Lexington, KY - The second annual Midwest Regional Energy Star conference was recently held in Lexington. More than 450 building trade professionals attended to learn about the best energy-saving techniques and materials to offer their home-owning customers.
"Our main goal is to raise awareness in the building industry of energy efficiency and green building practices," said Todd Johnson, executive vice president for the Home Builders Association of Lexington.
Because 90 percent of Kentucky's energy comes from coal, "we've never had a need for conserving energy," said Roy Honicon, resident services coordinator for Blue Grass Energy (a member of the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives). But now that energy costs are rising in Kentucky, it makes economic sense to reduce energy consumption as much as possible.
"Kentucky's energy usage is 23 percent higher than the national average," said Honicon, who suggested the first conference to HBAL last year.
"Technology is emerging so quickly that it's hard to keep up with it," Honicon explained. One example is how much infrared imaging has changed the industry, according to Honicon, and it underlines the need for more education for everyone involved with the building industry, including residential construction builders, Realtors, HVAC technicians and more.
Some national energy organizations allowed continuing education credits for conference attendance. More training will be offered by Kentucky Community and Technical Colleges for novices and by HBAL for people already in the building industry.
Johnson said that the HBAL training for building professionals requires six full days of intensive study, with both classroom and field time.
Contractors have to be knowledgeable to earn certification that allows them to tell consumers accurately what the payback will be for particular home features or remodeling improvements. Consumers are probably already familiar with the blue Energy Star
label on appliances, but it will be seen more and more in home construction and remodeling.
"Ball Homes, Jimmy Nash, Padgett Construction and other local builders are building overwhelmingly more Energy Star homes," Johnson said.
But since there are many more existing homes in need of energy remodeling, the conference was the perfect place for Van Meter Pettit and Andrew Isaacs of the Kentucky Housing Corporation to talk about their organization's new program of loans and rebates for homeowners to make energy-saving improvements to their properties.
"We're creating a program for nationally certified (home) retrofits.
So far, Maine is the only other state doing this, so Kentucky is ahead of the game," Pettit said.
Similar to the 1960s federal weatherization program for low-income homeowners, the Kentucky Home Performance program will be for people with higher incomes who are able to repay the loans. Each home will receive "a very extensive energy audit at the beginning and then after the work is done," Pettit explained.
Variables such as weather and the number of household inhabitants affect final savings on energy bills. While the trained home inspector-contractors won't want to make unrealistic promises about energy savings, Pettit said that "it's not uncommon for homeowners to save 20 percent or more."
Pettit pointed out that conserving energy makes sound economic sense in three ways.
"Homeowners save money and increase the value of their properties. Contractors have work. Utility companies contemplating new power plants can forestall that colossal investment as demand for energy goes down," he said.
And as for Kentucky and the United States competing in the world economy, Pettit noted that "our overhead (for what we spend on energy) is way out of line compared with our foreign competitors."
In mid to late summer - allowing time to train enough building professionals - residents will be able to apply online for the program.
Funding from both the state and private lenders will total roughly $18 million. For more information, check online at www.KYHomePerformance.org.
The Midwest Regional Energy Star conference followed four tracks:
energy-efficient sales/marketing, building science and technology for new construction, building science and technology for existing homes and green building. Topics presented included energy tax credits, whole house humidity, insulation options, and energy professional certification.
Some sessions were specifically for builders who have not yet built or retrofitted homes using Energy Star guidelines.
Presenters included such nationally known energy experts as Sam Raskin, the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star Homes national director; Steve Baden, executive director of the Residential Energy Services Network; and Chandler Von Schrader, national manager of home performance for the EPA. Kentucky's first lady Jane Beshear and Len Peters, secretary of the Kentucky Energy and Environmental Cabinet, also spoke.
HBAL, Touchstone Energy Cooperatives, Louisville Gas & Electric and Kentucky Utilities were the main sponsors of the event. The Kentucky Housing Corporation, Blue Grass Energy, the Kentucky Department for Energy Development & Independence and the Kentucky Clean Energy Corps also served as sponsors.