1. Contact by Client.  Explain Calcs-Plus role and services that we provide.
2. Explain testing procedures and different energy-efficient programs with their advantages and disadvantages of specific programs.
3. Collect construction documents, drawings, and proposed energy-dependent specifications.
4. Perform room-by-room equipment sizing load calculations in Elite/RHVAC software.
5. Provide cost-effective recommendations to the client to optimize energy efficiency based upon specific goals (Energy Star, specific HERS Score). Calculate score based upon worst-case orientation of building. Inform client of maximum amount of duct leakage allowable to reach goal.
6. Re-calculate load calculations based upon recommendations accepted.
7. Provide mid-point test of ductwork by pressurizing duct system with theatrical fog (optional). Have AC personnel seal any identified leakage.
8. Provide final inspection on the house. Final inspection includes verification of material and equipment installation per specifications. Conduct house infiltration and duct testing with blower door and duct tester. Calculate Total and Out leakage. Note any discrepancies for correction.
9. Complete data entry into software and calculate final results. Send electronic file to the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) for review and approval. Receive security code from the FSEC to activate printing function for the rating.
10. Print reports for clients. Reports include Energy Rating Guide, Fannie Mae Energy Report, Disclosure form, Energy Star Certificate (if applicable).
11. Give reports to client and answer any questions.

No, Calcs-Plus services regarding mold is to diagnose the Building conditions and analyze the reasons why the mold is present for preventative purposes.  Unless those conditions are understood and rectified, there is a high probability that the mold will return. Mold remediators collect samples, identify the mold type, determine the concentrations and sanitize the affected area.

There are several key factors of why you, as a builder, would want to smoke and seal your ducts at rough-in stage:

• Sets you above your competition with a better quality installation.  Florida Builders who smoke and seal their ducts are listed with logo and link to their website.  Builders also receive certificate that this test has been performed and verification of sealing by a 3rd party, State certified Duct Tester/Energy Rater.
• Less call backs and better comfort and operating costs for your clients.
• You MAY be able to reduce the sizing of your AC system, depending on what "Fluff factor" was built into the load calculation to account for leakage.
• Cheapest, one-time insurance policy that the duct system will perform optimally.
• Cost is far less to remediate immediately at rough-in than after closing.
• Can be used as a complement to the multitudes of demand side and energy efficiency programs that use duct leakage as a factor.
• Can be used as a substitute for other demand side and energy efficiency programs (which are sometimes over-lapping, convoluted, and confusing) that only measure leakage instead of proactively addressing failures.
• You should be expecting a leak-free system to be installed and have reasonable expectations that this is occurring. Cost of smoke testing can be included as a quality control requirement in AC contractors installation agreement with the builder.
• Subcontractors perform better and devote their more experienced, higher quality crews if they know that their work will be thoroughly inspected and they will be required to fix failures.

The AC contractor, whether fairly or not, is held most responsible for the success or failure for most energy efficiency programs.

The reason is fairly simple: duct leakage is a mystery and unknown as a factor in most every program.

We can immediately assign numbers for the type of windows, insulation levels, HVAC equipment ratings, etc., but when it comes time for "Pass" or "Fail", it all boils down to a manometer reading that measures duct leakage.

Let us all pray that it is low, because all of the other measures were bought at the minimal level expecting all ductwork to be super tight. This is the point that everyone gets in trouble because:

1. The AC contractor believes that the installation is tight because he has not been told otherwise and can't see leakage.
2. The Energy Rater believes that merely taking a measurement at the end of construction and entering the result in a program will magically transform the ductwork into a non-leaking duct system.
3. The Builder will be angry at both AC Contractor and Energy Rater above if the expected "Feel Good" result is not achieved. There are several key factors of why you as an AC Contractor would want to smoke and seal your ducts at rough-in stage:

• Sets you above your competition with a better quality installation. May advertise the smoking and sealing as a value-added service. We will post participating contractors logo and link on our web site to denote the extra quality control method undertaken by your company.
• Less call backs and better comfort and operating costs for your clients.
• Continuous training tool for your installers to identify failures for future improvement.
• Cheapest, one time insurance policy that the duct system will perform nominally.
• Remediation of failures does not require crawling through 130 degree attics, in poor visibility with limited accessibility.
• Smoking and sealing is reasonable, understandable and achievable for all concerned parties.
• Assists you to achieve any minimum duct leakage requirements obligated to the Builder through any contractual stipulations.

Nothing. An Energy Rating is a report that is one of the predictors of the energy uses in your house.  The true indicator of the energy efficiency of your house is your monthly electric bill. It is hoped that since an Energy Rating has been performed, awareness and implementation of more energy-efficient practices have occurred during construction.

No, your house may have been "sampled" under one of EPA's policies.  If your house has been sampled, only 1 out of 7 houses in your subdivision may have been actually inspected and tested!

No, unless the house was tested and verified, there is no assurance.  Some of EPA's protocols do not even meet minimum Florida energy code requirements (specifically Building Option Packages)!  Also, how do you know if your home is energy-efficient if it has never been tested and verified?

It is important that your ductwork is properly sealed. If there is a leak, that leakage will be invisible and difficult to find. Smoking is the only method to adequately identify the leakage to address the failures.

No, actually it is not smoke at all, it is theatrical fog. Fogging fluid is heated to the vapor point and moved through the duct system at a slight pressure. We have inhaled the stuff with no effects, however, we must confess that we have never drunk the fluid straight out of the bottle.

Good question. Even the AC contractors think that it is a good test because they are called back for complaints, in the summer, to climb into a 135 degree, unlit attic. Building Officials also realize that this is a superior test compared to plain visual inspection. There are many efficiency programs created by numerous entities with their own fiefdom to protect. Some are "energy efficient" in name only with little interest in proactively addressing problems.

An energy rating is an energy efficiency delivery system, designed to provide more home for less money to building owners and purchasers.

An energy rating provides a standardized evaluation of a home's energy efficiency and expected energy use costs. The evaluation is conducted in accordance with uniform standards and includes a detailed home energy use assessment, conducted by a state-certified rater, using an advanced set of nationally accredited energy and economic analysis procedures and verified software tools.

In Florida, a building's energy efficiency can only be determined using Florida's Building Energy Efficiency Rating System. Because of the Florida Building Energy Efficiency Ratings Act, this is a matter of law in Florida.

The intent of the Act is to create a "yardstick" that serves to "level the playing field" so that the marketplace will have the requisite understanding and confidence to assign economic value to the result of a Rating.

Since energy efficiency is largely an invisible attribute, it is virtually impossible to confidently assign market value to it unless the methods and procedures used to determine it are standardized across geographic regions.