Fishhawk Lake Folks--Meet an "Energetic" Guy!
Glenn Waer is a homeowner at Fishhawk Lake who not only has built his own cabin with his wife, using reclaimed wood and interior pieces from such buildings as the old Galleria (a downtown Portland shopping mall),
but he also does energy consulting to make your home be the best in saving energy as possible.
Glenn is an artist who works with curly willow as his muse of choice in building tables, bookcases, and whatever you can come up with for him!
Here is his "bio" in his own words:
After getting out of the Air Force I attended a Tech School in Florida for Air Conditioning and Refrigeration systems. I worked in that arena for several years and returned to the Northwest where I learned sheet metal fabrication and installation of HVAC duct work.
I worked for a low income weatherization organization in Idaho and learned how to perform energy audits on existing homes and became theprogram manager between 1982 & 1989.
I then moved to Eugene in 1989 and worked for an Electric Utility in their energy efficient office tending to energy needs of the utility’s customers whether it was energy audits, houseinspections, high bill complaints or new construction of homes being built in our territory.
In 2000, I moved up to Portland and worked at PGE in their newly formed Earth Advantage department which certified new homes being built to sustainable and energy efficient standards. I was the first inspector for the program and as it grew I became the “working manager” and over 10 years we certified close to 11,000 homes with the Earth Advantage & Energy Star certification.
In 2012, I started my own business, Glenn Waer Energy Consulting, dba Willowaer LLC, performing energy inspections for new homes, mostly in the Portland Metro area but I have worked at the coast, Bend, Pendleton, Eugene and even Roseburg. I work as a 3rd party inspector/verifier for contractors who are building to the Energy Trust of Oregon’s Energy Performance Score. The contractor builds to higher energy standards (compared to a code built house) which will generate a certificate that basically tells how much energy consumption the house will use under normal living conditions, and its carbon foot print. I also perform diagnostic air testing on heating systems and for whole house infiltration.
Here is a great example of what Glenn does for home energy testing:
Heating / cooling systems air duct test
This test is performed to see how much air flowing through you furnace system’s air duct is actually making it to your floor or ceiling registers and heating your home. The Northwest Energy Star New Homes protocol specifies that if a duct system has less than 6% air leakage then its considered energy efficient. The 6% is a calculation of the size of your home (square footage) times .06, which gives you a cubic foot per minute (cfm) measurement.
Example: If your house is 2000 sq ft then the most air loss your duct system can have and still be considered energy efficient is 120 cfm. 2000 X .06 = 120
The key element to making your duct system air tight is making sure that any seams, joints, and/or connections that make up your system are properly sealed. The best product for this is called “duct mastic” which is a water based pliable sealant that comes in a bucket and is painted on with a heavy brush or small trowel. Duct tape is NOT allowed on any Energy Star system as it loses its adhesive and sealant strength over years of exposure to the outside elements around the ducting. Duct mastic however stays solid and together once it dries.
The test is completed as follows:
All the air registers in the house, both for supply and return air, are plugged up (the system is turned off for this). Through one of the registers air is pumped into the duct system. A hand held air flow meter that is connected to the fan pumping air inside the ducting measures the pressure difference inside the ducts with respect to outside of them. Air is pumped into the ducts until the pressure reaches a pressure difference of 50 Pascal’s. A Pascal is an accurate pressure measurement used in most air diagnostic testing’s. This meter is also is measuring the amount of air (cfm) going into the duct at a constant rate. This rate going in the ducting means that the air is leaking out of the ducting in unwanted areas. It is this rate that we compare to the 6% calculation already determined as we talked previously in this report. If the rate (cfm) is at 6% or lower your system is real tight. If not then careful inspection of the ducting must be done to determine where the air leaks are, and they must be sealed.
In 2008 he started his Willowaer table & furniture hobby/business and he's continued to have fun building custom
tables and various pieces of furniture using Curly Willow tree parts and reclaimed wood as well. I've hired him to do a large bookshelf for the end of our hall, floor-to-ceiling. Can't wait to see it done!
Get ahold of Glenn at the number below!
Glenn Waer Energy Consulting
dba Willowaer, LLC
CCB# 205823
16266 Hiram Ave
Oregon City, OR 97045
503-701-3165
Years ago I created a Facebook group called Fishhawk Lake Folks (follow the link and become a member). We have 139 members and growing! It's a great way to get connected with the locals, so I thought I would start a blogging series about our Fishhawk Lake Folks as well! Stay tuned...more locals to spotlight.
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