On February 6th and 7th, I, Jim Pulver of Elmsford Insulation Corp, had the wonderful opportunity to attend Solutions for Success, New York's Energy Star for homes 2008 Conference and Awards Banquet. The event's host sponsor was NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority) and some of the co-sponsors included; ACI (Affordable Comfort Inc.), BPI (Building Performance Institute) and Green Homes America.

The conference consisted of many different breakout classes of which you could choose to attend. There were three and half hour classes the first day, and two and a half hour classes the second day. I choose to go first to a State Code Update Class, presented by Mike DeWein, technical director of the Building Codes Assistance Project. I learned of new updates in NY's Insulation codes, effective Jan 1, 2008. The second class I attended on the first day was titled "Dealing with Cathedral Ceilings and Conditioned Attics", presented by Bruce Hurley, technical director of Conservation Services Group and chair of RESNET technical committee, I learned some valuable bits of information as it relates to our new foam line; Such as when to vent and when not to vent the attic. The third and last class of day I attended was called "Details of Super insulation Retrofits." This class was presented by John Krigger, who has authored or co-authored of seven books and approximately forty shorter publications on energy efficiency. Mr. Krigger is from Montana and has spent a few years in Europe building super insulated homes that require almost no conventional heating systems. This class was very interesting but a little bit "out-there" as far as practicality. In order to achieve the numbers they look for homeowners can expect to pay nearly $30 a sq ft to make their homes that energy efficient.

The second day I went to a class called "Air Sealing: Priorities and Practices." This was a combined presentation by Jim Cleveland, Program manager for Honeywell Utility Solutions, current Program manager for NYSERDA'S, Home Performance and Energy Star, and Energy Star labeled Homes Quality Assurance program, and Tony Woods, President of CANAM Building Envelope Specialists in Mississauga, ON. He is a member of nine standards committees covering air tightness, ventilation, combustion safety, window installations and sealants, and he is also a member of the board of directors of BPI. This class was all about air sealing of residential homes and was quite interesting. The last class I attended was one on Thermal Imaging (Recognizing Thermal Patterns related to Insulation, Air leakage and Moisture with IR Technology). This class was presented by Brett Monroe who has an IR Company out of Maine. This is a subject I have had very little actual dealing with and came away with just enough knowledge to be "dangerous."

The closing session was presented by David Lee, US EPA, and Carlos Rodriquez, Office of the Attorney General of NY State. I thoroughly enjoyed the two days and learned quite a bit in a limited time frame. I ran into few of my customers and made a couple of new contacts/customers while I was there. Until a couple of months ago, even after spending 30 plus years in the insulation business, I had never known what an "ENERGY RATER" was. Now I have three that have become good customers and look forward to doing business with them in the future. I realize that as home heating oil is running over $3 a gallon the future of our business is not just selling "filter glass" (the term that many of the energy raters call our fiberglass) anymore but being able to intelligently participate in helping our customers make tighter and much more energy efficient domiciles. Many of the towns in Long Island and I know one in Westchester (Greenburg) are making Energy Star guidelines mandatory for any new homes built in those towns. It is the path we all must get on if we hope to "grow" our business.