Paul Raymer, author of Home Energy Prose, travels the country teaching all about energy efficiency. Lesson One: You don’t need to reinvent the wheel like the Ancestral Puebloans did (photo courtesy WikiCommons).
“There are a lot of us aging in this industry,” says Raymer. Sounds like a win-win: cranky old codgers with experience to share who can pave the way for bright young things with new ideas.
If he makes it sound like world of building science is undergoing a teachable moment, that’s the point. “From industry chatter, I keep hearing, ‘Why don’t we do more low-energy houses?’” he says. “But all this stuff is already out there,” and it’s there for the taking. “We don’t have to make the same mistakes,” he adds, referring to technologies that were long on brains and enthusiasm and short on business savvy—or those that were bad ideas to begin with. On Home Energy Prose, you can read all about it (photo courtesy Dwyer Instruments).
Around the time of the Arab Oil Embargo, Raymer bought a big old house on Cape Cod. Worries about his own energy consumption motivated him to learn as much as he could about efficiencies. Though IAQ and ventilation in particular is Raymer’s thing, the blog covers appliance efficiency, equipment calibration, and more.
Raymer is informed and accessible. Just how accessible? The last line of his website bio reads, “If you have any questions about this stuff, feel free to call me.” Trust us, he means it.
Custom Home will post new installments of Home Energy Prose by Paul Raymer, along with other guest bloggers, on Fridays.
