A Message from BPI's CEO
Hurricane Harvey, Irma, and Post-Disaster Resources for BPI Certified Professionals
By Larry Zarker
These past weeks have been devastating for millions of people in Southeast Texas and, most recently, in Florida and the Caribbean. Not being able to go home or back to work, temporarily or permanently, puts extreme stress on these residents. But, as we've all seen, the first-responders, great neighbors, and volunteers from around the country have gone above and beyond to help.
Dealing with the aftermath of major storm damage is a long and agonizing experience for those affected. So, what can BPI Certified Professionals do to help? In addition to donating money or resources, many of us want to contribute our skills and expertise.
Your expertise in building science could prove invaluable to the rebuilding process as many of the issues relating to flood damage relate to the health and safety impacts of moisture on occupants and the durability of the structure.
On BPI's website, we have posted resources authored by Louisiana State University (LSU) housing professionals. They developed these reference guides post-Katrina and after the 2016 floods. There is also an excellent publication from HUD entitled, "Rebuild Healthy Homes: Guide to Post Disaster Restoration for a Safe and Healthy Home."
Especially for those of you working in flood-prone or hurricane zones, and as the most qualified home professional in your customers’ homes, we hope you will review these documents and share these best practices with your customers. We also encourage you to consider obtaining BPI’s Healthy Home Evaluator credential.
We will keep you posted as we outreach to BPI Test Centers and agencies in the area responding to the storm damage. And, please keep us informed of any work you are doing in these affected areas.
BPI and Industry News
Building Performance News and Discussion
By Quinn Korzeniecki
BPI News
Attention weatherization professionals participating with WAP: The Jon Siemen Memorial Scholarship has been expanded to include coverage of online and field exam costs for all BPI certifications and the Building Science Principles (BSP) Certificate of Knowledge. Applications for the 2018 scholarship will be accepted until November 30th. Visit bpi.org/SiemenScholarship for more information and to apply.
BPI is participating in the Second Annual Energy Efficiency Day on October 5th, 2017. On this day, a nationwide network will promote the benefits of energy efficiency. You are invited to participate in #EEDay2017 by sharing pro-energy efficiency messages. Pledge your involvement in #EEDay2017 on the Energy Efficiency Day website and join the conversation with hundreds of other organizations and individuals on Thursday, October 5th.
Earn 2 BPI CEUs for contributing to the BPI homeowner blog and/or submitting a Stump the Chump segment for a future newsletter. Email qkorzeniecki@bpi.org if you are interested in writing on home performance topics for a homeowner audience or submitting a building science challenge for other contractors to solve.
Partner News
Don't miss out on upcoming Home Performance Coalition (HPC) conferences in your area! Registration and agendas are available for the 2017 HPC Southeast in Greenville, SC on September 28-29th and HPC California in Long Beach, CA on November 14-15th.
Industry News
Until December 31st, 2017, Illinois contractors can receive rebates on training and testing fees toward BPI certifications. Visit the Illinois Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program website for more information on reserving, claiming, and receiving rebate funds.
The Green & Healthy Homes Initiative (GHHI), with support from The JPB Foundation and other partners, recently announced the GHHI Lead Poisoning Prevention Catalytic Award. This award will work to eradicate lead exposure by providing financial and programmatic support to organizations demonstrating excellence in the mission to end lead poisoning in their communities. The award kicks off GHHI's National Campaign to End Lead Poisoning. Applications from eligible 501(c)3 non-profit organizations are due September 30, 2017.
About the Author
Quinn is the Senior Communications Associate for BPI. Would you like to write articles to engage homeowners about home performance? Contact Quinn to contribute to BPI's Homeowner Blog.
Stump the Chump
Let's Play Stump the Chump!
By BPI
We know you're on the edge of your seat, waiting to hear what is going on with the peeling paint on the ceiling along an outside wall and under an unconditioned attic in the home of Glenn Dickey, Residential Buildings Technical Director at CSRA.
The closest answer comes from BPI Building Analyst, Martin Newmark, of 3 Birds Insulation in Louisville, Colorado. Martin says, "This paint peeling is likely due to condensation forming on the ceiling in that area. There may be a joist above the peeling that is drawing heat out of the room that is allowing the ceiling temperature to drop below the dew point. He may have started using a humidifier in the room lately."
To which, Glenn responded, "Although I have not begun using a humidifier, there is a bathroom adjacent to here that is likely providing the moisture, although I am still unclear why it only recently started."
Thank you to everyone who submitted a response!
Send In a Stumper and Earn 2 BPI CEUs!
The Stump the Chump segment in BPI’s newsletter is the most popular part of the monthly publication.
To keep these challenges interesting and relevant for you, our stakeholders, we need your input!
You know – that problem house, symptom, or combination of issues that challenged your building science knowledge. Send along a description of the problem and the solution to us. If it's a genuine stumper, we’ll publish in our next newsletter, which goes out to nearly 20,000 industry stakeholders.
What 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*!
Check out these links for an idea of stumpers we’ve featured in the past:
- http://www.bpi.org/newsletter/december-2016#stump-chump
- http://www.bpi.org/newsletter/march-2017#stump-chump
*BPI must accept and publish the stumper for the individual to receive the 2 CEUs. Individual must send the issue and how they solved it to marketing@bpi.org, and reply to all follow-up emails. Individual must hold an active BPI certification to receive CEUs. Stumpers must be: original content (not republished); include location, kind of house, a little about the residents, and a lot about the building science issue; grammatically correct; and on a relevant and applicable topic. Reference: CEU Policies and Procedures.
Marketing Corner
Certification Name Change, Lead Generation Websites, and Updated Locator Tool Tracking
By Hannah C. Wood
We heard back from some of you about the name change of RBE-WHALCI to ALC. It was a resounding thumbs-up. The "Residential Building Envelope - Whole House Air Leakage Control Installer" (RBE-WHALCI) certification will now be known as the "Air Leakage Control Installer" (ALC). Formal adoption of this name for all materials is set for January 1, 2018.
From our Facebook:
- Ely Jacobsohn – “Goodbye Star Wars character sounding acronym! Hello shorter one! Woohoo!”
- Chris Dorsi – “Great move on the part of BPI. That acronym (usually pronounced "Rebel-Whacky") was always a source of ridicule in the classroom.”
Both accurate points!
Also, this summer, we asked you about your experience with lead generation websites. By and large, these were negative experiences. In terms of HomeAdvisor, with whom BPI had a prior agreement, BPI Certified Professionals responded that the leads were oversold to multiple contractors concurrently, weren’t quality leads to start with, and were high cost (sometimes 3x industry standard). Therefore, BPI will not pursue any agreements with lead generation websites, unless they change their business models to highlight BPI Certified Professionals.
The good news is that BPI has its own NEW locator tool on the BPI homeowner website. BPI will soon be able to track if a website visitor clicks to call or email you or visit your website from your contact card (for BPI GoldStar Contractors and companies with BPI Certified Professionals only at this point). So please keep your contact information updated with BPI Client Relations.
Cheers,
Hannah C. Wood