What is the going rate for an energy modeler?
My architect and I are trying to design my home around a Passive House standard. My architect has some knowledge but readily admits to not being very familiar with Passive House design standards. He is well known and has designed many homes in the area, but none to Passive House criteria. Recently, I met with a building science professor who teaches energy efficient building/Passive House and is building his own home to be a non-certified Passive House zero-energy house. He has a Masters in Building Sciences and is a licensed architect. He would like to move from teaching into full time “green architecture”. I would like to bring him on as an energy modeler. My current architect has no problem with this arrangement and looks forward to working with the energy modeler. He will be using a fairly sophisticated modeling program to determine, wind, light, heat, cool, ect. throughout the year to optimally enhance the concept design of the house. He has just provided me with proposal which was quite a bit more expensive than what I would expect for a first time contract. What would be a fair hourly rate of compensation for someone offering these services?
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Scott,
The type of professional you seek is a Passive House Consultant -- someone familiar with a software program called the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP). The cost to hire a Passive House Consultant will vary, depending on where you live and how many other Passive House Consultants are competing for work in your area.
If you were quoted a price that seems too high, you can always call up a few other Passive House Consultants in your area to get other bids.
There is an online list of all of the Passive House Consultants that have been certified by PHIUS. Here is a link to the list: Certified PHIUS Consultants.
There is currently a strong rivalry between two factions in the Passivhaus world: those aligned with PHIUS, and those aligned with the Passivhaus Insitut in Germany. But that topic is probably a topic for another day.