Contractor Panel Highlight: Homeowner Awareness of the Inflation Reduction Act
It has become a year-end tradition here at Energy Circle to check in with other contractors around the country to hear how their year has been, what they are looking forward to in the coming year, and discuss some of the long-term struggles the HVAC, home performance, and solar industries face year after year.
Last month, Energy Circle CEO Peter Troast brought in some familiar faces for our last Webinar Wednesday of 2022, and the Inflation Reduction Act was a popular topic among the group.
Homeowner Awareness of the Inflation Reduction Act
Of course, those paying close attention to the industry are aware of the Inflation Reduction Act (and the ambiguities around its state-level rollout), but what about the target audience of these rebates and incentives — do they know about it?
Peter asked Kevin Brenner (Healthy Home Energy & Consulting in Westchester County, New York, Elena Chrimat (Ideal Energy in Phoenix, Arizona), and Matthew Hargrove (Total Home Performance in Eastern Shore, Maryland) about the interest and awareness of the IRA amongst their respective customer base — here is what they said:
Kevin Brenner - Healthy Home Energy & Consulting
Kevin Brenner is the president and founder of Healthy Home Energy & Consulting (HHEC) in Westchester County, New York. He has earned certifications from the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET), the Building Performance Institute (BPI), and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Healthy Home has been recognized with New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA) awards for Outstanding Performance and Exceptional Service by a contractor.
Elena Chrimat - Ideal Energy
Elena Chrimat co-founded Ideal Energy in 2009 and has since helped lead the company toward its current success and growth. She has at some point in her career worked in all aspects of her business, including doing energy audits and construction, but is now overseeing all operations and development. She is also a founding board member of the Building Performance Association.
Matthew Hargrove - Total Home Performance
Matthew Hargrove is the president of Total Home Performance, located on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The initial concept of Total Home Performance was just to offer energy audits, but it quickly grew into a full-service home performance company. THP now employs 48 people and is an industry leader in its region, winning multiple awards for quality workmanship, most KwH saved on jobs, and total production within various market rates and low-income energy efficiency and healthy home programs, servicing both single-family and multi-family dwellings.