Adam Gloss

With apologies for the delay - Our Installation of the Week winners for the week of April 16th are Brandon Richer and Dan Pugh. Brandon and Dan replaced a standard efficiency furnace at the Crampton residence in Everett, upgrading it to a high efficiency Trane XC95m modulating, variable speed furnace with a high efficiency CleanEffects whole-house air filtration system.

In testimony last May in front of the US Senate, Mike Rowe shared an ugly truth: "Right now, American manufacturing is struggling to fill 200,000 vacant positions. There are 450,000 openings in trades, transportation and utilities. The Skills Gap is real, and it’s getting wider. In general, we’re surprised that high unemployment can exist at the same time as a skilled labor shortage. We shouldn’t be. We’ve pretty much guaranteed it ... In high schools, the vocational arts have all but vanished. We’ve elevated the importance of 'higher education' to such a lofty perch, that all other forms of knowledge are now labeled 'alternative'.”

Spring is the time of year people with allergies "love to hate". Flowers and trees are blooming, grass is beginning to grow - It can be a beautiful time in the Northwest. It is also a time of great suffering for people with seasonal allergies. Pollens are blowing - leaving their yellow-green residue everywhere. You want to open your windows wide to let in some fresh air and to cool off the house on sunny days, but you suffer for it in the end with sneezing, and itchy, watering eyes. What to do?

Sierra Club Green Home has recognized Bel Red Energy Solutions / Bel Red Home Energy as a GreenCheck Approved Contractor. Bel Red has received this distinction for making a legitimate and meaningful effort to offer products or services that are more sustainable than what is commonly available. In fact, Bel Red has excelled in the following areas: indoor air quality impact, energy usage, water usage, material usage, waste, customer education, provider health, and provider business practices.

The GreenCheck review is an annual process for all providers, as new information and issues occur constantly within the environmental sector. Sierra Club Green Home wants to make sure that providers are keeping their promises to offer greener, safer, and more-responsible practices than what providers generally do. We are thrilled that GreenCheck has recognized Bel Red's dedication to providing sustainable products and services to our community, while actively striving to educate those around us about the necessary benefits of going green.

From high-efficiency heating and cooling systems, to energy audits, weatherization services, insulation, windows, and even water-, and energy-saving plumbing products, Bel Red offers high-quality, greener solutions to improve the comfort, efficiency, health and safety of our customers' homes. But do we really walk the talk? Yes we do!