Whole Home Performance: The House As A System

My dad always warned me about tennis elbow.

"If you ever get it," he'd say with a gravity reserved for his best lectures, "it'll haunt you like a shadow you can't shake."

So, when my elbow and then bicep began hurting, I tried to ignore it as much as possible. I continued my workout routine until I couldn't work out any longer. Eventually, this strategy gave way to the weakening of other muscles in my forearm and wrist, to the point where I wasn't even able to carry a grocery bag.

Desperate times called for expert opinions. The first physical therapist I saw said that with that many symptoms, it was probably coming from my neck. He asked if I sat at a desk most of the day. I reluctantly admitted that I did. However, his neck exercises did not alleviate any of the symptoms, so I decided to visit a second physical therapist. This one was at the sports medicine department of the Mayo Clinic. They have a place in downtown Minneapolis, close enough for me that I could ride my bike.

The therapist there listened to my symptoms and decided that the root issue would be my shoulder — a battlefield of pain a few months prior that had been overshadowed by the newer, more pressing pains in my wrist, forearm elbow and biceps.

I mention this story because it's not that much different than a home – stay with me - because the home is like our body with interdependent systems that are dependent on one another to function well. If one system is weak, another part of the home will suffer.

Who for a home is like the physical therapist that can discern if a home needs just solar energy, or the more robust embrace of air sealing and insulation to start? Or perhaps, the balancing act of air sealing paired with mechanical ventilation? The maestro in question is the energy assessor, the alchemist with a blower door and thermal camera.

After I raised complaints about our 1899 Pittsburgh home’s huge heating bills with the natural gas company, they suggested an energy audit. It helped. The person who conducted the audit explained how there was a “stack effect” of cold air coming in through the basement which added to the cycle of heat going out through the attic. It was probably as basic a diagnosis as my forearm pain being connected to the shoulder or even the neck in the case of tennis elbow.

“Attic, basement, walls,” he had said.

So in our new home, built in 1915, after reviewing the energy audit, I decided air sealing in the attic needed to come first. Without it, things would work little better than my elbow with an untreated shoulder. We first removed all the old insulation from the attic and started fresh. Below is what the energy auditor said after this work was completed. As you can see, one problem solved.

Page from our 2019 home energy audit report

The point is, you can buy all the parts you want, but unless you have an energy audit to see how they work together, you might not find out that something that is missing.

By following the advice of the physical therapist at Mayo, I was able to fix my shoulder which helped fix the other issues. It happened over time and involved dozens of exercises. But in the end, I have my comfort and everything works efficiently.

I hope the same for your house. Don't ignore the results of an energy audit when creating or buying a green home. It’s a great starting point!

Additional Resource: Learn how BPI sets the standards in home performance