Page 23 - Green Builder May-June 2018 Issue

CREDIT: EEBA

A working knowledge. EEBA’s annual High Performance Home Summit draws hundreds of builders, manufacturers, designers and other specialists who
seek information on business training and new construction techniques.

ROLE MODELS Tim O’Brien Homes, Milwaukee, WI

TIM O’BRIEN HOMES (www.timobrienhomes.com) has had a
successful run, building numerous highly regarded and energy-
efficient homes in the Milwaukee area. Those projects typically
T carry a HERS score of 35 to 60. The company also recently won
the Gold National Housing Quality (NHQ) Award—the latest in a string of
honors going back to 2009—and it was named one of Inc.’s 5,000-fastest-
growing private businesses from 2012 to 2015.
But any business can always use more ways to make it stand out from
other builders. That’s where EEBA came in. Craig North, the company’s
vice president of construction, says attending the Alliance’s summit
over the past five years has proven to be a valuable source of growth
and knowledge for Tim O’Brien Homes. “The lessons learned from the top CREDIT: TIM O’BRIEN HOMES
industry professionals have been instrumental in differentiating ourselves
from the competition,” North says. “Further, the connections made through
networking have allowed us to pilot some of the industry’s cutting products Power house. Tim O’Brien Homes specializes in building energy-
and technologies.” efficient, cost-effective housing using methods it acquired working
Tim O’Brien Homes learned how to build better homes that will have with EEBA.
a slightly larger monthly mortgage payment for the end user while Company President Tim O’Brien backs that up, noting that education
significantly reducing their energy consumption. This has provided a lower is a definite key to the firm’s success. “As we continue to improve the
total cost of ownership to hundreds of happy homeowners. homebuilding process, we also ensure our team continues to receive
Recently, the company has committed to develop and build Wisconsin’s high level training in new home technologies,” he says. “[These include]
first net-zero-energy community. This 34-home subdivision in the city of the principle of building science—building a home as a system, rather
New Berlin will carry the Department of Energy’s Zero Energy Ready Homes than individual pieces and parts—renewable energy features like solar
(ZERH) certification. “We were first introduced to the ZERH program at the photovoltaic (electricity) and solar thermal (hot water) and geothermal,
EEBA summit in St. Louis (in 2014),” North notes. “This program, along with the latest technologies in insulation and air-sealing techniques, as well
many other lessons learned at the summit, are moving the industry forward.” as improving indoor air quality for all our clients.”

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