How to find an energy consultant
I’m finding that I need to make too many decisions about energy aspects of our new home – windows, insulation, HVAC, air barriers, vapor barriers, etc. I just don’t have the time or the bandwidth to do all the research on my own, no matter how much I read and post on GBA.
Is it a good idea to try to hire an energy consultant to help me make these decisions? Someone who can help look at the overall design and tell me where improvements would have the best bang for the buck, or where improvements to the proposed construction techniques are in order?
And most importantly, how do I go about finding someone like this? I’d prefer to use someone in the PNW area.
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Are you going for any certifications on your home such as EnergyStar, HERS or Passive House (PHIUS)? The energy rater you hire to perform the energy modeling for those various certifications would be a great resource.
No, I'm not looking for any certification, I'm just looking for someone who can help me review the architect's suggested approaches and recommend changes where needed.
I couldn't find any HERS raters in the area, but there are a number of PHIUS consultants. Perhaps one of them would work?
Nearly all PHIUS Raters are HERS Raters by default, it is a pre-requisite to sit for the PHIUS exam:
https://www.phius.org/phius-certified-rater-exam
I highly recommend Ryan Shanahan from Birdsmouth Design/Build in Portland, OR. He is the host of the Retrofit Podcast and this is what he does for a living. You can reach out via the contact form at the Birdsmouth website
Thank you! I actually stumbled across this firm in the PHIUS database, and reached out to them - so great to know that they are recommended.
I heard back from Josh Salinger, Founder of Birdsmouth Design. He's willing to review the design with me, and give me suggestions on what can be improved. So I'll talk to him tomorrow and hopefully this will be a good match.