Since 1983, I've designed, analyzed, consulted on and taught about superinsulated, passive solar, energy efficient, healthy homes mostly in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Michigan, but also in surrounding states. I've also substantially retrofitted my last 2 personal homes in Ohio and Kentucky for much lower utility bills and much smarter use of solar energy. My education and experiences have been framed as much by my clients' interests as my own. I have a personal living and working experience with much of what I design and consult on in my professional work, from simple stuff like sealants and insulation to complicated matters like controlling condensation and optimizing solar energy. I no longer use my original company name, nowdays doing business using just my name, as shown below in my business card design.

When I started studying home and small building energy performance in the early 1980s, I saw that most people, including me, bought, designed or built their homes mostly for size, style, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, etc. We looked for homes in locations with desirable access to schools, workplaces, shops and stores, sometimes with other considerations like access to public transportation.   Generally, we sought to get as much of all this as we could afford. But most people I knew, including my parents and even me when I was looking for my first house, didn't look for energy performance, even when a home was being designed and built new.   Yet energy costs were growing and growing.

It's routine for me nowdays to substantially improve energy performance in all my designs, whether for new or remodelled homes. Windows are sized and oriented to sunpaths and natural ventilation opportunities. Daylighting is optimized. R-values and airtightness are maximized and areas minimized in exterior assemblies. These are the kinds of mostly "passive" measures which can most dramatically lower heating and cooling energy use.   When most homeowners get their first utility bills, they were often unpleasantly surprised or even shocked!   But my customers get estimates about what to expect. Sometimes they have me aim their designs toward specific energy bill or usage level targets. While I sometimes meet homeowners who didn't know their pre-owned home's sidewalls were solid masonry, therefore difficult and expensive to insulate, my homeowners typically know exactly what kinds of building systems they have and how well they are either insulated or insulatable. So my most common job is focusing people on and helping with these kinds of issues during a new or remodelled home design. After all, homeowners in typical Midwest USA homes are accustomed to paying 50% to 60% of their energy bills for heating and cooling!

In the late 1980s, my work expanded to focus on lower cooling and lighting costs, plus better indoor air quality. Again, I found that there was much that could be achieved by manipulating the passive properties of a structure, like optimizing overhangs, changing glass types, encouraging strategic plantings of trees and shrubs, and upgrading R-values or changing insulation types.   Regarding lighting, not only did I begin pushing compact fluorescent lamps in my designs, but also I began pushing daylighting, even helping clients organize their work and play areas for optimum use of daylight.

By the mid 1990s, there was heightened interest about controlling electrical equipment and appliance electric demand as well as their overall consumption. Some of this related to utility-sponsored so-called "demand-side" or DSM rebates per reduced kW, but some related to so-called "off-the-grid" solar electricity projects in which electric load reductions translated directly to dramatic first cost reductions. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, as concepts like utility deregulation and sustainability became better understood, I started hearing inquiries from people wanting specifically to become more self-reliant, to pollute less and use more solar energy.   I quickly developed the perspective that these interests could be served simultaneously. Lowering wattages and reducing on-times of lights and equipment, for instance, resulted in reduced electrical load and associated demand for pollution from coal-fired generation, but also lowered solar installation costs.

My office operates off-the-grid

on solar electricity since Nov. 2001!

I try to offer as much client assistance as possible to address all these issues. And when they visit my office, it's often helpful that I can often show examples in my home of many energy and environmental opportunities I use. I can show how they look or work, whether they involve conservation (usually no-cost options to avoid energy use), efficiency (low-cost options to lower energy use while getting similar service) or solar (relatively higher first-cost energy). I record and keep lots of data on my and others' energy performance, so I can also relay cost and performance information to help people understand what's possible, what to expect, what to aim for in their own projects.

If you're designing, building, remodeling, buying, solar-powering, solar heating, electric load-trimming or just trying to reduce your heating and cooling bills, please look over my list of services below. Whether you're looking for advice, design or education, whether you're a professional or a do-it-yourselfer, if you can't find somebody in your area offering such assistance with the kind of experience and dedication that I have, contact me. I do entire new home designs as well as addition and remodeling designs. I sometimes work with clients over very long timelines, as well as answer short questions by phone and email, billing even in 15 minute increments when appropriate. If I can't help you, I often know someone else who can. To understand how I work with clients, read HOW I WORK MY PROJECTS.

Site- and project-specific design and consulting
..........Siting & initial concept for best solar opportunities
..........Orientation-specific window layouts & glass selection
..........Thermal storage
……..Daylight with minimal glare
..........Summer shading and natural ventilation
..........Superinsulation, by any method done right
..........Airtightness
..........Moisture control and tolerance
..........Recycled materials content
..........Indoor air quality
..........Rainwater collection
..........Engineered lumber framing

Detailed custom home design & construction drawings

Help minimizing energy use by equipment and small appliances
..........Energy efficient bulbs, lamps and small appliances
..........Low-load office and entertainment centers .
..........Efficient heating, ventilation & cooling (HVAC)
..........Heat recovery ventilation (HRV)

Computational energy analysis
..........Electrical load and consumption analysis
..........Energy audits of existing small buildings and projects
..........Hour-by-hour & seasonal simulations of building thermal performance
..........Estimated fuel consumption, HVAC bills & related pollution
..........Predictions of worst-case high & low temps during equipment or power failure

Solar electric (PV) off-the-grid design & planning:
..........Task-specific projects
..........Low-load buildings and projects

Presentations to Schools, Groups & Clubs
……. Minimizing Appliance & Small Equipment Electricity Use
……. Solar Powering a Home Office
……. Solar and other Passive High Performance House Design
……. Windows Comparisons for the Midwest USA
.…… Moving Ourselves Toward Sustainability
.…… Energy Efficiency & Solar Energy At Home
.…… Many others over the years (see History)

Adult-ed evening classes at Great Oaks Institute of SW Ohio
.…… Solar Energy At Home
.…… Home Energy Efficiency

John F. Robbins, CEM CSDP

3519 Moffett Road

Morningview, KY 41063-8748

Phone: (859) 363-0376

E-mail: johnfrobbins@insightbb.com