In April 2022, the Building Performance Association held its annual National Conference. For the past few years, the planners had to build a contingency for providing the content virtually due…
Charles Cormany
Posted by Charley Cormany, EFCA Executive Director These are difficult times. While we all might hope that things can get back to “normal” soon, it’s likely that some things will change for good. Like a lot of businesses, contractors are suffering, as customers put off renovations and upgrades. If there’s a silver lining though, it might be that after spending weeks indoors, some homeowners will finally be ready to consider investing in non-cosmetic upgrades that enhance the quality of their indoor environments
Posted by Charley Cormany, EFCA Executive Director California is pushing hard to cut its carbon footprint. Senate Bill 32 (passed in 2016), requires the state to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030; in 2018, former Governor Brown signed SB100 which set a target to make the state completely carbon neutral by 2045. Because of this, we’ve recently seen a sudden and urgent push to electrify multiple energy sectors across the state. But why is electrification
Posted by Charley Cormany, EFCA Executive Director Once again, California has been challenged by devasting and deadly wildfires ripping across the state. The Kincade fire raged out of control in Northern California, and multiple fires were burning in Southern California. All of the wildfires have one thing in common: plenty of dry fuel created by millions of dead trees after four years of drought. This year, PG&E decided to try a new approach to minimize damages from these fierce firestorms
Posted by Charley Cormany, EFCA Executive Director California is under siege; our fall warm winds have turned into a vehicle for disaster. If you watch the national news, it appears that the end is near, and California will soon be the charred remains of what was once a vibrant and innovative region with natural beauty and diversity. To some, this might be a welcome development, as many people harbor animosity towards the golden state and its influence. As the birthplace
California is going through a policy paradigm shift concerning energy efficiency, the goal of saving energy overall taking a back seat to reducing emissions. With all of these changes, it’s…
Posted by Charley Cormany, EFCA Executive Director Building Science (BS) is pretty powerful stuff. Home performance contractors have been providing data and improving building science techniques for well over 30 years now. But while there is no question building retrofits have many benefits, selling the concept to homeowners and property managers is no small feat. While early adopters and others who have specific concerns (such as high utility bills or a child with respiratory problems) are relatively easy to convince,
Posted by Charley Cormany, EFCA Executive Director Two years ago at the Home Performance Coalition conference in Nashville, a few folks had an after-hours conversation discussing the state of the efficiency industry and the players involved. At the time, Efficiency First National was struggling financially and with membership growth. From the conversation, it became evident that several organizations were replicating each other’s efforts in this small and resourced-constrained industry. Someone floated the idea that perhaps we could play to each
Posted by Charley Cormany, EFCA Executive Director The role financing plays in building comprehensive projects. If you are a contractor, you most likely spend a fair amount of time generating and presenting proposals to your potential clients. This is a time consuming and sometimes frustrating process. After all, this is all an upfront cost to you with no guarantee that your proposal will be accepted, allowing your company to move ahead with the project. Construction projects are not cheap and
Posted by Charley Cormany, EFCA Executive Director We are in a push to build membership. Recently I stopped to ask myself what is the message we need to send in order to get folks to join? To answer the question I stepped back and asked myself “world how did I get here?” to quote the Talking Heads. Specifically, what was the path I had followed and how did I find myself in my current position as Executive Director of Efficiency
