Siding Contractors for Energy Upgrade Research

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TabithaPNNL

New Member
Jul 15, 2022
4
Cocoa, FL
I’m a technician with a national lab working on a residential research project that aims to validate adding ext c.i. during siding replacement (more here: https://www.pnnl.gov/projects/re-siding-ext-insulation). An aspect of my job is to engage siding contractors to partner with us on this project, as a big part of the research is finding out from siding contractors how realistic this approach is from both the technical and marketing sides. We’re aiming for 3 to 5 siding contractors in each of these regions:
  • Buncombe County, NC
  • Charles County, MD
  • Essex County, NJ
I’ve attached our contractor one-pager for anyone curious about benefits and expectations – but here are my main questions:
  1. What is the best way to reach contractors right now?
  2. Is there a method of getting my foot in the door (so to speak) enough so that I can explain that that we aren’t trying to sell them a product in any way, or convince them of anything? Really just trying to offer a free energy upgrade to homeowners and have contractors install it, so that we can gather data to present to the Department of Energy.
  3. Contractor recs in the area?
I am planning on sending out a postcard to companies we’ve identified in our target regions (also attached), but any and all advice/recommendations would be greatly appreciated!
 

Attachments

  • Contractor One Pager.v4.pdf
    873.6 KB · Views: 100
  • ResidingContractorPostcardV2.pdf
    1.2 MB · Views: 103
I'm located in Sussex Co NJ and could use new energy efficient siding.
 
D*mn, I could use this too. But no luck on Long Island.
@kennyp2339 ; try to find a contractor near you, and get them in touch with our friends of PNNL - maybe you can get it arranged that way :)
 
I would target general contractors that are medium in size. We had a renovation done chose the general and then they used their subcontractors that were best suited for the job. A general contractor that has office staff to do billing, track orders ect will have more time for you. And since they are managing severally to many projects at once you you just get better coverage.

If you haven’t been part of an install I highly suggest that. Couple day with the crew helping / observing hands on is helpful.

My guess what you will find is the siding contractors don’t do insulation and I the insulation contractors don’t siding.
 
EbS-P said:
I would target general contractors that are medium in size. We had a renovation done chose the general and then they used their subcontractors that were best suited for the job. A general contractor that has office staff to do billing, track orders ect will have more time for you. And since they are managing severally to many projects at once you you just get better coverage.

If you haven’t been part of an install I highly suggest that. Couple day with the crew helping / observing hands on is helpful.

My guess what you will find is the siding contractors don’t do insulation and I the insulation contractors don’t siding.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, part of the project scope is targeting siding contractors specifically. The idea is that for market adoption to be successful, we need to get the contractors doing siding jobs. We are working with manufacturers to develop install guidance and training to help bridge the gap!
 
TabithaPNNL said:
  1. What is the best way to reach contractors right now?
  2. Is there a method of getting my foot in the door (so to speak) enough so that I can explain that that we aren’t trying to sell them a product in any way, or convince them of anything? Really just trying to offer a free energy upgrade to homeowners and have contractors install it, so that we can gather data to present to the Department of Energy.
  3. Contractor recs in the area?
Click to expand...
Attending a local Building Products (aka Home) Show should be one way of getting access to contractors. You may be able to identify licensed general contractors here at this NC site. https://www.nclbgc.org/
Asheville is a very progressive area and will likely have some general contractors that focus on green building tech.
I wouldn't worry too much about item 2 above. If you've identified that you work for a national lab and they don't want to talk to you you're probably better off without them.
 
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