BPI Marketing Corner
Happy Fall & Seven Ways to Market Your Business
By BPI Marketing & Communications
The kids are back to school, and you are still working hard. Fall has homeowners starting to get ready for, dare we say it, winter. Time to check the HVAC system to be ready for those first chilly nights. Thank you for taking the time to check in with us! We appreciate you and all the hard work you do.
Seven Ways to Market Your Business
You know your business inside and out and you’re excellent at it. How do you spread the word and let potential clients know that? Here are some simple tips you can try out. They aren’t too scary, and you don’t have to have any marketing experience to do them.
Keep in Touch – Even before any of your actual hands-on work begins, let your customers know how important it is for you to have referrals. This will keep clients aware throughout the construction process and get referral conversations started early. As you know, referrals are one of the strongest tools that contractors have for generating new business. A good recommendation from a trusted source is more powerful than any advertisement might be, which is why clients recommending you to friends and family is so crucial. After a project is finished, ask for feedback from the client and make sure to finish any last-minute work that needs to be done. Leaving the client happy, even if it requires a little extra work, is worth the good referral. It can also be useful to follow up a few weeks later by phone to make sure the client is still happy with your work. This will keep your name at the forefront of the client’s mind and impress them by showing how much you care about their business.
Go Through Old Files – If you have client records that go back a few years, then it’s time to follow up. Reaching out to past clients can be an easy way to drum up some new business. When calling old clients, you can simply say that you’re updating your client records. Take this time to alert past clients to new services you offer or services you now specialize in. You can also follow up about how the previous work you did is holding up and inquire as to what new needs they might have. When updating your client records, make sure to get a current email address. This will allow you to send a follow up note after your phone call conversation and create a customer emailing list for sending other communications, like happy holiday wishes.
Go Next Door – Reaching out to nearby homeowners when at a site can be another easy way to find new clients. Alert them to the work you’ll be doing and make extra efforts to ensure the neighborhood is happy throughout the construction. Here is an opportunity to use your BPI Certified Professional Perks! Go into your BPI member portal and get some discounted promotional items labeled with your contact information to hand out in the neighborhood. Thank the neighbors for their patience with any construction inconveniences and they'll remember you. Another way to get neighbors involved is to offer nearby homeowners a proximity discount. Most people looking to remodel are worried about cost and saving time on your travel can translate into a discount for work done near the current site. When you give an estimate to prospective clients, highlight the proximity discount to entice them to accept your bid.
Direct Mail – Yes, it can be expensive but instead of mass mailing hundreds or even thousands of post cards, focus your marketing efforts on a targeted audience. Find a specific type of client and location that you’d like to reach, and work on one area at a time. This will decrease printing and mailing costs, while increasing leads. And the reduced amount will allow you to focus more on the quality leads coming in, instead of over-extending your crew giving quotes to less valuable leads. When mailing smaller quantities, you can increase frequency. Instead of using direct-mail marketing every few months, you can send targeted mail every week, which keeps new leads coming in more consistently. You can get nice quality postcards from places like 4imprint! You can even get yard signs to put up so neighbors can see your information while you are in their neighborhood working.
Host a Lunch and Learn – This is a technique used a lot in technical sales. Hosting an educational lunch for perspective clients can be a great way to get your name out there and reel in new leads.
The lunch doesn’t have to be a sales pitch, it can simply be a way to educate homeowners and businesses on current trends, share remodeling tips, start a conversation with potential clients, and generate referrals. These short lunches can be done regularly at a low cost and should be carried out professionally. Mixing past clients with quality leads can create a productive atmosphere where you’re not only a contractor, but part of a larger community. That sense of comradery is a great way to build up new, lasting business.
Offer Free Touch Ups – Everyone loves getting free services. Although it might be hard to believe at first, providing free touch ups to potential and past clients is a great way to generate new business. When following up with past clients, ask if any of the work you did needs touching up. If they take you up on the offer, you’ll have the opportunity to point out other work that needs to be done, and you can easily reach out to neighbors and adjacent businesses while you’re there. Plus, offering free touch ups will impress clients and they’ll be more likely to refer your services to friends and family.
Offer a Payment Plan – Financing a home improvement project is often the hardest part. Providing financing options to your clients is a great way to reach every type of potential customer.
BPI and Industry News
Building Performance Industry News and Discussion
By BPI
Healthy Housing Principles (HHP) Reference Guide, Exam and Certificate Release
Like the BSP, the HHP is tailored for individuals who want to take a proactive step towards a career in the field of building performance and energy efficiency. These principles help you explain to clients that enhancements to the building’s durability add cost savings as well as protect and enhance occupant comfort, health and safety. The HHP examines the eight (8) “keep it” principles of a healthy home: Keep it dry, clean, well-ventilated, pest-free, contaminant-free, safe, well-maintained, and thermally-controlled. It also describes how the physical properties of heat, moisture and airflow affect the indoor environment of our homes. These principles are important to anyone who is concerned with how the indoor environment of a home can affect the health and quality of life of its occupants.
The HHP is recommended for Community Health Workers, In-Home Nurses, Realtors, Home Inspectors, Appraisers, Mortgage and Energy Efficiency Financing Officers, Career and Vocational Counselors, State and local agencies, WAP and weatherization staff, Local Fire, Police and EMTs, Local Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCDs), and students at all levels from high schools, colleges and universities.
More information to come.
Bob Krell is the New Publisher of Home Energy Magazine
You may recognize the name Bob Krell, as he is the co-founder of IAQNET, LLC and the publisher of its Healthy Indoors Magazine, which is a free monthly publication that focuses on a variety of indoor environmental and sustainability topics for both industry and consumers. The publication was designed to leverage the technology of online publishing, and it has continually pushed its digital platform to live-stream broadcasts and industry events. Bob has recently joined the Building Performance Association as the publisher of Home Energy Magazine.
Bob has an impressive background in the industry and in media. He has presented at numerous industry conferences, appeared on national television and radio, produced educational videos and webinars, and is widely published on indoor environmental topics. He also moderates “The Healthy Indoors” discussion group on LinkedIn. He has been a certified/licensed consultant, contractor and trainer in the indoor environmental industry for the past 33 years, completing hundreds of successful projects throughout the US and abroad. Bob also ran a building performance contracting division in his upstate New York company for six years where he held certifications for BPI Building Analyst Professional, Envelope Professional, Heating Professional, and Air Conditioning & Heat Pump Professional; NAHB Green Rater, and LEED-AP. He gained some first-hand field experience conducting home energy audits, air sealing, HVAC upgrades, and blown-in/SPF insulation applications.
To find out what Bob has in store for the magazine, visit here.
IAQ & ENERGY 2019 Conference
This Halloween, you can attend the IAQ & ENERGY 2019 Conference in person in Portland, ME or online. Either way, you earn BPI Continuing Education Units (CEUs). The Maine Indoor Air Quality Council (MIAQC) has again partnered with Healthy Indoors Magazine/ IAQnet LLC., to bring their annual regional conference to a global audience. The IAQ & ENERGY 2019 Conference will take place live in Portland, ME on October 31st and November 1st, and is the only industry conference that offers you the option to attend in person or remotely.
BPI is an Industry Partner in this knowledge-packed event, and we'd like to offer our BPI stakeholders a discount on attendance in person or online. Click here to register and receive a 20% discount off the Online Conference Registration or a 15% discount off the In-person Conference Registration. Attending either way earns BPI Certified Professionals CEUs.
The 38 speakers are a veritable “who’s who” in the home performance world. You can attend panels and presentations from Nikki Krueger, Paul Raymer, Jeff May, Peter Troast, Karla Butterfield, Fred McKnight, Corbett Lunsford, Carl Grimes, William Turner, David Johnston, Kurt Johnson, Sam Rashkin, Joe Medosch, Bob Krell, and our own CEO, Larry Zarker.
As the conference bridges Halloween, the theme for 2019 is “Tales from the Crypt”: mold and moisture problems in buildings, design and construction case studies, energy efficiency challenges, or anything that's icky and ooky in IAQ. (Are you humming the theme to “The Munsters” about now? That was a house that could use some retrofit work.)
Lily and Herman Munster are looking for a BPI Certified Professional. Are you available?
Looking Ahead: January 2020 Pre-conference Workshop on The (BPI) Healthy Housing Principles (HHP)
Prior to the start of the ACEEE 2020 Conference on Health, Environment, and Energy (CHEE20), January 21st - 23rd, 2020 in New Orleans, BPI and ACEEE are sponsoring a pre-conference Healthy Housing Principles (HHP) training workshop. The workshop will be held on January 21st from 1 – 5pm CST at the Hyatt Centric French Quarter. Trainers for the session include Kevin Kennedy of Children's Mercy Hospital of Kansas City, Joe Medosch of Hayward Healthy Home Score, and Rick Hall of Building Science Professional Training LLC. Included in the training is the HHP Reference Guide and a code that can be used to take the BPI online exam to earn the new Healthy Housing Principles Certificate of Knowledge.
The CHEE20 showcases the groundbreaking research of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) and highlights the ACEEE's Health and Environment program as well as the work of prominent experts and academics in this growing field.
If you are attending CHEE20, you can register for that and the pre-conference HHP training workshop and save $300 on the workshop training. Register by clicking the "Register" button on the conference Registration page here and then choose the "General Attendee," "Speaker/Moderator," or "Student" registration option. During the registration process, you will be given the opportunity to also register for the workshop at a $300 savings.
If you are unable to attend CHEE20 but would still like to attend the BPI HHP training, select the workshop ONLY option and follow the registration process.
For more information, please click here.
Big Advances in Pending WAP Reauthorization Bill
An omnibus bill on improving the nation's infrastructure contained a section to reauthorize the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) to appropriate $350,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024. The House marked up this amount to $290 million for 2020 and the Senate allocated $308.5 million. The legislation now will go to committee. The amount appropriated in the fiscal year 2019 was $257,000,000.
In addition, the legislation for the first time states that the "Secretary may amend the regulations prescribed...to take into consideration improvements in the health and safety of occupants of dwelling units, and other non-energy benefits, from weatherization." The legislation also includes language allowing the WAP program to address issues that previously would have resulted in a deferral of the unit. "The purpose of this section," the bill reads, is "to expand the number of dwelling units that are occupied by low-income persons that receive weatherization assistance by making such dwelling units weatherization-ready." The bill also contains language for training HVAC contractors whose services may be required in weatherization work.
The Building Performance Association is closely monitoring the progress of this legislation.
What's Worth Falling For This Fall?
There are discounts and deals awaiting you in your BPI Perks. Are you looking to restock office supplies or get those leave-behind promotional items? Vendors like Office Depot and 4imprint await. Maybe you’d like to save on shipping packages with FedEx or on sending yourself and the family on vacation to a theme park? We have great deals available with up to 60% off tickets to theme parks, movies and more. Speaking of more, please keep a lookout for a new perk coming just in time for your holiday gift giving!
The gateway to the Home Depot PRO Xtra Loyalty Program is also located on the perks page. This is a program BPI participates in with the Building Performance Association (BPA.)
You can sign up now to take advantage of a one percent (1%) rebate on all your expenditures at Home Depot each year. The rebate may be used to access services and benefits from BPI or the Association. One participating contractor was able to use the Home Depot Pro Xtra rebate to cover seven months of their BPI GoldStar Contractor fee.
Note: This rebate is in addition to any other benefit the credit card you register already delivers.
If you sign up for the Home Depot PRO Xtra program by the end of December 2019, ALL purchases made at Home Depot using the registered credit card(s) throughout 2019, will apply to the program rebates.
You will receive an email directly from Home Depot tracking your progress. You will also see your “PRO Xtra Statement” on your Home Depot receipts.
Visit the BPI Perks page here to see all available discounts. BPI Stakeholders can access the discounts by logging into your BPI Account, going to the News & Resources section, selecting the "BPI Stakeholder Discounts" folder and opening the "BPI Perks" document. For BPI Product Listing manufacturers, Rater Companies, and CEU providers, please email us to get registered.
Tips for Fall Marketing Piece
We have created a one-page marketing sheet with seven simple steps to get a house ready for Fall. You can download it in Word here. Add your name, company, contact information, etc., and send it to customers and prospects alike. Feel free to use it on your social media to promote your company and the work you do! We will be making more of these in the near future to help you promote your business.
Looking for a New Job?
As you probably know, our jobs page is one of the best in the business thanks to you, our stakeholders. One of the jobs currently posted is for our friends at the Building Performance Association, who are looking for a CEO. You can view the job description and apply here.
Working Together to Help Others
BPI is working in partnership with ComEd in Chicago and SDGE (San Diego Gas & Electric) in California, and other community leaders to support and implement low income programs in weatherization. Here is a link to a recent article in the Energy News Network in Chicago, talking about how ComEd is not only working with the state but with agencies to better plan and oversee all sizes of upgrades. This includes large-scale upgrades for building structures themselves, like air sealing, insulation and central heating upgrades, as well as smaller-scale improvements such as switching to LED lighting and installing energy efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems in apartment units.
Thank You!
BPI would like to thank our stakeholders for making this year’s BPI GoldStar webinar series a success! The BPI GoldStar Webinars are being planned for 2020 and we would like to hear from you on what topics may interest you. Please send your suggestions to lgriffith@bpi.org.Thank you for all your contributions in the home performance industry!
Congrats!
Congratulations to BPI Test Center, The Ohio Weatherization Training Center (OWTC) in Athens, OH, who just received the IREC National 3iA Award for, "IREC Accredited Training Provider of the Year." More than 14,000 students have attended OWTC custom training courses on state-of-the art building diagnostic, weatherization and heating systems. You can read more about the winners and Energy Heroes here.
BPI and Forbes
We were recently included in a small article in Forbes. The piece was “Should You Get a Blower Door Test Done on Your Home?” You can see it here. Sheri Koones, is a Real Estate writer for Forbes and also an author of several bestselling books on small houses, energy efficiency, and prefabrication. Her new book, Downsizing: Living Large in a Small House, will be out on October 29, 2019. The showcased homes are all 2,000 square feet or less, some are remodels, and all are presented as case studies. If you are looking for a fun read or inspiration for your clients, this might work for you.
Jon Siemen Memorial Scholarship 2020 - Applications Due November 30th
Applications for the Jon Siemen Memorial Scholarship are due by Saturday, November 30, 2019. The scholarship was created to honor BPI Technical Relations Representative, Jon Siemen, who passed away in March of 2015. Throughout his career, Jon was involved in various weatherization programs and was passionate about helping people through his work. The scholarship honors Jon's life, memory, and work by helping individuals in the industry who are working to make a difference in the comfort, health, safety, and energy efficiency of our homes.
The John Siemen Memorial Scholarship allows each scholarship recipient to take the online and/or field exams that are applicable for the certification designation they choose, at no cost. We are proud to honor Jon by passing on his legacy of helping others through our work. Please visit here to view the instructions, application, and to see if you are eligible to apply.
The recipients will be announced in March of 2020.
BPI Spotlight
Going Solar: A BPI Employee's Experience
By Bruce DeMaine, BPI
Like you, BPI is very energy efficiency focused. We know that to maximize the comfort, health, safety, and value of our homes it is necessary that they be energy efficient. Being a BPI employee for over eight years and having worked construction all through high school/college in our family business, I obviously know everything there is to know, right? Not even close!!!! I recently had solar photovoltaic (PV) panels installed and this was my experience. I hope you can learn something from it, particularly if you are considering expanding your business model to offer your home performance customers a solar PV or water heating option on top of the home performance work you already provide. This may be similar to the process your customers will go through, and hopefully this will give you an idea of how you can guide them.
To start from the very beginning, solar energy is radiant light and heat from the sun that is harnessed using a range of ever-evolving technologies such as solar heating, photovoltaics, solar thermal energy, solar architecture, molten salt power plants and artificial photosynthesis.
The solar installation I’m talking about here is the type that uses solar PV panels to produce electricity for power. Simply put, a solar PV panel works by allowing photons, or particles of light, to knock electrons free from atoms, generating a flow of electricity. Solar PV panels are comprised of many smaller units called photovoltaic cells. (Photovoltaic simply means they convert sunlight into electricity.) The solar PV panels are installed into larger clusters called solar PV arrays.
Naturally, the first step I took, (which as we know, is the smartest first step before undertaking any home improvement project) and was reemphasized to me by my fellow employees over and over, was to have an energy audit completed by a BPI Certified Professional. Your customers may not know this. The energy audit will tell you if your home is even ready or suited for solar energy. Any benefit from solar energy in a home with air leaks, old or damaged insulation, polluted air, the presence of radon, or gas leaks, would be lost. These are scary issues in themselves and necessary to remedy for the health and safety of the occupants before any other home improvements like a new bathroom, new kitchen counters and cabinets, finishing a basement, getting a new roof, or installing solar energy. Therefore, I reached out locally to Washtenaw Blower Door Services in Michigan and scheduled an energy audit.
My home in Michigan was built in 1999 and with my construction experience, I built the house over and above the specific energy codes at the time, concentrating on air sealing, 2 x 6 walls, blown-in insulation to R 60, just to mention a few efficiency upgrades. This might not be the case for your customers. They probably won’t have a background in construction and be aware of codes. Here is a great place for you to step in with all the information they can learn about their home through an energy audit conducted by a BPI Certified Professional. In my case, the energy audit showed a “slightly tight home” with an air exchange rate of 2.5 per hour—a little surprising considering the home is 20 years old. The attic was in excellent shape in terms of ventilation, and there was no mold, pesky bugs or little creatures living up there. Now, like many guys, I do a lot of repair work in and around my home and take pride in it. To my dismay, the BPI Certified Energy Auditor found two small gas leaks. One was by the stove and one was by the dryer. Good thing I had the energy audit! With those two leaks fixed, and with some minor air sealing issues from the energy report completed, my house was ready for solar energy. Perhaps your customer’s house would need more repairs before being solar ready. This is where educating your customer comes in. These fixes help your customer have a healthier, safer and more comfortable home whether or not they opt to go solar.
You can explain to your customers that there are several ways to go solar. The customer can buy the solar panels outright and have all the federal and state tax rebates and incentives applied to them. The energy produced from the panels would directly decrease the number of kilowatts (kw) they’d purchase from their utility. Based on the cost of the system, kw rates from their utility, tax incentives, etc., they are looking at about an 8-10-year breakeven point. Another option if they prefer not to outlay cash is to lease the panels and the solar company will apply the tax credits and incentives to the lease cost. Same principle: they keep the energy they generate. Lastly, they can allow the solar company to use their home/property to install solar panels free of charge to them. Under this scenario they wouldn’t receive any of the tax benefits or rebates—incentives go to the solar company. The solar company then sells them energy at a rate about two cents less than their utility provider for the life of the solar panels. Their savings are much smaller, but they don’t have the outlay of cash for the solar panels. I decided to purchase the solar panel system.
One way to find out the policies in your state is to use the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE), which tracks net metering and other policies. Here is a link to them.
After consideration and researching into the differences in mounting, I chose to ground mount the unit (see picture below).
How you mount their system will depend on if they have a clear southern exposure to the sun; if this exposure would be enhanced if on the roof; whether they have sufficient land to ground mount; shading from trees; local zoning laws, etc. Another consideration is that many times on roofs, small animals like squirrels, chipmunks, and birds will nest around, under and between solar panels and can prevent them from working correctly. Panels can be more difficult to clean if they are on the roof and in colder climates, like here in Michigan, where they can easily get covered with 12” to 15” of snow on a regular basis. A “snow dam” could form on the panels and fall, causing piles of snow to block egress or, worse, fall on someone.
Once your customer decides on investing in solar, the next thing they will need to consider is that there are several types of solar panels and many solar companies to choose from. After looking into it, I decided to go with one of the largest and oldest producers of solar panels in the country, SunPower. According to my research and customer reviews, I decided that SunPower, LG, and Panasonic make the best solar panels on the market in 2019 due to the high efficiencies, competitive pricing, and stellar 25-year warranty offered by each brand. These companies combine durability and reliability with premium protection and fair prices, making them the brands with the best solar panels available. You may want to do your own research on the systems available in your area.
Regardless of the company chosen, my recommendation is to get the most efficient panel your customer can afford. Many older panels fall in the 15-18% range for efficiency. The industry has now pushed that to a 20-23% range. This efficiency makes a difference in how many panels you will need which affects the ultimate cost of the system.
Another key thing to be aware of in solar panels is the type of inverter used. String inverters mean the panels’ performance is all tied together. If even one panel is shaded for a portion of the day, reducing its performance, the output of every panel on the string is reduced to the struggling panel’s level. Central inverters are similar to string inverters, but they are much larger and can support more strings of panels. They are best suited for large installations with consistent production across the array. Microinverters are the most efficient type as they are module-level electronics so one is installed on each panel and microinverters convert DC power to AC right at the panel. If one or more panels are shaded or are performing on a lower level than the others, the performance of the remaining panels won’t be jeopardized. Microinverters also monitor the performance of each individual panel, while string inverters show the performance of each string. This makes microinverters good for installations with shading issues or with panels on multiple planes facing various directions. Systems with microinverters can be more efficient, but these often cost more than string inverters. Again, for what it is worth, my recommendation is to get microinverters.
The system I had installed included reporting features of the performance of the solar panels. It has an interactive web dashboard where I can see the performance, energy produced, times on and off the grid and more. This can be displayed by day, week, month or year. This really lets me track the biggest and smallest energy consumption times. What I noticed even over this short two-month time frame is spikes in energy use and needing power from the grid when my parents were visiting and leaving on lights and TVs. Hmmm, that’s a change – the offspring telling the parents to shut off the lights!
Now, with the federal and state governments pushing for decarbonization, electric cars, and the electrification of heating/cooling systems, the costs for electricity is only going to go up, so it might be time for many more homeowners to seriously look into going solar. This presents you with a new business opportunity to add solar to your wheelhouse.
Another benefit is that it increases the value of a home whether the owners want to sell or not. When the cost of energy is climbing, and a home generates much of its own energy—that’s a benefit that homebuyers will pay for.
A great lesson to take away is that if you want to offer solar, do your research because whether your customers do or not, you’ll be able to help them prepare their home to be ready for solar and be able to answer their questions . Most importantly, investigate the federal tax incentives and all the state initiatives and rebates available to them as they will impact your customers’ ROI and total payback time.
Solar power is anticipated to become the world’s largest source of electricity by 2050, according to the International Energy Agency. It seems likely that it may happen even sooner.
Spoiler Alert! My first two bills for July and August came in and I sold 157kw back to the grid. My actual bill was just eight dollars each month (what the electricity provider DTE, in this case charges to be hooked up to the grid.) Typically, in summer months my electric bills are $100-$150/month, depending on how hot it is.
Stump the Chump
Let's Play Stump the Chump!
By BPI Marketing
Stump the Chump is Back!
Happily, Stump the Chump is back! This edition's stumper is from Tom Andrews, Deputy Director and Instructor for the Michigan Training & Education Center (MiTEC). Tom has over 30 years of experience in HVAC and Weatherization Training. Get those brain cells working because this is a good one!
The house is a 1200 square foot single-story ranch sitting on a vented crawlspace with a detached garage. There are 3 bedrooms and 1 bath with an exhaust fan (50 cfm) that is vented to the exterior. The kitchen contains an electric range with a recirculation type range hood. The gas forced air furnace and water heater are in a utility room off the kitchen along with the washer and electric dryer. The utility room has a wood, hollow core door with a small combustion air grille installed near the bottom of the door. The dryer is poorly vented to the exterior (105 cfm). The furnace is a sealed combustion 2-pipe unit and the water heater is a standard draft-hood equipped type. The furnace supply ducts are in the crawl space and the return ducts are in the attic. There are floor registers for the supplies in each room. There are return grilles near the ceilings in each room except for the utility room and bathroom.
Per ANSI/ BPI 1200-S-2017 CAZ testing guidelines:
CFM@50: 1500
Baseline: -1 pa
1st measurement: -3.5 pa (CAZ door closed/blower off)
2nd measurement: -3.0 pa (CAZ door closed/blower on)
3rd measurement: -2.5 pa (CAZ door open/blower on or off)
Query: The water heater worked fine when tested under “worst case” (-2.5 pa – baseline adjusted – CAZ door closed/blower off). But there are other times, on some laundry days for example, that the CO alarm sounds and there appears to be a problem. What is going on?
Send in a Stumper and Earn 2 BPI CEUs!
If you submit a Stumper, you'll get: an opportunity to share your technical knowledge, free individual and company advertising with a link to your company website, and 2 BPI CEUs. Also, we will choose one submission at random to win a Home Depot $100 Gift Card. It is a big win all around! For more information and to submit your Stump the Chump solution, please contact marketing@bpi.org.