By Guest Blogger Stephen L. Cowell
November 10, 2011

A recent article in Newsweek, “Obama’s Big Green Mess,” describes what can happen when contractors are “unfamiliar with the nuances of specialized weatherization work.”  The fact is, installing furnaces that exhaust poisonous fumes, putting in water heaters that can explode and blowing toxic asbestos around a home, which the article points out, happens on a regular basis.  These botched jobs are a result of using contractors who do not understand the complexity of retrofitting older homes. We can attest to that.  My firm, Conservation Services Group, has been in the business for 27 years and we’ve seen our fair share of jobs that aren’t done to the highest standards.

But just because some contractors are doing shoddy work doesn’t mean the industry deserves a black eye.  Adding insult to injury, calling out a few homes and a handful of programs that may be struggling or not meeting expectations is unfair.  It is a disservice to trained, professional contractors and the money saving potential of these valuable and much needed programs.

Since 2009, hundreds of thousands of homes have been effectively weatherized with funds from President Obama’s stimulus program.  Another effect of the program is that the bar has been raised for training and improving industry standards by the Department of Energy.  This represents the first time criteria have upgraded since the federal weatherization program began 30 years ago.  In fact, without the type of public standards, safety and quality assurance that most of the ARRA-funded weatherization programs have enacted, the failure rate would be much higher than Newsweek, Fox, The Daily Show and other media outlets have been reporting recently.

So instead of being critical, we should be applauding the dramatic increase in technical qualifications and education that has been put in place from stimulus funding.  As a result, thousands of contractors and firms are carrying out programs skillfully and professionally from coast-to-coast.

In Maine, CSG has successfully implemented programs for 4,000 homes, saving consumers 400+ gallons of oil per household annually.  We have replaced 500 inefficient oil heating systems in Massachusetts and saved households $1,000 annually in energy costs.  In Oregon, CSG has retrofitted more than 1,000 homes, and we are doing similar work in Kentucky.  In Massachusetts and Tennessee, CSG trained participating contractors to ensure they are educated in the latest industry techniques and meeting the highest standards.  These projects were completed on time and under budget, with quantifiable results.  (Consumers typically see 20-30 percent savings on their energy bills after a retrofit.  In Maine, energy savings from the program reached 40 percent!)  Many more projects like these have been carried out across the country.