The Building Performance Institute, BPI is a national organization for residential energy efficiency and weatherization retrofit work. Their standards are noted by the US Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency as well. The BPI Standards program is an industry leader in standards. Individuals that have been trained, tested and certified to BPI’s nationally recognized standards use the house-as-a-system approach to improving the performance of existing homes – an approach proven to reduce home owner annual utility bills by as much as 20 percent or more.
Our company president, Metin, is undergoing BPI’s certification process and wanted to share the knowledge he’s getting…
“BPI approaches entire building as a whole system. Integrating science with practices. The idea is to make our living environments healthy, safe, energy efficient and comfortable for the occupants. Nearly 90% of the homes in Bay Area are not up to BPI standards in safety. If there are small children in the home, the problem can be considered more serious. Most of the new constructions do not qualify or pass the BPI test.
For example: Turning up the thermostat to warm up our living space can cause the furnace fan to force the air out from our room (depressurizing) which can allow air from the attic and crawl space into a room. Particles of dirt, chemicals and rodent feces can be found in that air, too. Disgusting! Think about the thousands dollars we spend on beautiful remodeling jobs with high-end appliances and high quality materials. All in a home that still may be an unhealthy living environment for you and your family.
At that point choosing a well-trained contractor is key for safety and health of our little ones and ourselves. Making contractors get the certification before starting a new building will help enormously to improve the well being of our lives."
More on BPI's standards for home performance to come...stay tuned
