio - here are 11 ridiculously detailed case studies of Energy Smart Home Performance projects. The theory you'll read here is backed up with field experience. We track our results and that feedback loop allows us to be constantly learning and failing and raising our game. Don't take my word for it either, here are client testimonials (and there are more in the case studies.)
Enough about us. Here's what should you watch for when hiring home performance help:
Look for a focus on results, not theory or "greenness"
Let's talk about your quest to solve home imbalance problems. Whoever you choose to listen to and/or work with, make sure they do field work and can prove their results objectively and subjectively. Objectively with measurements, which I'll discuss shortly, and subjectively with detailed and glowing reviews. You want to see transparency and accountability.
This whole website, book, and other content grew out of frustration and passion. I'm really, really, really tired of seeing people waste money trying to solve a problem, only to barely address symptoms, fail to solve the root cause, and end up with mediocrity at best, and exacerbating the problem at worst. It's bad for consumers, and it has severely stunted the growth of our industry. Nobody is truly happy.
Don't jump to conclusions. Don't get pushed to "buy this solution-ism". Slow Down. Follow a Logical Process.
Part of this is a lack of good consumer oriented information to help you understand how your home really works, what is REALLY causing your problems, then showing logical steps to solve those problems. Homes are complex systems of interconnected systems. Understanding how adjusting one thing may effect performance of other things is really important to avoid expensive mistakes. This site and our YouTube channel aim to fill that educational gap.
The other problem is a lack of accountability. We see a lot of "certifications", overuse of the words "green" and "sustainable", and frankly a lot of BS out there. (And I don't mean Building Science...) Don't buy any claims if they don't track outcomes and share results. Contractors can only keep doing crappy work with no consequences if consumers allow it. Poor performing materials and methods can only survive if no one tracks their performance. Mistakes get repeated. Money gets wasted. Consumers get harmed.
For example, take a look at this botched Energy Star 3.0 home outside Atlanta, Georgia. It's a Facebook group started by a ticked off homeowner. That homeowner replaced his entire HVAC system (including duct work!) 18 months after buying the home. He has had tons of problems with the house. He's now documenting poor work on "Energy Star" houses currently under construction. This work is occurring after he complained to Energy Star and they said "action" had been taken. You can read the letters he received from Energy Star. He's a very motivated guy. Very few homeowners would go to that level of trouble, which is why you don't hear much about it. Consumers are not protected by certifications. Transparency of outcomes, both good and bad, are what it will take to fix this.
Getting what you really want
At the end of the day, we all want a comfortable, healthy, long lasting, and efficient home. If you have a truly comfortable and healthy home, I can almost guarantee you it will be efficient, and hence green. Efficiency is a natural outcome when you design to make a home healthy and comfortable, a strong theme you'll see in our work.
Green certifications are of little value if the house is unhealthy or uncomfortable.
What really matters is results. Again, whoever you choose to follow or work with, make sure they aren't afraid to publish their results. Here are a few metrics we use to judge our work, the first 3 are objective, the last is subjective.
Look for Home Performance Specialists that can predict what will happen in their projects. There aren't a lot of us. But if you, the consumer, start asking for it, this will change.
By reading the book and watching these videos, you'll have a much better idea of what to ask for. Take the time to diagnose your home, then plan your project. Have a third party Home Performance Specialist to lean on, ideally watching the work on your behalf. Someone whose reputation will depend on your outcome. Measure to see how close things came to targets, and give your Home Performance Specialist detailed feedback about it. That's how to fix problems the first time, and fix this industry.
I hope you have a better idea of how I whisper. I whisper softly to houses and clients, and not so softly when I see substandard work.
Good luck solving problems in your home, I really hope this site helps inform and speed the process while avoiding expensive mistakes. There's much more content to come, so download a guide and you'll get periodic newsletters to see when new chapters, videos, or blogs are available.
Thanks for reading! If you find this helpful, please share it!
-Nate
PS If you'd like to see some of my work elsewhere, check out the As Seen In page.
I don't like writing the about us page. It's hard to write about yourself, but here goes...
You may be wondering if you should trust us. I hope that you are. It means you are a savvy consumer, likely fed up with conflicting information and possibly poor results from previous attempts to solve problems in your home.
The most important thing to know about us is we actually work on houses and confirm afterwards that we solved problems. You can't learn from your mistakes if you don't go back and find out what mistakes you made.
I've been on 3 different podcasts, presented to the Department of Energy, Ohio State University, ACCA (Air Conditioning Contractors of America), and more. We have published 85+ articles on the Energy Smart blog, plus articles for a bunch of outlets like The Journal of Light Construction, GreenTech Media, Green Building Advisor, CleanTechnica, and more. You can see the full listing of published and spoken work here.
Our practice is primarily in Cleveland Ohio - here are 11 ridiculously detailed case studies of Energy Smart Home Performance projects. The theory you'll read here is backed up with field experience. We track our results and that feedback loop allows us to be constantly learning and failing and raising our game. Don't take my word for it either, here are client testimonials (and there are more in the case studies.)
Enough about us. Here's what should you watch for when hiring home performance help:
Look for a focus on results, not theory or "greenness"
Let's talk about your quest to solve home imbalance problems. Whoever you choose to listen to and/or work with, make sure they do field work and can prove their results objectively and subjectively. Objectively with measurements, which I'll discuss shortly, and subjectively with detailed and glowing reviews. You want to see transparency and accountability.
This whole website, book, and other content grew out of frustration and passion. I'm really, really, really tired of seeing people waste money trying to solve a problem, only to barely address symptoms, fail to solve the root cause, and end up with mediocrity at best, and exacerbating the problem at worst. It's bad for consumers, and it has severely stunted the growth of our industry. Nobody is truly happy.
Don't jump to conclusions. Don't get pushed to "buy this solution-ism". Slow Down. Follow a Logical Process.
Part of this is a lack of good consumer oriented information to help you understand how your home really works, what is REALLY causing your problems, then showing logical steps to solve those problems. Homes are complex systems of interconnected systems. Understanding how adjusting one thing may effect performance of other things is really important to avoid expensive mistakes. This site and our YouTube channel aim to fill that educational gap.
The other problem is a lack of accountability. We see a lot of "certifications", overuse of the words "green" and "sustainable", and frankly a lot of BS out there. (And I don't mean Building Science...) Don't buy any claims if they don't track outcomes and share results. Contractors can only keep doing crappy work with no consequences if consumers allow it. Poor performing materials and methods can only survive if no one tracks their performance. Mistakes get repeated. Money gets wasted. Consumers get harmed.
For example, take a look at this botched Energy Star 3.0 home outside Atlanta, Georgia. It's a Facebook group started by a ticked off homeowner. That homeowner replaced his entire HVAC system (including duct work!) 18 months after buying the home. He has had tons of problems with the house. He's now documenting poor work on "Energy Star" houses currently under construction. This work is occurring after he complained to Energy Star and they said "action" had been taken. You can read the letters he received from Energy Star. He's a very motivated guy. Very few homeowners would go to that level of trouble, which is why you don't hear much about it. Consumers are not protected by certifications. Transparency of outcomes, both good and bad, are what it will take to fix this.
Getting what you really want
At the end of the day, we all want a comfortable, healthy, long lasting, and efficient home. If you have a truly comfortable and healthy home, I can almost guarantee you it will be efficient, and hence green. Efficiency is a natural outcome when you design to make a home healthy and comfortable, a strong theme you'll see in our work.
Green certifications are of little value if the house is unhealthy or uncomfortable.
What really matters is results. Again, whoever you choose to follow or work with, make sure they aren't afraid to publish their results. Here are a few metrics we use to judge our work, the first 3 are objective, the last is subjective.
- Air Leakage - Before, predicted, and after. Air leakage, which is measured by a blower door, is hands down the most important factor behind most comfort, health, and moisture problems. We make predictions of where we think a project will end up. Accuracy of predictions are very important for reasons covered in the book.
- Energy Use - Before, predicted, and one year after. Energy use is a proxy for success. It is a poor goal in and of itself because people care less about saving a few dollars a month than they do about having a healthy, comfortable home. But if you're truly comfortable, the odds are good that your house will use less energy. Our clients usually save a few hundred dollars a year.
- Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) - Homes should be healthy, we spend a LOT of time in them, and if air quality is bad enough it actually becomes a comfort issue. Chemical pollutant (VOC) and dust (PM2.5) levels should be well below thresholds, automatically, almost 24/7/365. Every room should be within 2-3 degrees of other rooms. Humidity should be at healthy levels as well. (Those levels are discussed in Home Comfort 101.) Perfection isn't possible, but we see good Indoor Air Quality as measured by Foobot 97-100% of the time in most completed projects. Learn more about IAQ in my IAQ overview and review of 7 different IAQ devices.
- Customer Satisfaction - We drive clients nuts looking for feedback. We consider it to be a big part of our pay. Every project is a case study. This creates pressure to do great work, and to do great follow up and optimization after the work is completed. This is how we get better every day. When searching for help, look for meaty reviews with lots of detail and someone who seems like they will be a bulldog about solving problems. Watch out for the guy who seems like he'll disappear the second after he get's the final check.
Look for Home Performance Specialists that can predict what will happen in their projects. There aren't a lot of us. But if you, the consumer, start asking for it, this will change.
By reading the book and watching these videos, you'll have a much better idea of what to ask for. Take the time to diagnose your home, then plan your project. Have a third party Home Performance Specialist to lean on, ideally watching the work on your behalf. Someone whose reputation will depend on your outcome. Measure to see how close things came to targets, and give your Home Performance Specialist detailed feedback about it. That's how to fix problems the first time, and fix this industry.
I hope you have a better idea of how I whisper. I whisper softly to houses and clients, and not so softly when I see substandard work.
Good luck solving problems in your home, I really hope this site helps inform and speed the process while avoiding expensive mistakes. There's much more content to come, so download a guide and you'll get periodic newsletters to see when new chapters, videos, or blogs are available.
Thanks for reading! If you find this helpful, please share it!
-Nate
PS If you'd like to see some of my work elsewhere, check out the As Seen In page.