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Comfort Crisis

People have awakened to how complex our world has become. Choices we make every day affect our environment and our quality of life.

We are beginning to understand the cause-and-effect relationships between inefficient building practices and wasting energy and money through energy losses.

New studies demonstrate that indoor air quality is degraded and mold and allergy-causing agents are introduced into our homes by leaks in walls, ceilings, windows and air conditioning systems.

Discomfort is rampant as high humidity takes over in homes built with new techniques and new materials but the air conditioning systems are not designed properly for these new homes.

 Thirty Years of Tradition Unaffected by Changes in the Industry

The median age of the existing homes built in America is 1974. That means that half the homes that we live in today were built in a different era; before the energy crisis of 1973. How does this affect the we way we design our indoor comfort systems?
 First of all, the way we approach the problem of design depends very much upon the way the house was built in the first place. When energy was cheap and conservation was not such a big concern in our culture, houses were built inefficiently. Air leaks were just a consequence of common construction practices.
In older homes weatherization efforts must be undertaken to wisely control energy costs. In newer homes, especially those built since the year 2000, much of that attention to detail such as caulking, sealing and enhanced levels of insulation has been required by minimum building code standards.
Since there is such a variation in the efficiency of the building envelope of any particular house, critical attention must be paid to the perfromance of a home in order to properly match it with just the right heating and cooling system. The craft of air conditioning in this country is in many ways underdeveloped. Many contractors lack the basic skills to overcome the challenges that we face today concerning energy usage and the principles of true indoor comfort. Increased competition in the mass production home market inevitably results in lower prices and lower prices means cutting corners.This downward spiral in quality craftsmanship brings us to the point where we are today. 

Poor Performance of HVAC Systems is the New Normal

The average performance of a typical air conditiong system installed in this country is 57%. That means that 43% of the energy consumed to cool a typical home is not translated into cooling and comfort but is wasted. In a time where we are all more concious of the long term cost of wasting precious natural resources something needs to be done about this problem.


The average air conditioning contractor does not know how to solve these problems because it takes a knowledge of building science and heating and ventilating and air conditioning design principles to overcome problems that are created every day by technicians using the same old rule of thumb practices that have been rumored about over the last 30 years.
Today's air conditioning contractors and technicians must have a much broader range of skills and expertise than ever before. Modern homes are loaded with materials that are toxic to occupants unless the homes are supplied with controlled ventilation.

Important announcement concerning humidity!

If you have a tightly built house in East, Central, South, South Central or North Central Texas, you need to talk to us about humidity and dehumidifiers. According to ASHRAE (The American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers), high efficiency air conditioners might not remove humidity adequately in our climate in a tightly built house.

This is especially true for spray foam, ICF and SIP homes, but it is also true for homes built to the ENERGY STAR™ guidelines or even the 2004 IECC code.

If you feel warm or clammy when the thermostat says you should be cool and comfortable, check your humidity levels. Go to the Air Quality page for a discussion on humidity.

Remember, ventilation alone is not enough in our climate!

 

Carbon Monoxide poisoning goes undetected until there is a health crisis, or worse.Fuel burning appliances are not adjusted for safety or efficiency at the time of installation because few technicians have the certification or the proper tools to do so.

The Answer

The good news is, adherence to sound building principles and proper HVAC design have easily resulted in savings of energy up to 30% to 40% and the elimination of sickening environments in the home. Energy efficiency, comfort and safety are not only important goals, but are routinely attained in homes that follow these common sense designs.

We chose our company name based on the philosophy that appropriate technologies, simple, readily available technologies—easily applied—without resorting to radical techniques or exotic materials, can make a huge difference in your health, comfort and finances.

These technologies are used together to accomplish
what some people call green building.

Green Building?

Are you confused about what "Green Building" is?

Is is very easy to be confused because it means a lot of different things to different people. It is our job as energy consultants to help you be as "green" as you want to be with your home or business energy use and not break the bank to do so.

In a nutshell, Green Building is finding the best way to use energy efficiently in a building and by doing so, to be ecologically friendly.

Unfortunately, if you don't have an energy consultant, you can spend a lot of "green" trying to do Green Building.

It just doesn't make sense to throw money at your building and hope you can make it "green".

We believe that you should actually save money and improve comfort levels as you make energy efficiency improvements.

The cost of the improvements should not take more than a reasonable time to be recovered by the savings. It is not ecologically wise to waste money and resources trying to be a good steward of the planet.

It is the job of our energy and comfort consultants to find the right solutions for the best cost possible.

To accomplish that task, we apply many building science, diagnostic and air conditioning design skills.

Our energy and comfort consultants are
competent in a wide range of skills and expertise.

click here to read about energy consulting


Exciting NEW developments!

Read about the new True Performance Home protocol.
We design and specify the HVAC systems and then test to
make sure the contractors deliver according to the specs

Click here to see the True Performance protocol

Tradewinds has developed a certification for spray foam installations.
We inspect and test the quality of the installation before the
walls are covered so you know that you are getting what you paid for.

Click here for the spray foam protocol


Be sure to read the Indoor Air Quality page for important information
about your comfort and healthy indoor environment

Important announcement concerning
spray foam, SIP or ICF Homes

We have seen that designers do not realize that the new super-insulated homes cause a strange phenomenon for our location in Texas.

Builders do not design for heating loads primarily here. However, the super-insulated homes with a slab floor need to take into account the heating load of the slab. The slab becomes the largest energy hog in these homes. The designer needs to specify an insulated slab to overcome this problem.

Call or write us for more information.

Tradewinds Appropriate Technologies

Energy, Comfort and Indoor Air Quality Solutions

Consulting, Testing, ENERGY STAR® Ratings,
Custom Load Calculations, HVAC System Design,
Spray Foam Insulation, Remediation and Training:

Call 254-799-1326

Click here to learn more about the low-level Carbon Monoxide Monitor

email: info@tradewinds-at.com

© 2011 Tradewinds Appropriate Technologies, LLC