Attison's first Blower Door Test.

The first time I read an article in a magazine about the up-and-coming field of energy audits, I was working for Glenn, and was a few months into my home inspection apprenticeship.

I remember thinking, "This is all the stuff that Glenn talks about that I can't find in traditional textbooks!"

And so began a slow and steady descent into the murky, uncharted waters of the home energy evaluation fields. I say uncharted because energy audits didn't exist 50 years ago, or 30 years ago. Or depending where in the world you found yourself, maybe as recently as 10 - 20 years ago.

And the last 5 - 10 years have seen this field ballooning. Blower door tests. Thermal Imaging. Infrared cameras. Weatherization. Air Sealing. PassivHaus. RESNet. BPI. They're still writing the book(s).

So, as I have watched this field unfold and spill over into my areas of interest (home inspections, remodeling, fancy tools, etc), I have begun to chart my own path to participation. It may not be long in the future that I decide to add Home Energy Audits to the repertoire of our inspection company. (It would be very similar to some of the consulting we now do, but with fancier tools, and more quantitative suggestions.)

I don't know when I heard about the Building Performance Institute (BPI), but around 2 years ago I decided that they are the real deal when it comes to credentialing. This was a conclusion I reached mostly by interacting with people who were BPI certified, and by obtaining a copy of the text used in their courses (Residential Energy by John Krigger and Chris Dorsi). A book that quickly earned a permanent spot on the night stand.

So maybe someday we won't remember a time when houses were drafty and uncomfortable and expensive to heat and cool, and sometimes even prone to making us ill.
Well, maybe Attison won't remember those things because before he even knew it, he was at an energy audit.

This picture was taken Saturday evening. I was fortunate to get to drop in on an energy audit for a woman I met through mutual friends in the neighborhood. The woman performing the audit was coincidentally a past client of Glenn's, and has been encouraging to me over the course of several interactions in the past few years.
The house being audited was a property I had inspected 2 years ago when a local developer snatched it off the auction block. The renovations to said property, for said friend, were performed by a guy named Mike. I met Mike in college, when he was doing campus ministry. He got me connected to several local contractors and to Habitat for Humanity. In the summer of 2005, I helped him frame the house he and his family now live in. He taught me a lot about being funny.

We told Attison to monitor the pressure reading, while we walked around looking for air leaks, and scanning the walls with an infrared camera.

"OK, Dad."

So it looks like the second week of 2013 I will drop the dime and sit for the 6 day BPI certification class. I am excited, but I know the class will demand more of my time and attention than I have had to give to anything recently, since Attison was born. A flexible work schedule is the biggest blessing I've known. That, and the great gift of being able to do work that I enjoy. I hope Attison finds the same.