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    • BPI WRITTEN EXAM >
      • Section 1 Building Science Fundamentals >
        • 1a. Basic Terms & Definitions >
          • 1. Airflow in Buildings
          • 2. Equipment Efficiencies
          • 3. Power and Energy
          • 4. Effective Leakage Area
          • 5. Area Weighted R-Value
          • 6. Baseload / Seasonal Energy Use
          • 7. Driving Forces (Including Natural and Mechanical)
          • 8. Behavior of Radiation
          • 9. Thermal Resistance / Transmittance: R and U Values
          • 10. Latent / Sensible Heat
          • 11. Total Equivalent Length
          • 12. Dehumidification / Humidification
          • 13. Convert Pressure Units
          • 14. Thermal Bridges
          • 15. Pressure Boundary
          • 16. Stack Effect
          • 17. Exfiltration and Infiltration
          • 18. Natural / Mechanical Ventilation
          • 19. Net Free Area
          • 20. Input & Output Capacity
          • 21. Peak Electrical Demand
          • 22. Permeability and Perm Rating
          • 23. Standby Loss
          • 24. IAQ (indoor air quality): Moisture, CO, Dust
        • 1b. Principals of Energy, Air & Moisture Thermodynamics >
          • 1. Thermodynamics: Conduction, Convection, Radiation, ΔT
          • 2. Factors That Affect Insulation Performance
          • 3. BPI certification online with BPI practice exams and study guides.
          • 4. Heat Gain / Loss
          • 5. Power and Energy
          • 6. Moisture Transport Mechanisms
          • 7. Identify Areas of Highest Relative Humidity
          • 8. Principles of Combustion
        • 1c. Combustion Safety >
          • 1. Combustion Analysis
          • 2. Carbon Monoxide (CO) Testing
          • 3. Combustion Appliance Venting, Draft, Combustion Air & Sizing
          • 4. Understand Combustion Safety Issues
      • Section 2 Buildings and Their Systems >
        • 2a. Building Components >
          • 1. Identify basic duct configurations and components
          • 2. Identify Basic Hydronic Distribution Configurations and Components
          • 3. Identify Basic Structural Components of Residential Construction
          • 4. Thermal Boundaries and Insulation Applications
          • 5. Basic Electrical Components and Safety Considerations
          • 6. Basic Fuel Delivery Systems and Safety Considerations
          • 7. Basic bulk water management components (drainage plumbing gutters sumps etc)
          • 8. Vapor barriers/retarders
          • 9. Radiant Barrier Principles and Installations
          • 10. Understand Fenestration Types and Efficiencies
          • 11. Understand Issues Involved With Basements, Crawlspaces, Slabs, Attics, Attached Garages, Interstitial Cavities, and Bypasses
          • 12. Understand Issues Involved With Ventilation Equipment
          • 13. Understand Basic Heating / Cooling Equipment Components Controls and Operation
          • 14. Understand Basic DHW Equipment Components Controls and Operation
          • 15. Identify Common Mechanical Safety Controls
          • 16. Identify Insulation Types and R-Values
          • 17. Understand Various Mechanical Ventilation Equipment and Strategies: Spot, ERV, HRV
        • 2b. Conservation Strategies >
          • 1. Appropriate Insulation Applications and Installation Based On Existing Conditions
          • 2. Opportunity for ENERGY STAR Lighting and Appliances
          • 3. Identify Duct Sealing Opportunities and Applications
          • 4. Understand Importance of Air Leakage Control and Remediation Procedures
          • 5. Blower Door-Guided Air Sealing Techniques
          • 6. Water Conservation Devices and Strategies
          • 7. Domestic Hot Water (DHW) Conservation Strategies
          • 8. Heating & Cooling Efficiency Applications
          • 9. Proper Use of Modeling to Determine Heating and Cooling Equipment Sizing and Appropriate Energy
          • 10. Understand the Use of Utility History Analysis in Conservation Strategies
          • 11. Appropriate Applications For Sealed Crawlspaces Basements and Attics
          • 12. Identify / Understand High Density Cellulose
          • 13. Appropriate Applications for Fenestration Upgrades Including Modification or Replacement
        • 2c. Comprehensive Building Assessment Process >
          • 1. Determine Areas of Customer Complaints / Concerns in Interview
          • 2. Understand / Recognize Need For Conducting Appropriate Diagnostic Procedures
          • 3. Interaction Between Mechanical Systems, Envelope Systems and Occupant Behavior
        • 2d. Design Considerations >
          • 1. Appropriate Insulation Applications Based On Existing Conditions
          • 2. Understand Fire Codes as Necessary to Apply Home Performance in a Code-Approved Manner
          • 3. Understand / Recognize Building Locations Where Opportunities for Retrofit Materials
          • 4. Understand Climate Specific Concerns
          • 5. Understand Indoor Environment Considerations for the Environmentally Sensitive
          • 6. Understand Impact of Building Orientation, Landscape Drainage, and Grading
          • 7. Opportunity Potential Renewable Energy Applications: Geothermal, Photovoltaic, Wind
          • 8. Understand Impact of Shading on Heating / Cooling Loads
          • 9. Awareness for Solar Gain Reduction / Solar Gain Opportunities
          • 10. Understand Need for Modeling Various Options For Efficiency Upgrades
      • Section 3 Measurement & Verification of Building Performance >
        • Section 3a Measurement & Verification of Building Performance >
          • 1. Air Leakage Test Results
          • 2. Understand Building Shell / Envelope Leakage
          • 3. Apply Fundamental Construction Mathematics and Unit Conversions
          • 4. Calculate Building Tightness Levels (Minimum Ventilation Requirements)
          • 5. Calculate Heating Degree Days and Cooling Degree Days
          • 6. Identify Proper Appliance and Combustion Appliance Venting
          • 7. Ventilation calculations and strategies
          • 8. Proper methods for identifying / testing fuel leaks
          • 9. Blower door setup, accurate measurement and interpretation of results
          • 10. Combustion Appliance Zone (CAZ): depressurization, spillage, draft, Carbon Monoxide (ambient and flue)
          • 11. Carbon Monoxide (CO) evaluation: ambient
          • 12. Proper applications and use of temperature measuring devices
          • 13. Pressure pan and room to room pressure diagnostics
          • 14. Recognize contributing factors to comfort problems
          • 15. Inspect for areas containing moisture or bulk water in undesirable locations
          • 16. Understand and inspect for basic electric safety (e.g. frayed wires, open boxes, etc)
      • Section 4 BPI National Standards & Project Specifications >
        • 1. Understand applicability content and intent of BPI National Standards – Do no harm, make buildings more healthy, comfortable, durable and energy efficient
        • 2. Recognize need for a professional local/state/national codes evaluation
        • 3. Be able to specify appropriate materials and processes needed for building performance projects
      • Section 5 Analyzing Buildings Systems >
        • 1. Recognize need for air sealing measures and their impact on other building systems
        • 2. Recognize need for mechanical equipment improvements
        • 3. Understand blower door use for identifying critical air sealing areas
        • 4. Apply blower door test results and Building Tightness Limit (minimum ventilation requirements) in development of improvement strategies
        • 5. Using combustion analysis and safety testing results to develop appropriate recommendations
        • 6. Determine appropriate method for assessing wall insulation levels
        • 7. Equipment control strategies for maximizing occupant comfort and minimizing energy consumption
      • Section 6 Conduct and Communications >
        • 6a. Conservation strategies
        • 6b. Personal Safety & Work Practices >
          • 1. Locations in which to identify indoor air quality issues
          • 2. Material Safety Data Sheets
          • 3. Isolation procedures for household pollutants
          • 4. Practice building science within your limits of professional competency
          • 5. Precautions when working around chemical biological and other potential hazards
          • 6. Understand role and responsibilities of the building analyst professional
    • BPI FIELD EXAM >
      • How To Put The House Under Worst Case & CAZ
      • What's What? Pa, CFM, CFM50, CAZ, Draft, Room Pressure
      • What To Know In The Attic
      • What To Know In The House
    • BLOWER DOOR TEST >
      • Manometer Setup
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  • BLOG

How Not to Handle PR For Your Energy Audit Company

1/1/2014

1 Comment

 
I recently published an article on Green ID's home energy blog and in the DOE's Home Energy Pros on an energy efficiency product, giving a review of its effectiveness and ideal situations. The review was not a negative one but I did point out some weak areas of the product. The review made it on Home Energy Pros featured blogs and caught the eyes of the CEO of the product. He was obviously concerned about any negative press because he contacted me through LinkedIn. 

He said some of my statements were incorrect about the product and I responded the next day to him asking him to send me what statements were incorrect so I could research and make any corrections necessary along with my personal email address. After that I never heard from him again but was surprised to hear from a PR firm hired by his company. I had made clear that I would be happy to correct any false statements but they sent me no such list and continued to annoy me by having the PR company trying to reach me by phone. 



This is exactly how not to handle negative publicity. This also serves an important lesson to us as home performance contractors if we have a customer who is unhappy with the services your company provides, whether you think their compliant is justified or not and whether they complain publicly on Yelp or Angie's List or to you directly. I'm not saying the customer is always right, I've come across homeowners who try to take advantage of a situation and are not right. But let's say that you get an unhappy customer that writes a poor review of your company on Yelp. If that happens you need to reach out to that homeowner both publicly and directly for damage control. (Little known is that Yelp has a separate site for business owners where we can respond publicly in the comments section.) 

When responding both publicly and privately there are 4 golden rules to follow.

1. Contact the customer - you or the person involved need to respond both publicly and privately. Ignoring the compliant or comment is the worst thing you can do, it tells other potential customers you don't care and in today's world of constant advertisements your care and your time are things that cannot be bought and are meaningful and valuable to your customers. What you should not do is hire a PR company to do damage control for you. A good example of handling negative reviews online is from Seriously Social, where posted the "7 Reasons Not To Use Hootsuite". I've included a link to the original post. The interesting thing is not so much the article itself, but that the the VP at Hootsuite reached out and publicly responded to the article in the comment section. The author has since lightened heart and wrote an equally compelling post on the "7 Reasons Why You Should Use Hootsuite." 

2. Apologize - "I apologize that happened and we will take care of it to your satisfaction." Or "I'm sorry. This is not how we like to do business." [and go on to explain tough situations that caused the problem if it is justified i.e. Tight attic space. A lack of training and your crew smoking in the attic should have no excuse.]

3. Empathize - "I understand how upset you must feel."

4. Make and plan for corrections - "I have met with our managers and we are developing a new training program to address the concerns you have brought to our attention." It is important that you actually make the changes you promise.

By showing you care, that you can understand why your customer is upset and that you will take corrective actions a customer really has to be hard nosed to not come around on their views of you and your company. If there mind is already made up and won't budge, by responding publicly you have diffused the negative snowball of PR that could easily get out of your control. Ignoring the comments and feedback you get is the worst thing you can do.

Let's face it, your company is your baby and any attacks on it can be painful to hear. I know I would rather have an employee steal a pair of snips before I see a negative review of my company online. The truth can hurt but the key is to not take it personal and realize that our customers feedback is actually valuable. It may be like a cold glass of water thrown in our face but it's better to shape up, fix the problems and keep moving forward. What do you think happens with companies that ignore their customers feedback? For a small business, word if mouth marketing always will be king and in a digital age where more of our customers are looking for reviews on the BBB, Yelp, Angie's List and Facebook if you have a bad reputation online, you are in a sinking ship unless you address head-on what your customers are saying.

1 Comment

    David Byrnes

    Owns and operates Green ID, a residential home energy auditing and contracting company in Phoenix, AZ. He is a BPI Proctor and has trained over 40 energy auditors.

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