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26 ConneCtiCut Green Guide • Summer 2014 www.CtGreenGuide.com ZERO is the new standard. Energize Connecticut helps you save money and use clean energy. It is an initiative of the Energy Efficiency Fund, the Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority, the State, and your local electric and gas utilities with funding from a charge on customer energy bills. * U.S. Energy Information Administration Residential Energy Consumption Survey, average household energy expenditures for Connecticut, 2009, adjusted for inflation. HAEP24GG Zero-Energy Homes. The smart way to build. Home buyers are more energy-conscious than ever. They know that energy-efficient homes pay off in long-term comfort and savings. Hands-down, they're a better investment. That's why smart builders are designing and building homes to meet the new Zero Energy Home Standards. A Zero Energy Home produces as much energy as it consumes. Zero Energy Homes not only have a huge environmental impact, but an equally significant financial one. That's because the average Connecticut home spends almost $100,000* on energy over 30 years…energy not needed with a Zero Energy Home. Zero energy technology gives both builders and homeowners a wide range of options for conserving and producing energy. And the technology can be incorporated into any home design – and with a minimal impact on final cost. For builders, a Zero Energy Home earns market recognition, boosts sales, and delivers more satisfied customers. That's good for your bottom line. Build better. Build smarter. Contact EnergizeCT to learn more. Find energy solutions for today's home. Call 877-WISE-USE (877-947-3873) Or visit EnergizeCT.com "It is a conundrum that we do run across," Cassidy said. Energy efficiency projects can bypass the need to upgrade the outdoor air intake by classifying the up- grades as simple replacements of the system. Swapping out an old air conditioner for a new one qualifies as a re- placement and doesn't require the current code be met. However, deciding between whether a project is a replacement or an overhaul can be murky waters, and the final classification likely will be made by municipal building inspectors, Jordan said. Installation companies could drum up more business by wrongly classifying a project as a replacement, but then that could lead to issues either during construction, after completion, or with the companies' standards for future projects. "I don't always feel comfortable making that call my- self," Jordan said. "Then it becomes a slippery slope." Even simpler energy efficiency projects like weather- stripping doors and windows can lead to conflicts with indoor air quality, Jordan said. Most older buildings can have unofficial ventilation like operable windows or leaky building envelopes that let in an adequate amount of outside air, Jordan said. If an energy efficiency contractor closes off those unoffi- cial systems, the indoor air quality will suffer if outside air is not brought into the building in some other way. "If a building was counting on that infiltration for fresh air, then indoor air quality could suffer if the building is sealed up," Jordan said. Joe Cassidy, acting state building inspector, at the State Office Building in Hartford. HBJ PHOTO | BRad KaNe Green Fact: In 2013, Connecticut had 161 building projects registered as LEED-certified, more than the previous three years combined. SourCe: u.S. Green buildinG CounCil