Energy Efficiency;Who's driving this car?

If you ask this question the short answer is the DOE. If you ask those of us who have been around the block in the car the answer is no one! If you look at the majority of jobs being offered for auditors and installers they are all tied to programs funded or subsidized by the DOE, State and local governments. As budgets continue to tighten I have seen these programs get smaller and smaller. That's the bad news!
The good news I am seeing more companies cross over to going after the general public market place with good success. The issue is no one is doing an audit the same or by the BPI or RESNET book by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, of the last 175 contractors we contacted only 34% saw the value of being certified   and 77% said they have never performed CAZ testing and avoid sealing a house up to tight because of the liability connected to it. Holly Crap! that's what I said too! Here in Texas, most, if not all the programs ran by the utilities use, for the most part, 1 CFM50 per square foot and will not allow them to go below that number. What does all this mean? it means the DOE and EPA are clueless about the backbone of the industry and think cranking out more certifications and workforce guideline is going to get everyone on the same page without first educating and informing the general public. If the public says hey are you certified to provide this service and conduct these safety test on my house? then guess what? it now has value! and CAZ would be a household name.

Energy Saving Upgrades; Profitable or Not?

Once again it has been some time since my last blog. One reason is I was asked to do some consulting for a weatherization contractor in Florida. It was very interesting and posed my question today. This company works in the local utility low income weatherization program and wanted to expand into the; what I call B to C market. B to C? yes business to consumer. Working in the utility program they were getting their business from the utility which means they were working B to B or business to business.
Well needless to say the B to C transition was not going well. They had tons of leads from clients who did not qualify for the utility program. People were willing to sign up for audits but the company's closing ratio was; well lets just say less than 3 out 10 leads turned into a sale. So the owner was beginning to wonder if it was worth continuing not seeing much return on investment. Well it took me about 2 days of ride along with auditors and a day in the office to figure out the problem and get them on the right path. I cannot give you my secrets or what I look for but I can say that after a week with some training and changes their sales closing ratio went to better than 60% up from below 30%. I can say that they will improve from there even more once they start using the Tight Audit program coming out in June.
If your company needs help or just a fresh look from the other side of the fence then give us a call.

Weatherization Contractor Blues

As a BPI trainer I hear many stories about the ups and downs of being a weatherization contractor. Most of them, if not all of these contractors are involved with utility driven WAP programs. They have been telling me the budgets are getting smaller each year and they are worried, and rightly so!
My first question is why on earth would you put all your eggs in that one basket? To survive in the residential energy world you must be diverse and offer several services to various markets. If anyone thinks your going to come into this business and get rich selling just energy audits or just doing weatherization or WAP programs or just selling one energy saving product that is suicide in the long run.
Balance!, the Yin & Yang is where you will find peace and stability for your business. So many companies I consult for are an absolute disarray, a train wreck! but, there is hope, the ones that follow my recommendations from inside to out have become very profitable and efficient organization.
I tell my students this; "If your company has and office, trucks, ton of equipment, half certified and half non-certified staff, no internal QA, no safety policies and the appearance of organized chaos then you might be a red neck!...LOL just kidding! You might be in need of someone from out side to come in and look around; you know what I mean, give a different perspective.
That is how I learned over the years to build my businesses and career. That's how I got this cool job. Kirstin, our CEO had a vision ans love for our environment and some really great ideas. She contracted with me to come and work within her organization and make it function efficiently. She knew I came from starting a development business from nothing to 15 years later having a $200+ million a year operation, until the banks collapsed in 2008. Guess what? all my eggs where in one basket and I got my clock cleaned as Nevada & California the two states I was leveraged to the tilt in collapsed with the housing and bank bust. I used my experience form that and the 15 years previous to help Kirstin build her 411 dream. Now 2 years later she is a very successful woman and I have a job! win/win. If you would like a different perspective on your business contact me alan@411energyexperts.com

Happy New Year! What's new for 2012 at 411 Energy Experts

Well folks the end of the year was expected to be slow by the boss and guess what? Not a chance! They had me so slammed with training that I have not blogged for 2 months. Now, I am not complaining because I had bills and gifts to buy for Christmas, but some down time would have been nice. Enough about me, lets take a look at what has been cooking at 411 and what is happening for 2012.

 BPI is making serious changes and of course raising the testing fees to go with it. I believe it is all for the good though. BPI is now ANSI (American National Standards Institute) accredited which means that becoming a BPI certified professional carries a lot more weight. 411 will still be offering our same great training programs and we are adding some new stuff for 2012.

 I was told by the boss that we have completed our merger with Clean Tech Utilities and Green Careers which is going to take 411 Energy Experts to a new level of training by allowing 411 to offer our students green job placement and training tuition funding through ETL.

 411 has been working on a web based energy audit reporting program called ReportQuik. This reporting platform is going to allow energy auditors and weatherization contractors to provide clients with on the spot energy reports and estimates. That's right! on the spot! no more going back to the office and spending hours generating a report and estimate. With our state of art platform auditors will be able to generate the report as they are performing the audit using a tablet or PDA. Expected to be released in the first quarter of 2012 this program will be available to certified auditors and contractors only holding a BPI or RESNET certification. I am really excited about this one. I can say that that the only part of the business I hate is report writing. This will allow users to personalize and customize their reports and so much more....I wish I could tell you the really cool stuff it can do, but your going to have to wait for the release. If you want to get on the email list for a free trial go Here and sign up!

 The last item coming is which I hope you all sign up for is our new "Destination Trainings" I hear the first one is going to be held in Costa Rica! I know it will be tough, but I am up for the challenge if you all want to join me for some training and fun! That's it for now, as if that is not enough....until next time may your 2012 be great!