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June 09. 2012 9:42PM
Mike Turcotte, founder of Turn Cycle Solutions, gives a tutorial on the energy audit software he uses. The TREAT (Targeted Retrofit Energy Analysis Tool) program calculates cost savings for many of the energy improvements a client might opt for. (Simón Rios)
Energy efficiency — one home at a time
Mike Turcotte, founder of Turn Cycle Solutions, gives a tutorial on the energy audit software he uses. The TREAT (Targeted Retrofit Energy Analysis Tool) program calculates cost savings for many of the energy improvements a client might opt for. (Simón Rios)
NASHUA — When Mike Turcotte said he was going into the energy efficiency business, a blue-collar guy skeptical of such green matters scoffed at him. But by the time his 26-year old son won the U.S. Small Business Administration's 2012 Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in April, Turcotte's father was a bit more open to the idea.
Nashua native Mike Turcotte is the owner and founder of the energy auditing firm Turn Cycle Solutions, founded in 2009. Much like Southern New Hampshire Services — which Turcotte worked for after graduating — the company advises homeowners as to the simple home improvements that can save then between 10 and 46 percent of energy costs.
An onrush of subsidies from the private and public sectors only sweeten the deal, Turcotte said, incentivizing homeowners to go ahead with improving their homes.
A graduate in business administration, Turcotte saw a niche in the trending industries market, where federal stimulus money was set to begin flowing. Where SNHS works with low-income properties via federal and state grants, much of that money is also available to the general public through companies like Turn Cycle.
Starting as a one-man show, Turcotte seized the opportunity. “We maximize the opportunity of all the rebates that are available to every client,” he said.
“These (federal) programs move money so often and so fluently that no homeowner, never mind a contractor, can keep up ... The volatility of all this money moving around makes it very hard for contractors and the general community.”
Turn Cycle Solutions uses a winter hat and socks analogy to illustrate the weatherization of a house. A house needs a sealed off roof and rim joists if it is to efficiency retain heat. Replacement windows are the last recommendation.
“We go in, we look at the building and find the inefficiencies, and then we show the (homeowner), 'Here's your inefficiencies, and here's the monies that are available to you to help defer some of the install costs.' ”
Much of it comes down to sealing off holes, for instance, left by electricians installing ceiling appliances. Insulation standards have changed dramatically over the years — lining an attic floor with the right material, and sealing off holes can cut an energy bill by up to 9 percent, Turcotte said.
Turcotte said on one $3,000 job, a homeowner was left with a $244 bill. National Grid will sometimes cover up to $4,000 in costs, and PSNH also subsidizes energy-saving initiatives.
Working out of a small office in downtown Nashua, Turcotte employs seven full-time workers, three of them salaried. So far this year the company's revenue is equal to that of the entire previous year, and each year it has doubled in size.
Most of his work involves educating not only homeowners, but people in all aspects of the building industry. “We're searching out people like realtors and property management companies because, think about it, they're on the front line,” he said. “Every time someone moves into a new home they should be told how efficient or inefficient a house is, and they should be recommending people getting energy audits.”
The biggest challenge is monetizing the intangible service Turn Cycle Solutions provides. Turcotte said it needs to be done at the ground level, actually showing policymakers how much can be saved.
“That's what's going to revolutionize the industry,” Turcotte said, stopping short of prescribing how that could be done from a policy standpoint.
BetterBuildings NH provides customers a $250 rebate on a Turn Cycle energy audit. In 2010 it was announced by the federal Department of Energy that the BetterBuildings program would receive $10 million, according Katherine Peters, the program's director.
BBNH is designed to get people in Nashua, Plymouth, and Berlin to increase the comfort in their homes and businesses by using energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions.
Apart from dispersing grant money to companies such as Turn Cycle, BBNH works with groups such as Nashua Chamber of Commerce, Nashua YMCA, Nashua Home Builders and Remodelers Association and the city library to spread the word about energy waste and what can be done to stop it.
BBNH also writes low-interest loans for homeowners to make energy improvements.
Peters said that if a house's consumption is reduced by 15 to 19 percent, a $250 rebate is issued; $500 is given if 20 to 29 percent is saved; and $750 is given when efficiency increases by 30 percent or more.
With nearly 100 percent growth every year at Turn Cycle, Turcotte said his company will have to diversify into other aspects of the building trade.
He sees huge opportunity in the aging of the baby boomers.
“If I achieve my goals I would love to start looking at elderly housing,” he said, because they're some of the largest energy consumers in the entire world right now.”
Simon Rios may be reached at srios@newstote.com.
Nashua native Mike Turcotte is the owner and founder of the energy auditing firm Turn Cycle Solutions, founded in 2009. Much like Southern New Hampshire Services — which Turcotte worked for after graduating — the company advises homeowners as to the simple home improvements that can save then between 10 and 46 percent of energy costs.
An onrush of subsidies from the private and public sectors only sweeten the deal, Turcotte said, incentivizing homeowners to go ahead with improving their homes.
A graduate in business administration, Turcotte saw a niche in the trending industries market, where federal stimulus money was set to begin flowing. Where SNHS works with low-income properties via federal and state grants, much of that money is also available to the general public through companies like Turn Cycle.
Starting as a one-man show, Turcotte seized the opportunity. “We maximize the opportunity of all the rebates that are available to every client,” he said.
“These (federal) programs move money so often and so fluently that no homeowner, never mind a contractor, can keep up ... The volatility of all this money moving around makes it very hard for contractors and the general community.”
Turn Cycle Solutions uses a winter hat and socks analogy to illustrate the weatherization of a house. A house needs a sealed off roof and rim joists if it is to efficiency retain heat. Replacement windows are the last recommendation.
“We go in, we look at the building and find the inefficiencies, and then we show the (homeowner), 'Here's your inefficiencies, and here's the monies that are available to you to help defer some of the install costs.' ”
Much of it comes down to sealing off holes, for instance, left by electricians installing ceiling appliances. Insulation standards have changed dramatically over the years — lining an attic floor with the right material, and sealing off holes can cut an energy bill by up to 9 percent, Turcotte said.
Turcotte said on one $3,000 job, a homeowner was left with a $244 bill. National Grid will sometimes cover up to $4,000 in costs, and PSNH also subsidizes energy-saving initiatives.
Working out of a small office in downtown Nashua, Turcotte employs seven full-time workers, three of them salaried. So far this year the company's revenue is equal to that of the entire previous year, and each year it has doubled in size.
Most of his work involves educating not only homeowners, but people in all aspects of the building industry. “We're searching out people like realtors and property management companies because, think about it, they're on the front line,” he said. “Every time someone moves into a new home they should be told how efficient or inefficient a house is, and they should be recommending people getting energy audits.”
The biggest challenge is monetizing the intangible service Turn Cycle Solutions provides. Turcotte said it needs to be done at the ground level, actually showing policymakers how much can be saved.
“That's what's going to revolutionize the industry,” Turcotte said, stopping short of prescribing how that could be done from a policy standpoint.
BetterBuildings NH provides customers a $250 rebate on a Turn Cycle energy audit. In 2010 it was announced by the federal Department of Energy that the BetterBuildings program would receive $10 million, according Katherine Peters, the program's director.
BBNH is designed to get people in Nashua, Plymouth, and Berlin to increase the comfort in their homes and businesses by using energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions.
Apart from dispersing grant money to companies such as Turn Cycle, BBNH works with groups such as Nashua Chamber of Commerce, Nashua YMCA, Nashua Home Builders and Remodelers Association and the city library to spread the word about energy waste and what can be done to stop it.
BBNH also writes low-interest loans for homeowners to make energy improvements.
Peters said that if a house's consumption is reduced by 15 to 19 percent, a $250 rebate is issued; $500 is given if 20 to 29 percent is saved; and $750 is given when efficiency increases by 30 percent or more.
With nearly 100 percent growth every year at Turn Cycle, Turcotte said his company will have to diversify into other aspects of the building trade.
He sees huge opportunity in the aging of the baby boomers.
“If I achieve my goals I would love to start looking at elderly housing,” he said, because they're some of the largest energy consumers in the entire world right now.”
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Simon Rios may be reached at srios@newstote.com.