Arkansas HVACR NewsMagazine September 2026

News Magazine September 2026

replacements became vogue about 30 years ago and frequently they were selling against the existing single pane metal frame. I never ran a dollar and cents analysis on that but comfort definitely made it worth a strong second look. Sadly, their sales folks talked percentages and not even accurately. I had a salesman come to my house just so I could hear the spill. By the way, we had double pane, vinyl, low E windows. “Yes, sir, he said. 40% of your utility bill is due to heating and air conditioning. If you’ll replace your windows, we’ll cut 35% to 40% off your utility bill.” When asked if that meant replacing my windows would cut my total utility bill by 35% to 40%, the answer was, “Yes, sir”. I bored you with this example to say that not all energy efficiency plans were clearly explained. I’m not saying that the ole’ boy lied, just that he parroted what he had been told. The same thing happened with the solar industry. A reasonably good idea was sold by hucksters promising a check from the utility company for “forever”. Sometimes, prices were high and performance was low or at least not what was promised. This is not to say that window replacements and solar are inherently bad. Just that all that glitters may not be gold and we have a reason to be skeptical. Back to the ICC and DOE. It seems that at least six economic analyses produced by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory were deleted from the DOE website.

Getting the Truth DOE & ICC Spar Off About ROI

Shake a man’s hand and the deal was done. If he

said it, it was true and folks were concerned about their neighbor. Old fashioned values that I wish we could bring back; and, that is not altogether fair. I don’t mean to imply that honesty and integrity are completely gone. Just that they seem to be in short supply. OK! What put me on this tangent? Today it’s this. The International Code Council and the Department of Energy are in a tiff. Seems that the DOE removed its longstanding analysis detailing the cost-effectiveness of energy codes. I’ve been a super proponent of energy efficiency as a benefit to the customer for 40 years. I was birthed into this industry selling geothermal systems. We put together a package of real facts, sometimes 50 pages long, that proved the wisdom of high efficiency based on the payback—ROI. Yes, comfort and life expectancy were important; but, did the savings justify the extra expense. Usually?? Yes. We ran a Manual J to demonstrate the value of cellulose over conventional paperback fiberglass batts. Did it cost justify? Usually, yes. However, let me say that not all sales are honest or fully transparent. This stuff goes in cycles and one needs to examine the claim versus the reality. Window