REEis Blog

2012 Energy Policy Changes & Utility Rebate Programs!

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:46:00 GMT

www.REEIShome.com

Let me start by saying Happy New Years! We hope that 2012 brings you all great joy and success!

This newsletter will be focused on the state and federal policy changes that will affect energy and gas prices in the next 1-5 years. Electricity prices are projected to continue to rise at 5% to 10%.

Don’t worry, we will also outline existing and new programs that will help you reduce your household energy consumption. There are great Utility rebates, AB811 programs, and local municipal programs for you to take advantage.

If you have any questions about utility rebates, tax credits, financing programs or home energy retrofits feel free to call/email or come visit us at the Riverside Home Show this weekend at the Riverside Convention Center.

There are HUGE federal & state decisions that could cause a spike in electricity costs.

Battle Brewing Over Cross State Emissions:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-30/epa-cross-state-emissions-rule-delayed-by-court-in-victory-for-producers.html

Edison International, the parent company of SoCal Edison is one of the firms fighting this ruling. If the EPA wins, expect energy costs to skyrocket in the next few years as utilities will be forced to invest heavily in pollution controls or new plants.

EPA Takes on 1,300 Power Plants:

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/environment/EPA-Moves-on-Power-Plant-Emissions-Rules-136140938.html

If the EPA wins the dirtiest plants will be required to reduce emissions by 90% in the next 3-4 years or be shut down.

New Auto MPG Standards:

http://aceee.org/blog/2011/11/new-fuel-economy-proposal-would-bring

Upfront costs for cars will rise, but saving at the pump should offset over the life of the automobile.

New Federal Standards for Heavy Duty Trucks:

http://aceee.org/research-report/t113

5%-24% reduction on trucking emissions could cause higher shipping costs for all goods…

CA Low Carbon Rules Have Been Halted:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204720204577128972816077652.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

For now companies importing oil and ethanol into CA will not have to purchase credits (essentially a tariff) which would cause higher gasoline prices. You can bet on an appeal.

Great Energy Savings Programs For Homeowners:

www.energyupgradeca.org

The SoCal Edison & Gas Co. funded Energy Upgrade CA program is going into its second year and has worked out a lot of the kinks. Up to $4,000 in rebates for anything that saves energy; windows, insulation, duct work, HVAC, etc. REEis is an advanced path contractor and would love to help you through the process www.reeishome.com

http://www.greenriverside.com/Green-Rebate-Programs-7/Residential/Whole-House-110/Rebate-131/Whole_House_Rebate_Program

The RUP Whole House Rebate Program is going into its 3^rd year and is better than ever. Up to $7,500 in rebates for energy and water efficiency improvements.

http://wrcog.herofinancing.com/

WRCOGS HERO Program is live. This AB811 style program allows you to finance your energy & water efficiency or renewable project over 20 years on your property tax bill. This will be an awesome program for homeowners to take advantage of while financing lasts.

We hope that your 2012 resolutions involve using a little less and saving a little more. We would love to help.

Happy New Years!

A Must Read For Anyone Considering a Solar Lease

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 17:00:00 GMT

There was a terrific piece in the Wall Street Journal this week outlining how companies like Solar City take advantage of federal tax incentives to purchase cheap solar materials from China and benefit Wall Street financial firms. This is a must read for anyone that is considering a solar lease. Washington and the consumer gets screwed, domestic solar manufactures get screwed, Wall Street makes a mint. Sound familiar?

Subsidizing Wall Street to Buy Chinese Solar Panels by TJ Rodgers

At the end of the recently released film "Margin Call," the chairman of the fictional investment bank that triggered the mortgage-backed securities meltdown sits in his executive dining room, looking down on the Hudson River sunset while enjoying a steak and an expensive bottle of Bordeaux. Why not? He has just saved billions for his shareholders by dumping the firm's entire "toxic loan" portfolio in one hectic trading day. Just before giving a bonus to the brilliant analyst who foresaw the meltdown only hours in advance, the chairman predicts, "There's going to be a lot of money made coming out of this mess."

Wall Street understands how to make money, up-market or down. "Margin Call" may fuel Occupy movement ire, but in creating mortgage-backed securities, Wall Street did nothing other than facilitate home-financing access to the next tier of less-qualified home buyers, as demanded by every president since Bill Clinton. After that, the bankers did exactly what their shareholders wanted: bundle those risky loans into securities, sell them to lock in the profits, and dump the risk right back onto the federal government—where it belonged.

My purpose is not to debate the morality of mortgage-backed securities but to update the Law of Unintended Consequences with the corollary Law of Misguided Subsidies: Whenever Washington disrupts a market by dumping subsidies into it, Wall Street will find a way to pocket a majority of the money while the intended subsidy beneficiaries are harmed by the resulting market turmoil.

The recent crash in mortgage-backed securities was a near-repeat of the savings-and-loan crash of the 1980s, in which Washington insured the S&L industry but failed to set limits on high-risk loans. When the bubble burst, Washington paid Wall Street the insurance money while homeowners lost huge sums in real-estate hell. Wall Street understands how to manage risk; the federal government and consumers do not.

Consider the current 30% federal solar energy subsidy. A home solar system with 60 solar panels produces about 15,000 watts of power, enough to completely offset the $6,000 annual electricity bill of a typical upscale California home. The system costs about $90,000 prior to the 30% federal income-tax credit, which reduces its cost to $63,000. After a simple payback period of about 10 years, the homeowner literally enjoys free electricity for the remainder of the guaranteed 20-year system life, a very profitable 10 years.

But what if that $27,000 tax credit, the accelerated-depreciation tax savings, and most of the hefty post-payback profits went to Wall Street firms with a "tax appetite," not the homeowner? That's just what happens with the majority of new home solar-system installations today.

Washington and consumers are both notoriously shortsighted investors. Washington thinks in two-year election cycles, and consumers will usually choose a financially unfavorable option if it offers no money down. Today's most successful pitch for home solar financing goes like this: "Why pay a lot of money when you can get your solar system installed free and immediately reduce your utility bill?" Most homeowners find that proposition compelling. They ignore the fine print: "You must give your tax credit and depreciation to us and sign a long-term contract to buy power from us at prices just below market."

Today, most new home solar systems are purchased by special Limited Liability Corporations (LLCs) that are specifically created by Wall Street firms to purchase home solar systems and to sell power to the homeowner on a cell-phone-like contract. The homeowner does not mind giving up the tax benefits as long as the "free" system reduces utility bills.

However, when the system is paid off and the monthly LLC profit jumps to 100% of the electricity bill, the LLC solar electricity price to the homeowner is maintained just below market—and the profit really begins to roll into the LLC. Since the risks to the LLC grow as the solar systems age, many banks offload their risk by selling the LLCs before their 20-year lifetime is up, locking in much of the long-term profit. There is now a growing market for what might be called "solar-backed securities." Wall Street understands the time-value of money; the federal government and consumers do not.

One of the largest solar-system installers in the U.S., SolarCity Corp., uses the LLC strategy and currently buys a majority of its solar panels from the low-cost Chinese supplier, Yingli. Thus when President Obama said that we must subsidize our solar industry to remain competitive with the Chinese, it would have been more accurate to say that we subsidize Wall Street to create employee-less corporations that buy and install Chinese solar panels in the U.S. Wall Street and consumers understand that free markets are borderless; Washington does not.

Just last week, the U.S. International Trade Commission found the Chinese solar industry guilty of "dumping" solar panels in the U.S. Tariffs are likely to be levied against Yingli and others. Here then, is a practical guide to the Obama administration's nonsensical solar policy: Washington gives tax breaks to Wall Street to fund LLCs that buy solar panels from the Chinese to "help" the American solar industry, while the ITC threatens to levy a tariff on those solar panels, which would raise the price of solar energy to U.S. homeowners. In short, Wall Street pockets the money and consumers get higher solar-energy prices.

We should stop reflexively indicting Wall Street "greed" and focus instead on Washington as the disruptive force in one market meltdown after another. Solyndra, the poster child of the Law of Misguided Subsidies, borders on irrelevancy compared to the full impact of bad economic policy.

Obama & Clinton Announce $4B to Spend on Energy Efficiency

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 17:45:00 GMT

President Obama and former President Clinton have revealed a new plan to invest $4 billion in improving the energy efficiency of buildings across the United States.

Part of the Obama administration's "Better Buildings" campaign, the announcement includes $2 billion in upgrades across federal buildings over the next two months. The other $2 billion has been pledged to 60 different private companies, hospitals, universities, and other types of buildings.

"Making our buildings more energy efficient is one of the fastest, easiest, and cheapest ways for us to create jobs, save money, and cut down on harmful pollution," President Obama said at the announcement. "It is a trifecta, which is why you've got labor and business behind it. It could save our businesses up to $40 billion a year on their energy bills — money better spent growing and hiring new workers. It would boost manufacturing of energy-efficient materials.

"And when millions of construction workers have found themselves out of work since the housing bubble burst, it will put them back to work doing the work that America needs done. So this is an idea whose time has come."

The announcement was made at a Washington, D.C, based building managed by Transwestern real estate, which is currently undergoing energy efficiency upgrades. The improvements have created energy savings of approximately $200,000 annually and created 250 new jobs.

The "Better Buildings" initiative has the goal of improving energy efficiency in commercial buildings by 20 percent by 2020, and it's estimated that the project could create over 100,000 new jobs.

How to Save 20% on Your Energy Bills!

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 18:22:00 GMT

Saving money is an easy-to-accomplish task in most areas of life. For instance, you can cut your food budget by cooking at home and clipping coupons, or reduce your entertainment budget by renting movies on DVD instead of seeing them in the theatre.

But one area that is decidedly less easy to address is reducing home energy bills—especially if you want to slash your expenses by 20 percent! How do you reduce home energy bills when you need heat in the winter, air conditioning in the summer and, of course, lighting year-round? Don’t fret though—home energy bill reduction doesn’t have to be excruciating and doesn’t have to leave you freezing or sweating buckets as you work in the dark! Here are some tips to keep in mind as you try for a home energy bill reduction of up to 20 percent:

—Make sure your home is properly insulated and free of drafts that will let in cold air and let out hot. We can’t stress this one enough. There’s nothing more frustrating than paying for heat that is slipping through the cracks (literally). If you think you have addressed the issues with insulation or stripping - yet your bill is still higher than you’d like - and you want to keep reducing home energy bills, look into…

—…a home energy audit. This will cost you a little bit of money in the short run but will reduce home energy bills and save you a lot of cash in the long run. Home energy auditors use blower doors and infrared cameras to detect leaks that can’t be found by the naked eye yet result in costly increases to your home energy bill. These leaks can be fixed in economical fashion and will result in reducing home energy bills almost immediately.

—In addition to turning out the lights when you leave a room, don’t turn on the lights during the day when it’s sunny outside. Of course there’s no avoiding using lights in the house, but if sunlight is shining through the windows and providing you plenty of light by which to work, then why bother wasting energy by turning on the lights? This is a common mistake for people, who are conditioned to turning on the lights as they walk in a room. But limiting the amount of time the lights are on during the day—as well as making sure the lights are off in a room that nobody is occupying—will go a long way towards reducing home energy bills.

—Wait as long as possible before cranking up the heat in the winter and the air conditioning in the summer. Are you enduring a cold spell in October or a heat wave in April? It won’t last long—can you survive the early winter weather by wearing an extra layer of clothing or withstand the atypically warm spring temperatures by getting around in a T-shirt and shorts and giving the ceiling fans a workout? The problem with using the heat in October or the air conditioner in April is that you’ll get used to it and keep the heat or air running months longer than necessary.

Reducing home energy bills isn’t easy, but it doesn’t have to hurt, either, as you find a way to make your wallet feel fuller! Look into these tips today and reduce home energy bills starting today!

May Newsletter

Fri, 20 May 2011 17:31:00 GMT

Friends of REEis!

We have a lot of great things to report.

With Summer around the corner a couple quick tips.
    Do NOT turn the A/C temperature lower when you first turn it on. It will not cool faster (its already cooling as fast as it can) it will only cool longer
    Change your A/C filter. A clogged filter reduces airflow. That pressure increase causes excessive duct leakage.
    When the weather is mild use a fan. Your central A/C uses 100x the energy than afan on medium speed.

To get you ready for the summer we would like to offer all of you a FREE seasonal HVAC tune-up. Proper maintenance will dramatically reduce wear-and-tear, improve the efficiency, and lifespan of your mechanical systems.

Have you heard about Energy Upgrade CA? It's the new SoCal Edison rebate program! Up to $4,500 towards making your home Energy Efficient.
https://energyupgradeca.org/overview

For our Riverside friends the RPU Whole House Rebate is better than ever. Up to $7,000 towards energy and water efficiency improvemetns.
http://www.riversideca.gov/utilities/resi-wholehouse.asp

Call or email us to set up a FREE consultation to learn how you can take advantage of these great programs! 951-352-9904 or info@reeisinc.com

What to learn more about the laterst in Building Science and Energy Efficiency? Come to the May USGBC membership event on May 25th. REEis will be one of the featured speakers.
http://usgbc-ie05252011.eventbrite.com/

We will also be at the Riverside Home and Backyard show June 3,4,5 at the Riverside Convention Center. It is a great free event with lots of prizes. Come say hi to us and sign up for a special raffle.

We will also be at the Riverside Home and Backyard show June 3,4,5 at the Riverside Convention Center. It is a great free event with lots of free prizes. Come say hi to us and sign up for a special raffle.

If you have any friends and neighbors complaining about high energy bills, hot stuffy rooms, or asthma/allergy problems PLEASE think of us!

We are also always looking for sponsorship opportunities and creative ways to engage the community. We would love to be included in your next neighborhoor or non-profit event.

Thank you for all of your support. We look forward to helping all of you reduce your energy consumption & carbon foot print, make your home more comfortable and save some moeny!

Green Remodel Complete! $714 in Annual Savings!

Fri, 19 Nov 2010 00:22:00 GMT

We just finished a Green Remodel with Nu-Leaf Financial. The project turned out awesome! Someone will be very lucky to move into this high performance home. They will save $714 on their annual energy bill!

5314 Bardwell Avenue

Pre HERS: 162
Post HERS: 89
Improved Efficiency: 46%
Est. Annual Utility Savings: $714
Est. Annual Electric Cost: $966

Check out this link to the before and after photos: Green Performance Report - Bardwell

New Insulation I New Windows & Doors I Building Envelope Sealing I Lighting
HVAC Sealing - Ducts, System, Reisters I New Air Return Box I Solar Attic Fan
Attic Ventilation I Insulate Water Heater I Sustainable Carpet I Soy Floor Stain

If you would like to take a closer look at the improvements the home will be open this weekend. Saturday from 10-2 and Sunday from 1-5

Green Remodel - An awesome case study!

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 20:35:00 GMT

We have just begun a project with New Leaf Real Estate in Riverside to perform a Green Remodel on one of their Investmet Properties.  All the neighbors will be jealous when the new owners save $100's every month on their energy costs!

    Address:             5314 Bardwell Street
                               Riverside, CA 92506

    Property Details:
                                Victoria Neighborhood
                                Built in 1964
                                4 bed, 2 bath
                                2,410 Square Feet


This home is the perfect candidate for an energy efficiency overhaul!
    - Practically NO insulation
    - Nasty old leaky duct work
    - Feel drafts in the living room and master bedroom
    - Front bed rooms received no airflow - stuffy and nasty
    - Tons of recessed can lights and attic penetrations
    - Old single pane windows


              2 inches of Insulation                            Moldy & Dusty Return Box

We performed a preliminary walk and audit. The results would make you cringe!
     - Ducts leaking more than 25% of the air passing through the system. The previous owners were paying to air condition their attic! And sucking polluted air into their system!

    - Air Changes per Hour at 50 Pascal's of pressure was nearly 20! A tight house is 5. That means this home has 400% of the recommended air infiltration. Another way of looking at it; the home is losing 400% more air than it should when heating/cooling their home. This is also the casue of the severe drafts in the home.

We are going to make the following improvements
    - R-38 attic Insulation
    - New dual pane windows
    - Complete sealing of air handler, duct system, & registers
    - Install return box
    - Insulate hot water heater
    - Seal all attic penetrations
    - Caulk around doors/windows and plumbing penetrations as appropriate
    - Upgrade every light bulb to a CFL
    - Install low flow shower heads in the showers

We should be able to reduce the baseline energy consumption for this home by at least 25%.  Be sure to follow our blog to watch the progress.

How Efficiency Makes Solar Affordable

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 15:11:00 GMT

By Reid Smith
October 27, 2010

When solar energy companies think about how to reduce the cost of their product, typically a lot of time and money goes toward increasing the efficiency of solar panels and their manufacturing process. Reducing the production cost decreases the final cost the consumer will have to pay.

However, few solar companies start by making the building more energy-efficient, even though this effort can significantly drop consumer costs. Energy efficiency lowers the demand for energy in a building. If a building needs less energy, it requires fewer solar panels, which drives down the cost of the installation for the building owner.

But you may be wondering, how significant are the energy savings in a building after energy efficiency upgrades?
Buildings are large energy consumers, accounting for 40 percent of US energy consumption, according to the US Department of Energy. Homes make up 22 percent.

Not only are buildings big energy users, but they are also big energy wasters. In fact, 40% of the energy we use in buildings is wasted due to poor insulation and air leaks.

So the first thing to do is improve the building envelope. After that, it’s important to consider how solar energy will be used in the building and what kind of installation is most efficient. People tend toward solar photovoltaic panels because PV has become the image of solar energy, said Rick Reed, president of Solaray Corporation, at the Solar Power International conference in Los Angeles earlier this month.

But solar PV is typically only about 20 percent efficient, whereas solar thermal is about 90 percent efficient. “Many people are heating their water from solar PV instead of using solar hot water systems,” he said. “This doesn’t make any sense.”

Solar thermal systems use much simpler, reliable technology and are much cheaper to install than PV systems. Still, they are largely an after-thought in the US.

For consumers, the cost of solar thermal and energy efficiency upgrades are typically much less than solar PV installations. However, most consumers interested in upgrading their homes to solar do not realize how much energy their houses could save before installing solar PV. And historically their solar installers have not told them either. Why would a solar PV installer want to promote energy efficiency if it would translate to selling fewer panels?

Buying or Selling a Home? Get an Energy Audit First!

Sun, 03 Oct 2010 07:51:00 GMT

We get a lot of clients say that they are buying or selling their home and aren't sure if they are ready for an energy audit. These two instances are probably the best time to have an energy audit done!

When you are buying a home and you think you have found the perfect one, you will always have a general inspection done to make sure the home is free of problems, or to atleast bring any problems to light. General inspections, however, do not include an evaluation of the energy efficiency. An energy audit will look at insulation levels, duct leakage, the HVAC system, pressure balance within the home and the overall building envelope of the home to evaluate if there are any repairs to be made.

One of the common questions that homebuyers will ask their seller is how much the energy bills are in the summer (or winter in colder climates). What do you do when you hear the energy bill is a lot higher than you expected? If it's your dream home, you will probably go ahead with the purchase. Now there is a new option. Now you can have REEis perform a low-cost energy audit to identify why those bills are so high, and make a list of repairs to solve the problem. Armed with this information, you can make your dream home even more perfect.

The reasons for having an audit performed when you're the seller are along the same lines. You know that prospective buyers will perform a general inspection, and you want your home to be in great shape. Realtors will usually help you make a list of things to repair around the home before listing it on the market. What about energy efficiency repairs? By having an audit done before putting the home on the market, you can see what minor repairs can help you sell your home more quickly and at a higher price.

Nowadays, most neighborhoods are competing with numerous other homes on the block when selling. What if you could differentiate your home on the block by making it energy efficient and showing interested buyers that you have already done the work to ensure the home is efficient. Again, one of the common questions buyers will ask is to see what the energy bills look like so they know what it costs to run the home. What if you could tell them that it costs 25% or 30% less to run your home than it does to run the same model and size of home down the street? That might just close the deal.

For just $99 you can see what needs to be fixed. When buying or selling one of your most valuable assets, this is a cost worth while. Plus, the typical recommended repairs are low cost and there are great utility rebates and tax credits to help pay for it.

Hurry! $1500 Tax Credit Ends This Year

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 04:15:00 GMT

If you are considering making your home energy efficient, now is the time to get started. The (up to) $1,500 tax credit available to help pay for energy efficiency improvements ends after December 31, 2010.

It seems so far away, but as they say "time flies when you're having fun!" The new year will be here before you know it and that unfortunately means this tax credit will no longer be available. With the holidays fast approaching, you'll be relieved to know that you have this taken care of before you're overwhelmed with holiday fun, and you'll get to cash in on that tax credit too! REEis will give you everything you need to take advantage of that.

Call us today or submit one of our online forms to get started. Ask us about a fall pre-season tune-up too! We can do that at the same appointment as your energy audit and save you time.

We look forward to hearing from you!

REEis September Newsletter

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 18:25:00 GMT

UPCOMING EVENTS

September 15th
Come see REEis out at Equality Title for the Green is Good Business Class.

Pat Reiniger will be teaching the class from 1-4 pm with REEis as the guest speaker. This is 3 Hour Credit Class/General. The cost is $10. To sign up email pat.
reiniger@novahomeloans.com

September 18th - 19th
Come see REEis out at the Phoenix Convention Center for the AZ Ultimate Woman's Expo.

2010 Keynote Speakers: Helen Hunt & Kristen Alley. To purchase tickets or if you need more information visit azwomensexpo.com

October 1st 2nd & 3rd
Come see REEis out at the Arizona State Fairgrounds for the Maricopa County Home & Landscape Show.

.

Hours:
Friday & Satuday 10-7pm Sunday 10-5pm.
For ticket pricing and more information please visit:
maricopacountyhomeshows.com

October 2nd
Come see REEis out at the
Wyndham Phoenix for the My Money Life Workshop & Expo.

The My Money Life Expo will provide education, web tools, resources and connections for all women. Success stories will be a big focus of the day because we realize hearing these inspiring stories can make a difference for someone in our audience. We hope that by bringing these resources to a place of enlightenment and empowerment, we will enable women to feel confident in their financial lives! For more information and ticket pricing visit: mymoneylifeevents.com

What is Thermal Imaging?

Thermal Imaging, which is also known as Thermlograpy produces a “heat diagram” (A visible picture using infrared wavelengths). This imaging technique is a powerful means of diagnosing the condition of your home.

The Thermal Imaging camera is a compact handheld camera, similar in appearance to a radar gun. The camera detects infrared energy of the leaking heat or chemical and converts it into an electronic signal that produces a thermal image on a video monitor. The heat sensed by an infrared camera can be very precisely measured, allowing the operator to monitor thermal differences between the leaking and non-leaking areas.

Some conditions Thermal Imaging can diagnose:

Insulation deficiencies
Energy loss through walls, doors, windows and roofs
HVAC’s inefficiencies including failing bearings, heat elements, compressors, etc.

Using Thermal Imaging will give you the to opportunity to evaluate, repair and even prevent issues that are not easily detected in any other way. Traditionally to detect or find issues, it would require opening up walls, tearing into cement, or other destructive methods. With Thermal Imaging you see a picture of the problem areas and easily pinpoint exactly where repairs need to be made.

Thermal Imaging can often show energy loss due to insulation that has settled or shifted inside the walls. Thermal Imaging can also identify leaks from heating and air conditioning ducts that are heating and cooling walls or the attic. Causing a waste of energy without the homeowner knowing it. Improperly sealed or settled windows and doors are another source of wasted energy.

If your home seems to be never warm or cool enough, and the system is running all the time, the problem may be due to numerous causes. Thermal Imaging is part of a full energy audit that we perform for our customers that can identify some of the problems that can't be seen without Thermal Imaging. We also employ a variety of other techniques to fully examine energy efficiency in a our Comprehensive Home Energy Audits.

REEis currently offers two Comprehensive Home Energy Audits. The first of the two includes a Blower Door Test, a Inspection of the Interior of your home, and a complete check of your Duct System, Air Handler, and HVAC system for $99. The second Comprehensive Home Energy Audit we offer includes all of the above as well as Thermal Imaging that we perform on the Interior of your home for $199.

Experience the REEis DIFFERENCE!

REEis carries all of the qualifications, licenses and in-house staff to address your energy and comfort concerns under a "Whole House" approach. We are not biased toward a single product or system, nor do we sell gimmick products. We identify the true source of the problems which exist in your home and deliver you the most the appropriate and cost effective solution.

REEis handles the entire retrofit process. REEis starts with the initial audit, makes all of the improvement in-house, and ends by facilitating all applicable utility rebates and tax credits.

Visit our website www.REEishome.com for more information or call us at (480) 969 - 7500 to schedule your Comprehensive Home Energy Audit.

Green is Good Business

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 21:58:00 GMT

Benefits of A Home Energy Audit With REEis

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 21:22:00 GMT

Last week I had a home energy audit conducted by REEis on the recommendation of a colleague in the sustainability/”green” field here in Phoenix. I had some idea of what to expect but the care and detail in the explanation of the process that David Robinson went into to ensure that I knew exactly what was happening was extraordinary.

The process involved diagnosing the home using a blower door test and thermal imaging to find areas where there are:

Leaks in the Air condition duct system
Penetrations which allow air exchange and connection between the attic and exterior of the home with the conditioned space
Insulation failures
Room pressure imbalance and heat island which cause uneven air temperature and comfort issues
Unsealed windows and doors

After the blower test they go up into the attic where the real proof for issues are found. In the case of my home, penetrations, room pressure imbalances and a return air-handler that was completely disconnected were causing some serious issues. Our major complaints have been comfort — one side of the house barely cools — and high utlitity bills.

The following videos step through the intial diagnosis.

The final determination was that we needed some serious work done in the attic to seal penetrations and reconnect the air handler. All services which REEis can handle directly. They also help with getting rebates and tax incentives — ours was around $730.

Our construction is scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday, August 17, so I will follow up with a final report. So far I am super impressed with the professionalism and attention to detail.

Completely disconnected air handler in our attic found by REEis during our home energy audit. This is one of the big reasons one side of our house barely cools - 140 degree air is trying to be cooled and recirculated rather than 80 degree air from the house.

source: Brain Lab (http://theecomind.com/2010/08/benefits-of-a-home-energy-audit-with-reeis/)

REEis August Newsletter

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 23:31:00 GMT

REEis Tucson
GRAND OPENING

REEis opened its doors this week in the Tucson area and is ready to help the city with it's Home Energy
Efficincy Needs.

Call Us today to schedule your Home Energy Audit for the Tucson Area.

1-877-35 - REEis

UPCOMING EVENTS

September 10th- 12th
Come see REEis out at the Phoenix Convention Center for the Home & Building Expo

Make sure you come by our offices soon to pick-up your FREE Home & Bulding Expo tickets. Call (480) 969-7500 to see about getting yours!

September 17th- 19th
Come see REEis out at West World for the GreenStock
Concert & Expo Series.

Performers include Roger Cline & the Peacemakers, Blues Traveler, Gin Blossoms, The Guess Who. Tickets are $ 30 for a 3-day Pass or $20 for a 1-day Pass. Go to protixonline.com to buy your tickets or visit greenstockconcert.com for more information.

FACT

A 5% failure in your insulation can add up to a 50% reduction in your R-value.

Do you REALLY know what's going on in your attic? Let us make sure your insulation is not only adequate, but installed properly.

What is REEis?

REEis is a specialized contracting firm who is accredited to diagnose and
repair existing construction defects, as well as identify and perform
simple - low cost energy efficiency improvements which can save
customers up to 30% on their energy bill.

REEis means:

Residential Energy Efficiency Improvement Specialists

What's Wrong with How My House Performs Now?

We have all been there... You have a problem with your home such as high energy
bills or a hot room and who should you call? Do you call an HVAC company, an
insulator, the window salesman, or the radiant barrier installer? The problem is that
each of these vendors is only capable and motivated to sell you a specific product
within their limited field of expertise.

REEis is DIFFERENT!

REEis handles the entire retrofit process. REEis starts with the initial
audit, makes all of the improvement in-house, and ends by facilitating
all applicable utility rebates and tax credits.

Visit our website www.REEishome.com or call us at

(480) 969 - 7500 for more information or to schedule your Home
Energy Audit.

Sincerely,

REEis

REEis is looking for you

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 21:54:00 GMT

REEis is currently Hiring Self Motivated, Proactive Employees with Great Attitudes.

We are currently accepting resumes for the following positions:

Business Development Manager - $55,000 - $95,000

Job role: Business development for HVAC and Energy Efficiency Service Company. Typical clients will consist of property managers, warranty companies, commercial property owners, homeowners associates and lenders.
- Base with commission
- Sale experience necessary
- Construction experience, commercial or residential real estate experience, etc.
- Product training included

Construction Technicians - $12.50 + (depending on experience)

Job role: Completing Energy Efficiency construction which will include Building Performance improvements, HVAC installation and HVAC servicing
- Training included
- HVAC experience desired
Home Performance Analysis - $40,000 - $65,000Job role:
Job role: Assessing Home Performance through Building Performance Institute standards, improvements sales
- Training provided
- Education and accreditation provided

To apply, email your resume to careers@reeisinc.com. If you meet the requirements and needs of the position, we will contact you to set up a time for you to come in for an interview.