The following are examples of BSI’s clients and their projects that demonstrate the firm’s expertise and broad range of experience:
Jackson Barracks & Louisiana National Guard HQ renovation. It is located at the down-river end of the City of New Orleans. BSI provided two-dimensional WUFI analysis of the “rising damp” problems associated with 200-year, historic buildings that were being converted from their original use into modern living quarters. Three-course-thick brick and mortar walls and foundations with their feet resting in standing water at all times should not fail when their walls are being continuously dried toward the inside and wetted on the outside by active cooling for six or more months at a time each year.
The new Marine Force Reserve’s National HQ 400,000 sq ft commercial office building needed to be designed for 70 years of durability. Located in the Federal City development in Algiers LA, this facility’s walls were to be made of cast concrete with metal cross members that served various structural purposes. However, the design called for little to no exterior weatherproofing beyond the concrete walls so moisture flows were to be expected. The resulting wall would then experience challenging heat and moisture flows. Our WUFI analysis allowed us to choose the optimal insulation solution that both minimized heat flows and protected the metal components from failure during the 70-year design horizon.
Borders Books had purchased a landmark, historic building on the corner of St Charles and Louisiana Avenues in Uptown New Orleans. Because it was deemed historic, its façade of wooden “weatherboards” could not be removed. This presented a major air-conditioning design problem because books do not tolerate moisture intrusion without rapid deterioration. Using WUFI as an analysis tool and one of BSI’s novel insulation approach, a solution was found that handled all challenges: 1) keep historic façade without moving it, 2) expect and control for rainwater intrusion that will inevitably pass thorough this “rainwater impeding” façade, 3) reject heat flows from ambient temperature differences as well as spots where direct sunlight will hit the exterior, 4) provide space for insulation that will significantly retard heat flows, and 5) provide back-up moisture holding ability so that failure of any system will not cause a wall failure, that could either degrade a wall structurally or grow mold.
Belle Reve is a non-profit organization serving the HIV/AIDS population of New Orleans. It’s main office building suffered from a host of moisture problems caused by many building construction defects. BSI was called in to remedy the problems. BSI redesigned insulation, cooling, and rain-water drainage among other issues. BSI also provided expert testimony.
The Chabad House Jewish Students’ Center serving Tulane University was in the midst of a major rebuilding effort when its architectural and mechanical plans needed to be substantially revised. BSI provided plans that incorporated relatively novel HVAC equipment and insulation systems. This allowed it to enjoy an annual operating budget of around 1/10 of a nearby building built with a similar design goal but only about 2 or 3 times the volume.
BSI was called in to help, Clear World, a Harahan, LA company, develop a new business based upon the idea that normal electricity distribution poles could double as sites to install solar panels wrapped around them. BSI provided expert technical support at the early stages of the development of this business.
The Hillel House Jewish Center serves Tulane University. It was stricken with the “double-whammy” of extreme rain-water intrusion during a hurricane within the year that it was built and a one-week-long power outage which precluded rapid floor drying. BSI was called in to ascertain the root cause and help solve the problem. BSI used its expert knowledge of heat and moisture flow through wooden materials to provide testimony.
BSI bid on a project and competition for District Heating in Mongolia. The problem involved designing a “stove” to be used in a Yurt-like structure common in that country. The goal was to provide a device that would be low on pollutants but provide good to very good heating using a plentiful fuel source.
From early 2004 until just before Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, the City of New Orleans developed the design and created a national competition to administer NOEEP, New Orleans Energy Efficiency Programs. BSI’s two principals were in the three-man, local team chosen with Honeywell to run NOEEP. NOEEP was curtailed when the City Council withdrew its funding in the aftermath of Katrina’s destruction.
Following Katrina, the City chose to take bold steps to rebuild smarter and began encouraging improvements in Energy Policy. For example, it was deemed a Solar City by DOE. After a misstep when establishing its Net-Energy-Metering policy, the City Council formed the New Orleans Energy Policy Task Force in order to get broad public input and consensus for the future decision making. The named leadership of a city-councilperson and a prominent businessman was good PR but not adequately technical. BSI stepped in as did a few other groups to help provide the needed technical knowledge and top leadership.
Louisiana’s state government has a decades-old tax law to encourage the national film production industry to set-up shop in our state. This created an entourage of films produced in New Orleans and a backlog of “Theatrical Office Space”. Such a building use had been heretofore unheard of in New Orleans particularly since it required two grossly incompatible uses to coexist in the same structure: Office space on the top floor and unconditioned set construction and vehicular space on the ground floor. The Theatrical Storage Building @ Constance project broke new ground for any design because the construction not only had the above challenges but was to be a renovation of an existing 100-year old warehouse wholly constructed of wood but already clad in corrugated steel. On top of this, somehow, it had already been declared historic! BSI provided one of its novel wall insulation systems and offered support for redesigning floor, roof and HVAC systems as well.
BSI worked with and within the Regen Group on a public policy project proposal to simultaneously address the crime, unemployment and housing problems rampant in New Orleans in the years following Hurricane Katrina. We developed the Sustainable New Orleans Plan to address these problems with a coordinated solution which would have created a steady stream of small businesses turning out construction services and “sustainable homes.” See presentation on this in Publications page.
BSI’s client Division 9 LLC provides flooring solutions to large commercial development projects. In one case, for one of their clients, the top floor application failed. BSI was called in to ascertain fault and provide the quickest remedy.
Community Solar (CS) means more than one person or company shares ownership of a solar array. Although not uncommon outside of the US and already done in 20 jurisdictions in the US, CS is hardly common near New Orleans. BSI has advocated for CS within the Integrated Resource Plan of Entergy New Orleans. CS can install and deliver electricity at or below wholesale prices. This was done via the introduction of a Community Solar Pilot program. This public policy can simultaneously lower the need for a new power plant and provide free access to solar ownership to some low-income residents.
A home on Pine St is the location of a renovation in uptown New Orleans where the resident’s life-threatening illness made exposure to mold unacceptable. The resulting renovation included removal of a host of health hazards including the ducted HVAC system. Proposed in the renovation was a way to replace the cooling system with ductless equipment at lower first cost and far, far lower future operating costs. The recommended addition of a heat pump water heater would also help ameliorate both problems just mentioned.
In the process of preparing BSI’s August 2015 intervention submission to the 2015 Entergy New Orleans (ENO) Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) process, BSI realized that there were just too many new technologies facing the transition from a 20th century utility to a 21st century electric utility. Consequently, an IRP could not be calculated. BSI set about to create a continuously effective and market-based way to approach an IRP’s goal via an electricity pricing method. BSI invented Customer Lowered Electricity Price (CLEP) to fill this void. CLEP was introduced to the 2015 ENO IRP docket in November of 2015 and has enjoyed continued development and promotion ever since.
BSI realized in 2013 that classical Energy Efficiency (EE) was neither the appropriate goal of Demand Side Management nor building energy design nor was it inclusive of most of the ways to reach the right goal. Consequently, BSI conceptualized the notion: (PEC) “Primary Energy Conservation”, i.e., conserving the fuels (primary energy) used to run electricity generators. BSI submits that PEC is the right goal and EE is just one of many means toward that goal. Following that revelation, BSI began offering talks entitled First Principles of Energy Conservation.
BSI realized that a major unmet need of residents and in fact most building owners was reliable electricity. This meant, fewer interruptions, better power quality and resilience following a major weather event. In 2014 BSI formed a working group in order to apply for a DOE grant to promote the introduction of batteries in all buildings. One leg of that idea is called Inverted Demand Compliant Construction which BSI presented at the 2014 national EEBA conference. It proposes home batteries big enough to run a home for a day in standard mode that just happens to be very close to what is need to power a home for a week in emergency circuits only mode. BSI’s calculations showed that they are more cost-effective than rooftop solar and can be financed by cash flows already existent on both side of the meter.
BSI’s stable of roof and wall insulation solutions is proud to include this one. It recognizes that a roof/attic insulation system must allow moisture to escape up, reject radiant heat flow down, and slow down heat flows in both directions throughout the year. This solution is best for the so-called “unvented attic” or “cathedralized attic” popularized by Joe Lstiburek in the last 1990’s and early 2000’s but is well adapted to the "Hot and Humid climate" common in the southeastern US. BSI does not favor the use of blown-in foam onto wood in the New Orleans climate for a variety of reasons.
BSI is proud of its solution to closing open crawl spaces. Open crawl spaces are a very common architectural feature of homes in and near New Orleans… BUT, they almost invariably, raise energy bills and allow moisture flows which contribute to raise energy bills and the potential for health threatening and building durability undermining moisture concentrations. Unfortunately, FEMA has incorrectly required that homes in New Orleans should purposely insure that crawl space walls are insufficiently closed during a flood to keep storm water out. This rule has been misinterpreted to mean always open. The above contra-indications seem unreconcilable. But not for BSI. We have an elegant closed crawl space specification that is amazing inexpensive.
In order to support an Energy Rater Trainer certification, one of BSI’s principals was required to pass through a RESNET-established Combustion Appliance Zone (CAZ) testing protocol. However, going through the study and testing generated so many open questions, that BSI wrote a critique of the RESNET test in January of 2014. Within a month RESNET withdrew the test and embarked on a whole new protocol to create a new standard. BSI is proud to have been the critical link that initiated that process.
Jackson Barracks & Louisiana National Guard HQ renovation. It is located at the down-river end of the City of New Orleans. BSI provided two-dimensional WUFI analysis of the “rising damp” problems associated with 200-year, historic buildings that were being converted from their original use into modern living quarters. Three-course-thick brick and mortar walls and foundations with their feet resting in standing water at all times should not fail when their walls are being continuously dried toward the inside and wetted on the outside by active cooling for six or more months at a time each year.
The new Marine Force Reserve’s National HQ 400,000 sq ft commercial office building needed to be designed for 70 years of durability. Located in the Federal City development in Algiers LA, this facility’s walls were to be made of cast concrete with metal cross members that served various structural purposes. However, the design called for little to no exterior weatherproofing beyond the concrete walls so moisture flows were to be expected. The resulting wall would then experience challenging heat and moisture flows. Our WUFI analysis allowed us to choose the optimal insulation solution that both minimized heat flows and protected the metal components from failure during the 70-year design horizon.
Borders Books had purchased a landmark, historic building on the corner of St Charles and Louisiana Avenues in Uptown New Orleans. Because it was deemed historic, its façade of wooden “weatherboards” could not be removed. This presented a major air-conditioning design problem because books do not tolerate moisture intrusion without rapid deterioration. Using WUFI as an analysis tool and one of BSI’s novel insulation approach, a solution was found that handled all challenges: 1) keep historic façade without moving it, 2) expect and control for rainwater intrusion that will inevitably pass thorough this “rainwater impeding” façade, 3) reject heat flows from ambient temperature differences as well as spots where direct sunlight will hit the exterior, 4) provide space for insulation that will significantly retard heat flows, and 5) provide back-up moisture holding ability so that failure of any system will not cause a wall failure, that could either degrade a wall structurally or grow mold.
Belle Reve is a non-profit organization serving the HIV/AIDS population of New Orleans. It’s main office building suffered from a host of moisture problems caused by many building construction defects. BSI was called in to remedy the problems. BSI redesigned insulation, cooling, and rain-water drainage among other issues. BSI also provided expert testimony.
The Chabad House Jewish Students’ Center serving Tulane University was in the midst of a major rebuilding effort when its architectural and mechanical plans needed to be substantially revised. BSI provided plans that incorporated relatively novel HVAC equipment and insulation systems. This allowed it to enjoy an annual operating budget of around 1/10 of a nearby building built with a similar design goal but only about 2 or 3 times the volume.
BSI was called in to help, Clear World, a Harahan, LA company, develop a new business based upon the idea that normal electricity distribution poles could double as sites to install solar panels wrapped around them. BSI provided expert technical support at the early stages of the development of this business.
The Hillel House Jewish Center serves Tulane University. It was stricken with the “double-whammy” of extreme rain-water intrusion during a hurricane within the year that it was built and a one-week-long power outage which precluded rapid floor drying. BSI was called in to ascertain the root cause and help solve the problem. BSI used its expert knowledge of heat and moisture flow through wooden materials to provide testimony.
BSI bid on a project and competition for District Heating in Mongolia. The problem involved designing a “stove” to be used in a Yurt-like structure common in that country. The goal was to provide a device that would be low on pollutants but provide good to very good heating using a plentiful fuel source.
From early 2004 until just before Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, the City of New Orleans developed the design and created a national competition to administer NOEEP, New Orleans Energy Efficiency Programs. BSI’s two principals were in the three-man, local team chosen with Honeywell to run NOEEP. NOEEP was curtailed when the City Council withdrew its funding in the aftermath of Katrina’s destruction.
Following Katrina, the City chose to take bold steps to rebuild smarter and began encouraging improvements in Energy Policy. For example, it was deemed a Solar City by DOE. After a misstep when establishing its Net-Energy-Metering policy, the City Council formed the New Orleans Energy Policy Task Force in order to get broad public input and consensus for the future decision making. The named leadership of a city-councilperson and a prominent businessman was good PR but not adequately technical. BSI stepped in as did a few other groups to help provide the needed technical knowledge and top leadership.
Louisiana’s state government has a decades-old tax law to encourage the national film production industry to set-up shop in our state. This created an entourage of films produced in New Orleans and a backlog of “Theatrical Office Space”. Such a building use had been heretofore unheard of in New Orleans particularly since it required two grossly incompatible uses to coexist in the same structure: Office space on the top floor and unconditioned set construction and vehicular space on the ground floor. The Theatrical Storage Building @ Constance project broke new ground for any design because the construction not only had the above challenges but was to be a renovation of an existing 100-year old warehouse wholly constructed of wood but already clad in corrugated steel. On top of this, somehow, it had already been declared historic! BSI provided one of its novel wall insulation systems and offered support for redesigning floor, roof and HVAC systems as well.
BSI worked with and within the Regen Group on a public policy project proposal to simultaneously address the crime, unemployment and housing problems rampant in New Orleans in the years following Hurricane Katrina. We developed the Sustainable New Orleans Plan to address these problems with a coordinated solution which would have created a steady stream of small businesses turning out construction services and “sustainable homes.” See presentation on this in Publications page.
BSI’s client Division 9 LLC provides flooring solutions to large commercial development projects. In one case, for one of their clients, the top floor application failed. BSI was called in to ascertain fault and provide the quickest remedy.
Community Solar (CS) means more than one person or company shares ownership of a solar array. Although not uncommon outside of the US and already done in 20 jurisdictions in the US, CS is hardly common near New Orleans. BSI has advocated for CS within the Integrated Resource Plan of Entergy New Orleans. CS can install and deliver electricity at or below wholesale prices. This was done via the introduction of a Community Solar Pilot program. This public policy can simultaneously lower the need for a new power plant and provide free access to solar ownership to some low-income residents.
A home on Pine St is the location of a renovation in uptown New Orleans where the resident’s life-threatening illness made exposure to mold unacceptable. The resulting renovation included removal of a host of health hazards including the ducted HVAC system. Proposed in the renovation was a way to replace the cooling system with ductless equipment at lower first cost and far, far lower future operating costs. The recommended addition of a heat pump water heater would also help ameliorate both problems just mentioned.
In the process of preparing BSI’s August 2015 intervention submission to the 2015 Entergy New Orleans (ENO) Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) process, BSI realized that there were just too many new technologies facing the transition from a 20th century utility to a 21st century electric utility. Consequently, an IRP could not be calculated. BSI set about to create a continuously effective and market-based way to approach an IRP’s goal via an electricity pricing method. BSI invented Customer Lowered Electricity Price (CLEP) to fill this void. CLEP was introduced to the 2015 ENO IRP docket in November of 2015 and has enjoyed continued development and promotion ever since.
BSI realized in 2013 that classical Energy Efficiency (EE) was neither the appropriate goal of Demand Side Management nor building energy design nor was it inclusive of most of the ways to reach the right goal. Consequently, BSI conceptualized the notion: (PEC) “Primary Energy Conservation”, i.e., conserving the fuels (primary energy) used to run electricity generators. BSI submits that PEC is the right goal and EE is just one of many means toward that goal. Following that revelation, BSI began offering talks entitled First Principles of Energy Conservation.
BSI realized that a major unmet need of residents and in fact most building owners was reliable electricity. This meant, fewer interruptions, better power quality and resilience following a major weather event. In 2014 BSI formed a working group in order to apply for a DOE grant to promote the introduction of batteries in all buildings. One leg of that idea is called Inverted Demand Compliant Construction which BSI presented at the 2014 national EEBA conference. It proposes home batteries big enough to run a home for a day in standard mode that just happens to be very close to what is need to power a home for a week in emergency circuits only mode. BSI’s calculations showed that they are more cost-effective than rooftop solar and can be financed by cash flows already existent on both side of the meter.
BSI’s stable of roof and wall insulation solutions is proud to include this one. It recognizes that a roof/attic insulation system must allow moisture to escape up, reject radiant heat flow down, and slow down heat flows in both directions throughout the year. This solution is best for the so-called “unvented attic” or “cathedralized attic” popularized by Joe Lstiburek in the last 1990’s and early 2000’s but is well adapted to the "Hot and Humid climate" common in the southeastern US. BSI does not favor the use of blown-in foam onto wood in the New Orleans climate for a variety of reasons.
BSI is proud of its solution to closing open crawl spaces. Open crawl spaces are a very common architectural feature of homes in and near New Orleans… BUT, they almost invariably, raise energy bills and allow moisture flows which contribute to raise energy bills and the potential for health threatening and building durability undermining moisture concentrations. Unfortunately, FEMA has incorrectly required that homes in New Orleans should purposely insure that crawl space walls are insufficiently closed during a flood to keep storm water out. This rule has been misinterpreted to mean always open. The above contra-indications seem unreconcilable. But not for BSI. We have an elegant closed crawl space specification that is amazing inexpensive.
In order to support an Energy Rater Trainer certification, one of BSI’s principals was required to pass through a RESNET-established Combustion Appliance Zone (CAZ) testing protocol. However, going through the study and testing generated so many open questions, that BSI wrote a critique of the RESNET test in January of 2014. Within a month RESNET withdrew the test and embarked on a whole new protocol to create a new standard. BSI is proud to have been the critical link that initiated that process.