HOUSE CALLS — October 2017
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bad enough it becomes a comfort issue. Chemical pol-
lutant (VOC) and dust (PM2.5) levels should be well
below thresholds, automatically, almost 24/7/365. Ev-
ery 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.) Perfec-
tion 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 look-
ing for feedback. We consider it to be a non-trivial por-
tion of our pay. Every project is a case study. This cre-
ates 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 gets the final check.
Look for Home Performance Specialists that can pre-
dict 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 my new column, 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 Per-
formance 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 de-
tailed 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 whis-
per 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 column helps inform and speed the
process while avoiding expensive mistakes. There's much
more content to come!
The House Whisperer is a new monthly column
in Healthy Indoors Magazine.
Nate Adams is the founder of Energy Smart Home Perfor-
mance in Cleveland Ohio and of NateTheHouseWhisperer.
com. Rather than focus on energy efficiency, Nate focuses on
solving the root causes
of client problems like
uncomfortable rooms,
mold, wet basements,
and icicles. As a fan
of radical transparen-
cy, he has published
the most detailed case
studies in the industry
on these projects.
Nate is currently writ-
ing The Home Comfort
Book, a guide showing people how their homes really work
and how to truly solve problems, instead of putting band-
aids on bullet wounds. It is meant to create consumer de-
mand for this work rather than the traditional supply focus
that has been taken for forty years.
His writing has been published in numerous outlets includ-
ing GreenTech Media, CleanTechnica, the Journal of Light
Construction, Green Building Advisor, and more.
Learn more at: http://energysmartohio.com/
i
