About Us| About Green Home Guru |
| Written by Head Guru | |
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Here is where I am supposed to tell you a little bit about myself. For starters, I am not a web programmer or at least not within my comfort zone enough to call myself that. So on occasions, if you see a few formatting issues on this website I am asking you to cut me some slack. What I do have experience in is the arena of the rapidly growing green industry. After 6 year tour in the U.S. Navy, I formally began my career in new product development for a major appliance/building products manufacturer that has operations in 7 countries. I was located at world headquarters in the Engineering department that was the design center for all the group companies. During that time, one of the products that I developed was a line of ventilation fans that used home control technology to provide measured ventilation based upon the size of the home and the number of people living there. It was based on a standard developed by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), that outlined how much ventilation was needed in a home. For a year or so, I ran around our company trying to get someone to look at the concept, but this project was way ahead of the curve and people just looked at me funny. I suppose to many I looked somewhat like Chicken-Little saying "green is coming, green is coming". Most thought it was a cool concept, but didn't know what anyone would need it for. Anyway, green had come and gone once before when they built those funny looking earth homes back in the seventies. Well I finally pinned down the CEO and he gave me a few minutes and let me explain the system. He liked it and made it an official project. It was very fortunate that he did, because as we were getting ready to launch the new line, green building really began to gain momemtum. Our company was positioned with the right product at the right time. After explaining the purpose of this system and how it worked for so long, I got pretty good at it. When we were getting to introduce the system, the CEO and the VP of Marketing thought it might be a good idea if I would explain it to our sales force and our customers. That is when I was thrown over the wall into Marketing. I spent the next 3 years touring the United States and Canada conducting training with contractors, builders, code officials, government agencies and building science organizations. What I began to notice that while green building was picking up steam, almost the entire building industry and almost everyone who's paycheck depended on it, didn't know what green meant. Now I am going to make an exception for the top 2-3% in each area that really know what is going on and a few more percentage points to the building science guys. I have had the opportunity to work with the cream of the crop in each field, so it isn't fair to use a super-wide paint brush. I also found that consumers really got the short-end of the stick on information. They were at the mercy of all of the above (insert previous exception here) and the marketing/advertising arms of manufacturers. Consumers don't have a chance. If you stood in front of a Home Depot and questioned every person that went in on what they could do to become energy-efficient, the overwhelming answer would be "fluorescent bulbs". A few more savvy consumers could tell you that set-back thermostats, efficient windows and insulation would help, but many wouldn't attempt to do it themselves. That is where Green Home Guru comes in. It is our goal to provide news, leading-edge technology and product reviews, recommendations, projects and step-by-step instructions for the everyday consumer. We are here for the everyday homeowner or renter that wants to save money and contribute to improving the environment. That would be if it doesn't cost them a fortune, forcing them to eat organic macaroni and cheese because they can't afford anything else. We will show you how not to break the bank, improve the health and comfort of your family and home, and still contribute to improving the enviroment. It is possible to be energy-efficient and environmentally conscious and we will help you here at Green Home Guru. Sincerely, Head Guru
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