Response to a Critic

Frank,

There are always critics. Please post this reply:

Dear Mr. Bailes,

RESNET enjoys a monopoly on inspections of the Energy Star program. RESNET's own web site for their 2007 Annual Report sites problems with the quality of those inspections. Therefore the evidence of FRAUD and poor inspections is not limited to a single home per RESNET's own web site.

After the launch of www.EnergyFraud.com many consumers provided me more evidence of many abuses, including one who sent me the guilty plea of Steve Baden the Director of RESNET on charges of ethics violations from his employment for the State of Alaska. Another consumer summed it up this way, RESNET is a morally rotten organization.

Both consumers and inspectors have contacted me. The evidence is overwhelming. The fraud is rampant. Many complaints have fallen on deaf ears. The good news is that many of the RESNET Providers want the problem to be cleaned up. However they doubt the intentions of the National Association of Home Builders, the EPA and their own leadership.

Being a third generation home builder I was appalled when one RESNET Rater reported to me the comment of a home builder client of his, "I don't care if you say the home is not qualified for a tax credit, the other rater said it was."

So you see the FRAUD impacts everyone who pays taxes. So even the new guidelines are not going to be able to remove the subjective human element out of the process. Or eliminate the home builder who wants to cheat. Or the inspector who want to undercut his price and service versus the inspector who truly wants to be fair and honest. Or the EPA who insists on publishing a bogus number of greenhouse gas emissions saved from their Energy Star program.

If the new guidelines of the Energy Star program are to be more rigorous then why the change from a SINGLE HERS Score to a Range? Why not require Thermal Imaging? Why not provide copies of the Thermal Bypass Checklist for the Home Builder to sign and require this checklist be given the consumer? Why not require a picture of the blower door and duct blast and results given to the consumer like when a home inspector provides a copy of the home inspection to the consumer? Why not prove that a Manual J calculation was performed on the home? My builder just guessed. Why does the EPA require a Thermal Bypass Checklist and RESNET does not?

Fraud at my residence including more than just listing a programmable thermostat when there was none, it included THIRTEEN ERRORS OR FRAUDULENT ENTRIES IN ORDER TO FABRICATE A HERS SCORE OF 63. FACT - None of the 24 homes built in my subdivision were compliant. Complaints are all over the country!
After the power vent was connected with electricity and set to run when the attic was 95 degrees and higher, a drop in the Air Conditioner usage was noticeable. It does not run continuously. Negative pressure in the attic? The attic accesses are now thermally sealed. There is no health issue.

In conclusion, I am helping the industry to improve. It is my only motivation. The program should not have rampant Fraud and abuse. The program needs to be improved. My book will be out in a few weeks and one chapter goes into many suggestions for the Energy Star program. Some of the ideas are from local code enforcement of Delaware County, Ohio.

You asked about me, or specifically why I don't have a "About Us" page. This cause is not about me. Since you asked I will tell you who I am. I am a Third-generation home builder of hundreds of homes, in construction since age eight. Building products experts as it pertains to concrete, masonry, sealants, waterproofing, and steel framed construction. Commercial General Contractor and licensed Realtor for the State of Ohio. Expert in Energy Star construction with considerable knowledge of sustainability as it relates to the LEED's program (which has also drawn it's critics).
I have been forty-two floors high in a swing stage and constantly get phone calls from the A & E community for my expertise. I am married with no children, although again I question why you would want to know.

If you have read my blog, I am sorry to say it is new. But the last entry is evidence of the problems with home builders in this country. Become a follower at www.homeenergyfraud.blogspot.com. And when you have an opinion please feel free to voice it. The great thing about this country is the right to free speech.

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Regards,

Bruce Wingfield

Energy Star Partner Comments

The EPA recently proposed sweeping changes to their Energy * program to the Partners (home builders) in their program. EPA did allow comments from their Partner home builders. Under Quality Assurance, Training and Brand Integrity the following caught my eye:

"Respondents expressed concern that lax oversight has resulted in an increasing quantity of homes earning the ENERGY STAR without meeting the guidelines."

"Respondents requested that EPA both work with RESNET to improve its oversight role and also develop a more robust level of oversight that is independent of RESNET and involved TRUE third-party random inspections."

This means that even Energy * Partner/Home builders know that cheating is taking place on a large scale.

FRAUD IS RAMPANT, INSPECTIONS ARE LAX, BUILDERS ARE RECEIVING $2,000 TAX CREDITS BY PAYING OFF INSPECTORS!!!

AND THE EPA KNOWS ALL ABOUT THIS!

When buying a home, don't depend on a label or brand.

25 Thermal Image Pictures

There is a link on www.EnergyFraud.com at the Picture page to a PDF file from Mays Consulting that shows 25 Thermal Image Pictures of Insulation and Thermal Bypass Checklist problems.

Log on today!

Climate-Gate or Greenwashing - Pick One

Four energy inspectors provided Four different ratings and opinions as to the energy efficiency of my home. All were members of Residential Energy Services Network a non-profit corporation from Arkansas.

According to one my home was nearly 40% more energy efficient than the 2004 Building Code. But another expert said that my home was 20% not 40%.

It was claimed by the EPA that my home had a reduction in Carbon Dioxide of 13,524.3 pounds per year!

But this was from the Energy Analysis software and opinion of the expert that was proven wrong. In fact Residential Energy Services Network placed him on administrative sanctions.

So if members of the same organization can come up with FOUR different ratings, how can the EPA claim that their green build program is reliable?

Thus it is impossible to measure accurately the amount of greenhouse gas emissions anyone is saving. So much for Cap and Trade. How much money are we going to send to third world companies based upon bad science?

This picture is of the attic. It did not have good workmanship. But the home builder's rater decided to GREENWASH the inspection and label the home GREEN anyway.

Bonus Room Knee Walls

This Friday our bonus room knee walls were repaired by a local insulation contractor. The repair procedure was to cut through drywall for the east wall and cut through OSB sheathing on the garage attic access.

Photographic evidence revealed that the friction-fit fiberglass batts placed in the ceiling slope had fallen into the knee wall cavity. This was the cause for the 46.5 degree temperature recorded next to an ambient temperature of 68 degrees or a 21.5 degree cold spot in the bonus room.

It is ironic that I predicted the problem based upon what was found in the great room knee wall that had afforded easier access. Sam Rashkin of the EPA (in charge of the Energy Star program) had felt that the infrared thermo imaging photos revealed mere air infiltration problems. He was wrong and was prepared to allow the home builder to skip this problem.

The use of Friction-fit fiberglass batts without complying with the Thermal Bypass Checklist requirements of Energy Star is a recipe for disaster.

Home Builder advertised at least 40% Savings

Guarantees and promises of saving money catches everyones attention. However when GREEN is over-sold and over-rated by the EPA, Home builders, and Residential Energy Services Network Providers and Raters, everyone loses.

A home builder advertised that if you bought their home you would save at least 40% on your energy bills over other home builder homes. Instead the home cost 20% more to heat and cool due to inadequate insulation, builder fraud, inspection fraud, and a system that uses a self-serving inspection process.

EPA publishes how much GREENHOUSE Gas Emissions their Green Residential Home Energy program is saving annually. This number is totally false and misleading.

Who is to blame? I blame Congress. Who do you blame?