Walter Money – Whole House Energy Solutions

Dear Colleagues:

As the United Nations Climate Change Conference goes forward in Paris, our final Friday Lunch discussion of 2015 will consider some more local or personal dimensions of the issue. Any reductions in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions will involve some combination of changing the mix of energy sources and the consumption of energy. When people want to “be part of the solution,” that for most of us means choosing how we travel and how we live our lives at home (unless we manage a factory or commercial establishment or transportation company). According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, residences account, ultimately, for about a fifth of energy consumption in the United States.

So how does one get a more energy-efficient home? Or, more to the point, when we buy services or products for “a more energy-efficient home,” how do we know we will get it? If we want photo-voltaic panels, how do we find a competent installer? How can we be sure our new heat pump is interacting properly with the rest of our technology? As the clean energy industry grows and differentiates, how can we be sure we are buying what we think we are buying?

The challenge is a bit like buying a car, except that the car is a custom-build so we have to choose who will do the work. In some similar situations, government licenses professionals. In others, there is some sort of private certification. For clean energy, one source is the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, or IREC, which “works to bring clean energy to a high standard of delivery.” What does that involve, and how does that work? Walter Money joins us with a report from the field about the challenge of pursuing clean and more efficient energy in our own lives.

All best regards,
Joe White
Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies

About Our Guest

Walter Money is a building science and training consultant with experience developing curricula, training trainers and managing programs in building science. Mr. Money was the Training Center Manager and Technical Director for The Corporation for Appalachian Development in NE Ohio. He also worked with the Efficient New Homes, EnergyRight, and Home Performance with Energy Star programs with Conservation Services Group in Oregon, Washington and Tennessee. Mr. Money lives in Ohio where he works as an independent consultant, energy auditor, and project manager for homeowners, small businesses, utilities, energy service companies, and weatherization contractors. He is also an associate member of the American Society of Home Inspectors, and performs home inspections above the ASHI Standard for the real estate industry.

Where We Meet

The Friday Public Affairs Lunch convenes each Friday when classes are in session, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Our programs are open to all and no registration is required. We usually meet in the Dampeer Room of Kelvin Smith Library. The Dampeer Room is on the second floor of the library. If you get off the elevators, turn right, pass the first bank of tables, and turn right again. Occasionally we need to use a different room; that will always be announced in the weekly e-mails.

Parking Possibilities

The most convenient parking is the lot underneath Severance Hall. We regret that it is not free. From that lot there is an elevator up to street level (labeled as for the Thwing Center); it is less than 50 yards from that exit to the library entrance. You can get from the Severance garage to the library without going outside. Near the entry gates – just to the right if you were driving out – there is a door into a corridor. Walk down the corridor and there will be another door. Beyond that door you’ll find the entrance to an elevator which goes up to an entrance right inside the doors to Kelvin Smith Library.

Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:

December 11 – January 8: Holidays Break: Our Discussions Will Resume on January 15, 2016.

Spring semester topics will include China’s one-child policy, What to expect from the Republican Convention coming to town, and Mandatory arbitration clauses in consumer and labor contracts.

Please contact joseph.white@case.edu if you would like to suggest speakers and topics.