Beyond the Blueprint: A Call to Climate Consciousness

By   |     |  High-Performance House

Urgent Letter to Hudson Valley Readers Re: High performance homes, the climate crisis and the middle class.

November 6, 2024

s many of us are, I’m sitting here at my desk feeling like I’ve been hit by a Mack truck. I’ve instituted a news blackout to get some distance and be able to think, but even with that effort a few things have seeped through, and everything I see or hear shows me one more way that this election result could spell the end of any kind of real support for so many technologies and systems that we must roll out before 2030 to have any hope of even partial success on our climate goals.

So many in fact, that I have the beginnings of a list that could not possibly be dealt with in a single issue, or even two of them. We may need to rethink most, or even all of the game plan that relies on federally funded initiatives so many have worked so hard and long to map out and initiate. Figuring out the science isn’t usually fast, but we have enough at this point to very clearly point the way forward.

What’s obvious is this: It will be up to all of us who care about the climate crisis to find solutions that can survive mass privatization and the anticipated repercussions of this election.

The government will likely be out of the business of promoting and more importantly funding anything at all to do with climate, in fact I expect that word will be banned by our government day one, just like it was in Florida and other red states. I’m hopeful that the Biden administration will do everything it can to hustle as much of that money out the door before January 20, so get those projects done now, if you can. The real question will be: What do we do after that?

I have been very vocal for several years about how high-performance home renovation/building practices and materials need to be perfected enough to make this technology available to the middle class. What I didn’t realize was how much larger and more diverse the high-performance home community has become in the last few years! At the Upstate House High Performance Home Conversation event in October in Kingston, the discussion kept returning to the word “community.”

Community is all of us. It’s our families and our friends, sure, but it’s also the group that publishes this magazine who have decided to engage in this conversation and give advocates like me a platform. It’s the company owners that do the energy assessing, insulation, and electrifying of our homes informing themselves and training their staff on best practices. It’s customers demanding more because they are better informed and writers like me getting the information to the homeowners in a way they can understand and enthusiastically get behind. It’s all of us, all the time, everywhere. Learning and sharing, and demanding that our local elected leaders listen and act for the residents, not just large corporations…or even small corporations!

But enough of the philosophical, I’m feeling like I need something actionable right now, something to help me feel less helpless in the face of this huge setback.

first floor plan

Talk about climate. To everyone. Ask questions!

We don’t place as much import on this action as we should. Talking not only spreads the word, it hones your argument and multiplies the impact. When someone hears many people in their lives talking about the same thing, they want to know more about it, that’s just human nature. Remember that asking questions is one of the best ways to begin a conversation.

Educate yourself. Inform your friends.

When I got certified in Passive House there were very few resources available, especially for non-nerds. That has changed today. From my modest effort with our podcast “Passive Aggressive” (new episodes coming this fall!) to the regular and profuse offerings from the Passive House Network, this publication’s Clean Power Guide (page 55), and even in the courses offered in local universities, like the bachelor of science in building sciences at RPI, information, once widely learned, cannot be destroyed.

Do what you can, where you can.

Are you buying an old home to remodel? You can be a climate hero if you remodel with an understanding of the science behind your home. It’s not as difficult as you may think. Buying a home already completed? Look for a builder/developer that understands building science and uses what they know to fabricate better buildings. Just remodeling your kitchen? Why not do it the right way, right down to sealing and insulating the right way, even if it’s just that room? “Just” a renter? There are programs you can bring to your landlord that can save them a lot of money on upgrades, from insulation to new heat pump water heaters, and indoor climate control. The point is, everyone has a role, and they are all important for reaching our goals, no matter how small their influence seems.

If you can’t do, plan to do.

Not everyone can afford to buy or build a house, but we can all plan! Just the act of planning can open new doors for you, and it certainly educates you on what the available choices are. Start a project book and begin collecting information. The more information that you have ‘in the book’, the faster and less costly it is for you once you do have that opportunity. The same goes for activism: if you can’t do, plan to do! Take the time to make a difference; serve on your local climate committee, run for town board, get involved with community solar. If not you and I, who?

Teach!

Those of us that have been traveling this road to high performance housing have an obligation to teach. Most of us would call it an obsession and a joy, but whatever you call it, please keep spreading the word, only faster and harder!! However much we are doing, we need to do more, or do it smarter! Set up and find funding for homeowner-education classes on high-performance building science, maybe one or two nights at your local YMCA or Elks club. Invite even unlikely possible allies, and help bring pressure from below by informing all of our fellow community members, maybe even the ones that scoff right now. Many of us in the high performance ‘intelligentsia’ derive large parts of our income from teaching these ideas and skills, please consider donating more of your ongoing efforts to teaching your neighbors in your community than you already do.

Those are the rough outlines of what I propose to break down in detail over the next several issues, and I want to hear from you, our community. Homeowners, tradespersons, business owners, teachers, and auto mechanics; How are you feeling about this? What is it that you and your families want and need in this matter? What concerns you the most? How do you plan on making a difference?

Email me with your comments and questions, and let’s roll up our sleeves and get started: jeffreyaeckes@ldrgroup.net. 

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