Green energy business is tepid, contractors say

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PETER PEREIRA/The Standard-Times Jeff Martin of Stevens Home Improvement, installs new vinyl siding at a home in Fairhaven recently.

An increase in energy audit requests by local homeowners is not translating into a corresponding boost in energy-related home improvement jobs, say local contractors, a fact many find frustrating.

It's not that business is not good, said Steven Alves, owner of Stevens Home Improvement in Fairhaven. The past year has brought back some of his pre-recession busy-ness, Alves said, and allowed him to once again say no to jobs that are located too far away.

But he's still finding that jobs using energy efficient equipment are an afterthought for many homeowners.

"In our company, we push energy efficiency a lot. We're always talking about upgrading attic insulation or getting windows triple pane instead of double pane," said Alves. "But overall there hasn't been a big push. It's just sort of been let me fix up the house, I'm going to be staying here; we're not selling.'"

For example, Alves said, last week his company was finishing up a vinyl siding job that will also boost insulation for a Sconticut Neck home. But the insulation piece of the job came only after Stevens raised energy issues and offered the homeowner specific suggestions.

"It's not the primary reason (for the call); it's secondary," noted Alves. "It only happened when we asked, 'Do you realize you can also get vinyl siding insulated?'"

Carol Fisher, a builder/designer and owner of Center Caf in New Bedford's South End agreed with Alves. Fisher designed her eco-friendly caf using energy efficient products and believes strongly in the benefits of doing that.

Even so, she said, "I think contractors are still finding it hard to get traction around energy upgrades."

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Green energy business is tepid, contractors say