Architect Taylor Bowers and home builder Ethan Collier have joined forces to launch the Chattanooga area’s first building performance consulting company. Building Performance Consulting offers services to homeowners and companies that are seeking to reduce utilities costs and gain a fundamental understanding of building science.
“With the rising costs of energy and the growing awareness of the need for environmental stewardship, the necessity for analyzing and updating our current built environment is increasingly apparent,” Mr. Bowers said.
The consulting company provides third-party review of a building’s performance and recommends effective strategies for achieving optimum efficiency and durability.
Mr. Collier said, “The study of building science has revealed that conditioned structures are complex ecosystems. And a holistic evaluation is the only viable method of creating solutions that reduce energy usage and improve the longevity of a building.”
Mr. Collier also said that the building industry needs more third-party consulting to diagnose building performance and offer remediation plans.
“A large part of this is educating people on why buildings perform the way they do,” says Mr. Collier. “When people understand how a building performs, they are able to make informed decisions on upgrades and rehabilitation.”
He said that moisture control and energy loss are the most common problems he sees in buildings.
Mr. Collier and Mr. Bowers are both LEED accredited professionals and have been involved in the design and construction of LEED certified buildings in Chattanooga — Mr. Bowers as an architect with River Street Architecture and Mr. Collier as president and CEO of Collier Construction.