Several years ago I participated in the forums here while also reading up on Passive Solar House construction techniques. I used what I learned here from Martin Halladay and others (especially TJ Holloway of Efficiency VT) as well as the tool REMDesign to design a super energy efficienct second home in northern VT.

About 16 months ago my wife and I sold our MA home and moved to our VT home making it our primary residence.

I am happy to report that subsequent to an inspection by TJ back in Oct 2016 and correction of a few small issues in follow up to it my house has just received the Efficiency Vermont Certification for Excellence in Energy Efficient Design and Construction. Even without the solar thermal DHW system I will be installing this spring being taken into account my home scored a HERS rating of 36.

So I wanted to thank the folks at GBA, and Martin Halladay in particular (whose local knowledge of VT weather was very useful) for all the help.

I also want to note that as part of paying it back/forward I joined my town’s Energy Committee (even before I moved here though since becoming a full time VT resident my participation level has increased greatly) and am active in working to help residents of my town to benefit from my experiences by improving their energy efficiency.

When I started the design and construction of this home although I had a BS and MS in Electrical Engineering I was not experienced in energy efficient design. Through educational resources, Green Building Advisor notably among them, I was able to design and build a house which is so efficient that my electric and heating costs run only around $1000 per year in northern VT and which has been certified as such by Efficiency VT.

So to anyone who might think that trying to achieve the goal of building in an energy efficient manner is just to difficult I say take heart. The availability of support from knowledgeable individuals and access to the right materials to achieve this is there. Don’t listen to naysayers and those who tell you it can’t be done or it’s too difficult to bother with. While there are a lot of those types of people (especially among contractors who don’t want to change from the status quo) out there if they tell you that then just realize they aren’t the right person to work with and keep looking. More and more there are contractors, designers, consultants, etc. who get it and will be willing to work with you to build or retrofit homes in an energy efficient manner.

Sincerely,

Jay Hersh