Jordan Shively
PRESS RELEASE
Eco Performance Builders
For Immediate Release: February 23, 2012
Aging Bay Area Homes: Inefficient and Unsafe
Rebates available for efficiency home upgrades.
CONCORD, California — Energy Upgrade California has teamed up with local Bay Area contractors to provide financial incentives for upgrading old, inefficient, and unsafe living spaces. Up to 4,000 dollars in cash rebates has now become available to homeowners who decide to upgrade their home’s efficiency through Energy Upgrade California. Eco Performance Builders, a participating Bay Area contractor and home performance company, is providing discounted energy assessments to curious homeowners interested in saving money on their utility bills and improving their comfort and indoor air quality.
“The average California home loses about 30 percent of its heated and cooled air through cracked and leaky duct work. That means for every dollar spent heating a residential living space, thirty cents are spent heating the crawl space and the attic” says Jordan Shively, an Eco Performance Builders field technician. ““Homes in this area are so poorly sealed that heat often escapes through the attic and the crawl space before it has time to properly warm the house. It’s incredibly inefficient.”
Energy efficiency isn’t the only reason to get a home energy audit; comfort, safety and indoor air quality can be huge concerns for the homeowner as well. “The homes in the Bay Area aren’t getting any younger”, says Shively. “Most of the houses in the East Bay were built twenty or thirty years ago, at a time when energy was cheap and little thought was given to occupant comfort and home efficiency.”
“Many homeowners in this area are routinely uncomfortable in their house” says Keith O’Hara, co-owner of Eco Performance Builders. In-home temperatures often fluctuate wildly from room to room, leaving the homeowner furiously adjusting the thermostat to find a happy medium. Uneven heating and cooling in a home is often due to poor duct sizing and improper duct placement. “Home comfort is an exacting science,” says O’Hara. “Duct sizes need to be properly engineered according to the dimensions and specifications of each room. Without a properly sized duct system the homeowner will never be as comfortable as they could be in their house.”
Interior air quality can be a serious problem in residential settings as well. According to the EPA, air quality inside the home can be up to five times worse than air in the surrounding neighborhood. Carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, and a plethora of volatile organic compounds represent just a small fraction of the pollutants that homeowners contend with on a daily basis. “Old duct work is often cracked and rusty and can even be wrapped in asbestos”, says Shively. “We have regularly found asbestos on the inside of duct systems, creating serious health concerns for the home’s occupants.”
Eco Performance Builders in conjunction with Energy Upgrade California are doing their part to make Bay Area homes safer and more energy efficient living spaces. With up to $4,000 in rebates and the option of low interest loan financing available, there has never been a better time for residential home energy upgrades to create a safer and more environmentally friendly living space. To find out more, visit www.epbuilders.com.
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