Everyone wants a home that is safe, comfortable and efficient, but often our homes have poor indoor air quality, are drafty, and are expensive to operate. Building science is a field of study that focuses on these issues. A building system functions very similarly to systems in nature. If one aspect has a problem, it will impact the ability of the entire system to function properly.

If you are looking to create a more comfortable and healthy home, you may want to consider bringing in a trained, building science expert to examine the home's performance and identify areas for improvement. This is important because not all problems will have visible signs (such as indoor air quality), and, even when there are visible signs (such as mold or moisture issues), the cause can be far different from what you might think. Treating an obvious symptom without knowing the real cause can actually make it worse or even create new problems.

For instance, most owners of drafty homes immediately think that air sealing doors and window will solve the problem. Unfortunately, if the drafts are actually coming from the ceiling or floor, sealing doors and windows can make the draft problem worse and impact indoor air quality. A slight amount of air leakage into a home is a normal state, and outside air coming through doors and windows creates a much healthier environment than air moving in from the attic and crawl space. An upgrade done right improves comfort, health, safety, durability, and energy efficiency of a home.

Santa Barbara has a number of experts trained in building science, known as Building Analysts. These analysts are certified by the Building Performance Institute (BPI) through a rigorous course with written and field tests. Unfortunately, there are only a handful of these trained professionals in the area. There is a great need for more Building Analysts, especially given the aging status of the buildings in Santa Barbara.

Through BPI training, Building Analysts are educated in building science and how a home functions as a system. A "building doctor" of sorts, these experts can look at the symptoms in a home, properly identify what is making the building "sick," and suggest the solutions that would fix the problem. BPI coursework includes field training such as:

• Using infrared cameras to look at temperature differences in areas of the house;
• Conducting blower door tests to see how much air leaks out of the house; and
• Performing function and safety testing for carbon monoxide levels and combustion appliance back-draft.

You may want to know how your home is performing, even if there are no visible problems. A home inspection by a Building Analyst can identify even the invisible problems to ensure that you live in a healthy, comfortable, and efficient home. If problems are found, now is a great time to make improvements, as there are currently two local programs available to provide financial assistance to make upgrades. Rebates are available through a statewide program called Energy Upgrade California. Additionally, emPowerSBC is a local program that provides low-cost loans to help finance the upfront costs of upgrades. Both of these programs have a list of preferred contractors to perform the upgrades, and these contractors are required to be BPI certified.

Interested in becoming certified as a BPI Building Analyst?

Two subsidized Building Analyst courses are being offered locally for $100; normally the courses would run around $2,350. The week-long program is well worth the cost. They include classroom lectures, field training, and the two tests for certification.

Building Analysts come from a variety of backgrounds. Participants in the training course may include contractors, green building professionals, students or recent graduates, and other professionals looking to expand their skills. There are no prerequisites for taking the training, and the concentrated style of the course provides all the necessary skills in a short period of time. Two intensive exams ensure that the trainees are ready to conduct home performance testing on their own.

The dates for the upcoming subsidized courses are:

Ventura: May 21-25
Santa Barbara: June 4-8

Click here to find out more and sign up.

For more information contact Ashley Watkins at 805-568-3514 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

A buzz was in the air and Coffee Cat was teeming with people on Saturday, January 21^st. We put the word out about our Carrot Mob on Facebook, Twitter, and our email list, and you (along with hundreds of your neighbors) showed up for the “buy-cott” to help green a local business.

Hundreds of activists came together and bought cups of coffee, crepes, and bags of coffee beans, all in the name of energy efficiency. The mood was upbeat as carrots danced on the street and a band played inside, with bikes stowed next door at Bikestation bike valet. Check out the photos on Facebook >

The results

Carrot Mob was a success!  

From 10am to 3pm, 440 people came to the Carrot Mob to support Coffee Cat’s efforts to go green. And it showed - Coffee Cat’s sales for the day more than doubled! The Carrot Mob produced $1,400 above what Coffee Cat would normally bring in. 100% of those funds will pay for major lighting improvements that will increase energy efficiency and reduce the shop’s carbon footprint.

YOU made energy efficient lighting a reality for Coffee Cat – Thank you! Krista Fritzen, owner of Coffee Cat, is grateful to have the community rally behind her efforts to make the shop more sustainable, and is eagerly preparing for the installation process.

Watch this video from the event:

Next steps

Coffee Cat will be swapping out old, energy-wasting lamps for new, efficient lamps. We’ll take you behind the scenes during the installation so you can check it out for yourself. Stay tuned for updates on Facebook, Twitter, and by email.

Thank you for mobbing, mob again soon!

Thanks to our Partners:

Bikestation, CALPIRG, City of Santa Barbara, Edible Santa Barbara, LoaTree, Plus One Marketing, Santa Barbara Bike Coalition, Santa Barbara High School Dons Net Cafe, The Sustainability Project, Sustanability Socially, and UCSB Environmental Affairs Board.

The buzz has been building and we've been leaking hints. We heard a lot of cat-related guesses on Facebook – Hungry Cat, Wildcat Lounge, Lemos Pet Store, and more. Finally the day is here to let the "cat" out of the bag!

We hope you'll join us in a Carrot Mob for Coffee Cat (1201 Anacapa St., Santa Barbara) on Saturday, January 21 from 10am to 3 pm. We're expecting hundreds of local activists (including you!) to pour into Coffee Cat to reward the business for its commitment to reducing the shop's carbon footprint and making it more energy efficient.

I've never been to a Carrot Mob. What do I do?

Step 1: Visit Coffee Cat on Saturday, January 21.
We'll make you feel right at home. There will be a band to groove to (Holdfast Rifle Co.), a place to park your bike (courtesy of the SB Bicycle Coalition), and people who love to support local businesses.

Step 2: Buy something. Anything.
Whether it's coffee, tea, a snack, a bag of coffee beans, or a tumbler, every purchase on Jan. 21 helps raise money to help Coffee Cat install new energy efficient lighting.

Step 3: Share with your friends.
There's strength in numbers. Check-in to the Carrot Mob on Facebook, upload a photo, post a status update and tweet it (@CECSB #SBcarrotmob) to spread the word!

How do I get there?

• By foot from nearby neighborhoods.
• By bike. Free bike valet will be available at Bikestation, courtesy of the SB Bicycle Coalition and the City of Santa Barbara, and a bike mass will be heading down from Isla Vista (details coming soon).
• By bus (www.sbmtd.gov).
• By car (last resort). Parking available on neighborhood streets.

What will the money pay for?

As a result of the Carrot Mob, Coffee Cat plans on implementing major improvements to the lighting in the shop, including upgrading all of the existing overhead lighting from outdated T12 lamps to much more efficient and cost-effective T8 fluorescent lamps. The replacement of approximately 44 lamps will reduce energy use by about 352 watts per hour, which is a savings of 30%!

Why Coffee Cat?

CEC chose Coffee Cat because the owner and staff are eager to make these changes and have already started putting some work into make the business run more sustainably.

The owner of Coffee Cat, Krista Fritzen, is excited for the upcoming event. She explains, “When I first came to Coffee Cat one of my first goals was to reduce waste and move the store towards more efficiency. The Green Business Program provided a structured way to achieve these goals. Many of the targets were easily achievable, but one of the most heavy-hitting changes ended being the cost associated the lighting upgrades. As a small business owner, it just wasn’t possible for me to make these changes on my own, so I had to put the whole program on the back burner until CEC approached me about holding a Carrot Mob.”

“It is so fulfilling to see them moving forward on the path towards becoming more sustainable” said Frances Gilliland, Program Director of the Green Business Program of Santa Barbara County.

With help from the Carrot Mob, she'll be one step closer to completing the program.

Partners:
The Santa Barbara Carrot Mob on Saturday, January 21 is being organized by the Community Environmental Council, in partnership with Bikestation, CALPIRG, City of Santa Barbara, Edible Santa Barbara, LoaTree, Plus One Marketing, Santa Barbara Bike Coalition, Santa Barbara High School Dons Net Cafe, The Sustainability Project, Sustanability Socially, and UCSB Environmental Affairs Board.

Do you recall the story of the young boy trying to get a stubborn donkey to pull his cart? Rather than making the donkey move by hitting him with a stick, the boy dangled a tasty carrot in front of the donkey to entice him to move forward. In a Carrot Mob, YOU are the carrot that helps a business go green!

Think of a Carrot Mob kind of like a reverse boycott. We use social networks to pack a local business with customers and boost its sales for the day. In return, the business promises to dedicate 100% of the additional sales from that day to making sustainable improvements to its operations. Learn more...

Our next carrot mob is just around the corner

Want the inside scoop? Stay updated on the upcoming Carrot Mob by following CEC on Facebook, and signing up for email action alerts. We’ll be playing trivia games and dropping hints about the secret location in early January. Can you can guess which lucky business will be target of our next Carrot Mob?

Animated explanation of a Carrot Mob