Posted by Romain Strecker on Mon, May 24, 2010
American Building Technologies has partnered up with National Vinyl Products to offer its customers a quality replacement window at the incredibly low price of $450. This offer is only available on windows from National Vinyl and for windows up to 100 unified inches in size.
What are unified inches? To get the unified inches of your window, take the width of your window and add it to the window's height. The resulting number is the unified inches.
Windows over 100 ui and up to 120 ui are $500 installed.
We also offer the full window lines of:
In addition to the low installed cost of these National Vinyl windows, take advantage of the Federal Tax Credit - offered through Energy Star.
As of June 1, 2009, windows, doors, and skylights with U-factor and Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) ratings of less than or equal to 0.30 are eligible for a federal tax credit of 30 percent of the product price, up to $1,500.
There is also a $10 rebate available on Energy Star windows.
These two incentives bring the out of pocket cost for these windows down to $380 per replacement window installed; an incredible value.
Call us today for more details: 617 752 1570
* up to 100 unified inches. Offer expires 7/31/10
Posted by Romain Strecker on Mon, Apr 19, 2010
National Grid & Nstar are offering free air sealing to qualified customers. As a trained and authorized contractor of National Grid & Nstar, American Building Technologies is proud to offer this program to its New England customers. 
Why
Air Sealing is THE MOST cost effective measure that can be performed on a home. It is a "no brainer." Drastic reductions in HVAC use in the summer and furnace bills in the winter are immediately noticed. On average, air sealing cuts energy bills anywhere between 10-25%.
How Much
While it use to cost anywhere from $1200 to $2400 to properly air seal a home, National Grid & Nstar have decided to offer its qualified customers this extremely cost effective measure free of charge.
Who
Our crew chiefs are BPI level 2 certified which means that they will be able to thoroughly diagnoze your home for health and safety issues, before going ahead and air sealing your home.
How 
To find out if you qualify for the free air sealing program from National Grid and Nstar call us at 617 752 1570. We will come out and perform a quick, complimentary audit to see what measures are needed to seal up your home and tell you whether you qualify.
Click here to contact us.
Posted by Romain Strecker on Thu, Mar 25, 2010
Updated March 25th, 2010
American Building Technologies is pleased to offer our customers the new instant, 2010 insulation rebate from National Grid & Nstar. Starting now, our customers will be able to take advantage of this generous rebate from the utility company.
The offer - 75% off our invoice up to $2000.
Have one of our insulation rebate specialists come to your home to explain the benefits of weatherizing and insulating your home. Call 617 752 1570 for an appointment or click here to send us an email.
During your appointment, our insulation rebate specialist will go over the rebate details; as an authorized contractor for National Grid & Nstar, we will arrange an official home energy audit. The audit is a requirement for rebate eligibility.
This audit will be our playbook for weatherizing your home. Based on our home energy audit of your home, we will draw up a custom estimate. Once the work is completed, we will take off 75% off of our invoice (up to $2000). The remaing amount is the only amount that you will ever pay. This rebate is instantaneous. You will not have to wait 6-8 weeks as with previous utility rebates.
Fine Print
Every measure outlined in the official National Grid/Nstar home energy audit must be completed in order to apply for the rebate. Unlike past rebates, customers may not pick and choose which measures they would like to have installed. From an energy efficiency standpoint, if a house is insulated but not air-sealed, for example, the house's insulation value is vastly diminished. For this reason, the utility company is striving to get maximum efficiency out of this new rebate program.
Authorized National Grid & Nstar Insulation Contractor
Our crews have been trained and certified by the National Grid's & Nstar's contractor programs in the latest weatherization techniques. Through this training and our own extensive field experience, we know where to look for air leaks in the building envelope of your home. With the diligence of our crews, we can guarantee that the insulation barrier around your home will be continuous; any breaks will negate other well-insulated places.
Free National Grid & Nstar Air-sealing Program
Through National Grid & Nstar, we are able to offer our customers free air sealing. Call us today for more details.
Contact Us
Please call at 617 752 1570 to have an weatherization rebate specialist come out to your home today. Or send us an email to setup an appointment.
Posted by Romain Strecker on Mon, Mar 22, 2010
By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff | March 18, 2010A $63m push to retrofit housing
BHA project will make units energy efficient
Mayor Thomas M. Menino will announce today what is being billed as the largest energy efficiency overhaul in public housing in the nation’s history, a sweeping initiative designed to save electricity, countless gallons of water, and millions of dollars.
The $63 million renovation will target 4,300 apartments in 13 Boston Housing Authority developments stretching from Brighton to Charlestown. Thousands of leaky toilets will be traded for low-flow models. Power-sucking lights will give way to hyperefficient LEDs and compact fluorescents. And cantankerous, big-as-a-house, oil-guzzling boilers will be upgraded to cleaner natural gas varieties that will allow residents to control their heat.
“When I was growing up, the way you used to cool the place down in the winter was opening the window,’’ said Bill McGonagle, a BHA administrator who lived in a crowded apartment in the Mary Ellen McCormack housing development in South Boston.
The project promises to do more than eliminate the one-temperature-fits-all heating systems that have forced residents to rely on alfresco thermostats. At the Lenox Street development in the South End, a dozen failing tar roofs that absorb heat like a sponge will make way for white surfaces that reflect warmth and for solar panels. On West Dedham Street at the Torre Unidad development, a newfangled cogenerator will use natural gas to heat hot water and produce enough electricity to power the equivalent of roughly 33 single-family homes.
“It’s the nation’s largest public housing energy performance contract, right here in Boston,’’ said Menino, who will announce the project at the Bromley-Heath development in Jamaica Plain, which will benefit from $11.5 million in improvements that will include new bathroom fixtures, revamped heaters, and thermostats. “I think it’s a win-win for everyone in the fact that it is energy efficient and there is no cost to taxpayers because it is paid for with savings generated by improvements.’’
The US Department of Housing and Urban Development, which covers utility costs for Boston public housing units, has agreed to continue paying the same amount for the next 20 years. The Boston Housing Authority will borrow $63 million against those future payments and use the money to pay Framingham-based energy firm Ameresco to complete the three-year project.
After the BHA repays the loan and interest over the next 20 years, taxpayers would save an estimated $7 million annually in utility costs for public housing, said David J. Anderson, an executive vice president at Ameresco.
Click here to read the rest of this article.
Need a Home Energy Audit?
Posted by Romain Strecker on Wed, Mar 17, 2010
The rebate has been officially announced. Starting March 15th, the following 2010 rebate program will take effect.
2010 National Grid Weatherization Rebate Program
National Grid Program Update to participating contractors
National Grid would like to thank all Participating Contractors for a very successful 2009. As a result of your hard work in performing weatherization improvements, hundreds of National Grid Gas customers are benefiting this winter from lower gas usage, increased comfort, and improved overall home performance.
National Grid is continuing to work with the Department of Energy Resources and other Program Administrators in the Commonwealth to finalize its Weatherization Program for 2010. While additional modifications are possible over the next several months, the following changes are being phased in:
- All customers in 1-4 family homes that use natural gas provided by National Grid for heating must have a MassSAVE energy audit before any weatherization improvements are completed to be eligible for rebates through the National Grid Gas Weatherization Program.
- Only measures identified and approved during the MassSAVE energy audit will be eligible for rebates through the National Grid Gas Weatherization Program.
- Program rebates are only available for retrofit work. Weatherization work associated with new construction, additions, renovations, or any other projects where the weatherization work is required to be completed to meet state or local codes are not eligible for program rebates.
For Participating Contractors that already have an established working relationship with a customer, a new toll free number has been dedicated to be used by the Participating Contractors to identify that customer relationship. Participating Contractors can call 1-8**-***-**** to identify customers that they are working with on weatherization projects who need an energy audit to meet the new eligibility requirement. When calling, the Participating Contractors should be prepared to identify the customer by name and service address. The customer name should be the individual that is the National Grid Gas account holder. The MassSAVE Program Vendor will note in the customer record the name of the Participating Contractor.
Only the customer can schedule their energy audit; when they do so MassSAVE will confirm that the customer is indeed working with the Participating Contractor. The MassSAVE Program Vendor will work with the customer to schedule the energy audit as quickly as possible. At the time of the energy audit, the customer will be provided with a Weatherization Recommendations Summary Report that notes the type of weatherization work that is eligible for program rebates.
Participating Contractors will directly contract with the customer for the weatherization work as outlined in the Weatherization Recommendations Summary Report. After the work is completed the Participating Contractor will submit a new 2010 National Grid Gas Weatherization Program Rebate Application to EFI.
For the 2010 National Grid Gas Weatherization Program, all rebates will be paid directly to the Participating Contractor.
Posted by Romain Strecker on Fri, Feb 19, 2010
An R-value indicates an insulation's resistance to heat flow. The higher the R-value, the greater the insulating effectiveness.
In terms of national policy, the energy you save directly at home isn't the only important consideration to reduce dependence on foreign fuel sources and render America less vulnerable to international "blackmail." If you are concerned with America's energy independence you need to understand "embodied erngy." Embodied energy is the erR-value depends on the type of insulation and includes its material, thickness, and density. When calculating the R-value of a multilayered installation, add the R-values of the individual layers. Installing more insulation in your home increases the R-value and the resistance to heat flow.
The effectiveness of an insulation's resistance to heat flow also depends on how and where the insulation is installed. For example, insulation that is compressed will not provide its full rated R-value. The overall R-value of a wall or ceiling will be somewhat different from the R-value of the insulation itself because some heat flows around the insulation through the studs and joists. Therefore, it's important to properly install your insulation to achieve the maximum R-value.
The amount of insulation or R-value you'll need depends on your climate, type of heating and cooling system, and the section of the house you plan to insulate.
Posted by Romain Strecker on Sun, Feb 14, 2010
Announcing the highest R-value insulation on the market:
At American Building Technologies, we are always searching for new insulation techniques and products. We already offer a full range of traditional insulation products:
fiberglass batts
cellulose (loose fill & densepacked)
spray foam (open-cell & closed-cell)
We are now proud to offer nanogel granules and Thermal Wrap that have the highest R-value per inch of any insulation. Nanogel silicas are made at Cabot corporation's state of the art plant in Frankfurt, Germany. These products have different applications:
wall cavities and attics of traditional wood construction homes
brick and masonry walls of historical homes
Nanogel silica have a high thermal resistance (R-9.6) which also yields a superior sound barrier coefficient. It is ideal for small spaces or historical buildings where a change in the building's appearance is not acceptable.
If you would like more information about this product, please click here.
Posted by Romain Strecker on Thu, Feb 04, 2010
Updated February 3rd, 2010
Dear Customers:
We have received the following letter. Please call us to schedule your estimate today. We will take care of all the rebate details to ensure that you receive your rebate.
National Grid Program Update to participating contractors
National Grid would like to thank all Participating Contractors for a very successful 2009. As a result of your hard work in performing weatherization improvements, hundreds of National Grid Gas customers are benefiting this winter from lower gas usage, increased comfort, and improved overall home performance.
As you are aware, the 2009 National Grid Weatherization Program officially ended on December 1, 2009. National Grid is writing today to inform you that the program will resume immediately.
Because at this time National Grid is still finalizing the details of the 2010 National Grid Gas Weatherization Program, the transition period that was previously defined has been extended as follows:
- Participating Contractors will continue to be able to offer the 2009 rebate on eligible weatherization improvements to National Grid Gas residential heating customers on work completed by February 28, 2010.
- Rebate applications for eligible work completed during this transition period must be submitted to the Energy Federation, Inc. (EFI) and be postmarked no later than March 15, 2010 to be eligible for payment.
- Existing Rebate Application Forms may be used during the transition period.
National Grid is continuing to work with the Department of Energy Resources and other Program Administrators in the Commonwealth to finalize its Weatherization Program for 2010. While additional modifications are possible over the next several months, the following changes are being phased in:
- All customers in 1-4 family homes that use natural gas provided by National Grid for heating must have a MassSAVE energy audit before any weatherization improvements are completed to be eligible for rebates through the National Grid Gas Weatherization Program.
- Only measures identified and approved during the MassSAVE energy audit will be eligible for rebates through the National Grid Gas Weatherization Program.
- Program rebates are only available for retrofit work. Weatherization work associated with new construction, additions, renovations, or any other projects where the weatherization work is required to be completed to meet state or local codes are not eligible for program rebates.
For Participating Contractors that already have an established working relationship with a customer, a new toll free number has been dedicated to be used by the Participating Contractors to identify that customer relationship. Participating Contractors can call 1-877-850-8356 to identify customers that they are working with on weatherization projects who need an energy audit to meet the new eligibility requirement. When calling, the Participating Contractors should be prepared to identify the customer by name and service address. The customer name should be the individual that is the National Grid Gas account holder. The MassSAVE Program Vendor will note in the customer record the name of the Participating Contractor.
Only the customer can schedule their energy audit; when they do so MassSAVE will confirm that the customer is indeed working with the Participating Contractor. The MassSAVE Program Vendor will work with the customer to schedule the energy audit as quickly as possible. At the time of the energy audit, the customer will be provided with a Weatherization Recommendations Summary Report that notes the type of weatherization work that is eligible for program rebates.
Participating Contractors will directly contract with the customer for the weatherization work as outlined in the Weatherization Recommendations Summary Report. After the work is completed the Participating Contractor will submit a new 2010 National Grid Gas Weatherization Program Rebate Application to EFI.
For the 2010 National Grid Gas Weatherization Program, all rebates will be paid directly to the Participating Contractor.
Posted by Romain Strecker on Tue, Feb 02, 2010
Updated February 2nd, 2010
Dear Customers:
We have received the following letter. Please call us to schedule your estimate today. We will take care of all the rebate details to ensure that you receive your rebate.
Nstar Program Update to participating contractors
NSTAR is writing today as a follow up to the program update that was sent back on December 9, 2009 regarding changes in the NSTAR Gas Weatherization Program for 2010.
As noted in our last communication, the 2009 NSTAR Gas Weatherization Program officially ended on December 31, 2009. Because at this time NSTAR is still finalizing the details of the 2010 NSTAR Gas Weatherization Program, the transition period that was previously defined has been extended as follows:
- Participating Contractors will continue to be able to offer the 2009 rebate on eligible weatherization improvements to NSTAR Gas residential heating customers on work completed by February 28, 2010.
- Rebate applications for eligible work completed during this transition period must be submitted to the Energy Federation, Inc. (EFI) and be postmarked no later than March 15, 2010 to be eligible for payment.
- Existing Rebate Application Forms may be used during the transition period.
NSTAR is continuing to work with the Department of Energy Resources and other Program Administrators in the Commonwealth to finalize its Weatherization Program for 2010. While additional modifications are possible over the next several months, the following changes are being phased in:
- All customers in 1-4 family homes that use natural gas provided by NSTAR for heating must have a MassSAVE energy audit before any weatherization improvements are completed to be eligible for rebates through the NSTAR Gas Weatherization Program.
- Only measures identified and approved during the MassSAVE energy audit will be eligible for rebates through the NSTAR Gas Weatherization Program.
- Program rebates are only available for retrofit work. Weatherization work associated with new construction, additions, renovations, or any other projects where the weatherization work is required to be completed to meet state or local codes are not eligible for program rebates.
For Participating Contractors that already have an established working relationship with a customer, a new toll free number has been dedicated to be used by the Participating Contractors to identify that customer relationship. Participating Contractors can call 1-877-850-8356 to identify customers that they are working with on weatherization projects who need an energy audit to meet the new eligibility requirement. When calling, the Participating Contractors should be prepared to identify the customer by name and service address. The customer name should be the individual that is the NSTAR Gas account holder. The MassSAVE Program Vendor will note in the customer record the name of the Participating Contractor.
Only the customer can schedule their energy audit; when they do so MassSAVE will confirm that the customer is indeed working with the Participating Contractor. The MassSAVE Program Vendor will work with the customer to schedule the energy audit as quickly as possible. At the time of the energy audit, the customer will be provided with a Weatherization Recommendations Summary Report that notes the type of weatherization work that is eligible for program rebates.
Participating Contractors will directly contract with the customer for the weatherization work as outlined in the Weatherization Recommendations Summary Report. After the work is completed the Participating Contractor will submit a new 2010 NSTAR Gas Weatherization Program Rebate Application to EFI.
For the 2010 NSTAR Gas Weatherization Program, all rebates will be paid directly to the Participating Contractor.
Posted by Romain Strecker on Fri, Jan 15, 2010
Updated January 15th, 2010
Dear Customers:
We have received word from National Grid that they are extending their current 2009 rebate program until the end of January 2010. The current rebate remain at 75% of the invoice up to $2000. The work must be completed by January 31st and the rebate must be postmarked by that day as well. For those customers who have already received estimates from us and would like to take advantage of the current rebate, please give us a call to schedule a work date. For new customers, we still have quite a few openings left before the end of the month. We are able to come out most business days and weekends. Please call us at 617 752 1570.