Buck Taylor has been a leader in promoting energy efficient and sustainable home construction the late 1970's. He brings a unique combination of real world experience as a builder and in-depth technical training and experience. This, combined with a personal and professional commitment to sustainability, makes him a great asset to Artform Home Plans.

Wendy first met Buck at a small meeting of Chief Architect ® users who get together to share knowledge. Chief Architect® is the software we use to model all our designs. It's also a great energy analysis tool. It let's us quickly perform Sun Studies, to see look at both opportunities for passive solar gain when it's wanted, and the impact of roof overhangs to avoid overheating in summer months for a specific location. It lets us quickly extract data on glass, wall and roof area - a critical part of energy analysis. When we realized how compatible our methods and goals were, but how much additional targeted expertise Buck could provide, it was clear we wanted Buck on our Green Team. His very first project for us demonstrated that value, and we haven't looked back since.

Residential Construction.

• Involved in family construction business since 1979.
• Led company design and development and construction of 100's of energy-efficient homes since the mid-1988.
• Responsible for bringing design of energy-efficient homes in-house, and provided customers with 3-D renderings of proposed houses long before competitors even used CAD.
• Many homes certified under Energy Crafted and Energy Star Homes programs.

Technical

• Program manager at Northeast Utilities Service Company (NUSCO) for residential new construction efficiency programs.
• Was involved in early Home Energy Rating (HERS) development with RESNET and the EPA. Was one of the first HERS raters in the nation and formed and accredited HERS staff at NUSCO. Evaluated 100's of homes throughout New England.
• Led the development of the SmartLiving ™ Center in Newington, CT where resources for Connecticut consumers were available on energy-efficient construction (and remodeling), mechanical systems, lights and appliances. Buck and his staff provided weekly seminars to full audiences on the various topics involved in residential construction.
• Program manager at NUSCO for residential HVAC efficiency programs. Developed and administered a ground-loop installation program for Connecticut to develop GeoExchange industry.
• Was a member of IGSHPA and the Geothermal Heat Pump Consortium as was as an IGSHPA certified ground-loop installer. Involved in the installation of 100's of ground-source heat pumps in CT, MA and NH. Also responsible for residential HVAC tune-up and installation programs. Provided technical support for several equipment research projects where various mechanical systems were evaluated and monitored for in-field (in-situ) performance. Also worked with several major HVAC manufacturers on the development, installation and monitoring of several heat pump appliances (hot water heat pump and cold climate heat pump).
• Buck provides training to HVAC technicians on the use of various advanced diagnostic tools used in performance testing and commissioning of HVAC systems, including the Honeywell Service Assistant. Recent training activities include HVAC technician training in California, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Texas.
• Buck currently serves as a technical consultant for the EPA's residential and commercial HVAC programs, field trainer for the Massachusetts COOL SMART residential HVAC program (QIV), NSTAR Commercial Roof-top HVAC Program, CL&P/UI Residential Tune-up and Commissioning Program, committee person for the North American Technical Excellence (NATE) new ENERGY EFFICIENCY technician certification, is a working committee member with ACCA on the Quality Contractor and Installation ANSI standard (ACCA/ANSI Quality Installation Standard 2007). Buck has also provided field training and support in the use of the Honeywell Service Assistant to Honeywell Utility Solutions staff in Austin Texas and Easton Massachusetts, NYSERDA's unitary HVAC Advanced Diagnostics program, NSTAR's Commercial HVAC Pilot and to various contractors throughout the US.
• Buck also consults for a small select group of Architects, designers and homeowners on the design and construction of efficient homes. Buck has even been known to show up on jobsites with tools to assist in the transfer of knowledge to help ensure successful completion of projects. Buck utilizes a very sophisticated set of building diagnostic tools to evaluate the performance of buildings including Infra-red camera, Blower-door, Duct Blaster, digital HVAC analyzers and conventional tools.
• Buck is an active trainer and presenter on residential construction and mechanical systems. Buck has presented regularly for Affordable Comfort Institute (ACI), Association of Energy Service Professionals (AESP), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Annual Stakeholders meetings, Vermont Energy Investment Corporation (VEIC), Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (MEEA), Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA), American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) and others.