Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Ruehle.
Greenheart was established by the owner Michael, to perform technical energy audits of homes in the Chicagoland area, so they could participate in the insulation and air sealing rebate programs available at the time. In the course of doing this, it was clear that there were many more opportunities for home owners and businesses to improve the comfort and efficiency of their buildings, so they started to offer more products and services to provide solutions for drafts, noise reduction, excess heat gain, better HVAC control and much more.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Increasing awareness in the market of the need for sustainability improvements has been great, but the changing landscape of rebates and programs has made it hard for the consumer to navigate and look for help funding these improvements. Sometimes the return on investment is low, but the increased comfort can outweigh the costs.
It’s also been difficult and expensive to keep up with the certification and re-certification requirements for programs such as LEED, BPI, HERS rating and so on. Different funding organizations might require different things for us to qualify to participate in their programs.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Greenheart Buildings – what should we know?
Our main focus over the last few years has been on Indow interior inserts for existing windows, which completely block drafts, add an insulating layer and can also reduce exterior noise by 70%. They are low profile and require virtually no hardware to stay in place, which makes them suitable for homes and other buildings which have a historic designation.
We also install solar heat-gain reducing blinds, which reject heat energy and cut back on glare through windows. These are often installed as replacements when we do an Indow installation.
We have been doing an increasing amount work in the rainwater collection and reuse field, generally with larger “whole building; zero runofff’ systems that collect over 1000 gallons at a time. Customers may use the collected water for garden and landscaping irrigation, pond systems and even for toilet flushing (not permitted in all jurisdictions). Another benefit is that by redirecting or slowing the release of rainwater, we can eliminate some kinds of foundation leakage and comply with municipalities’ decisions to disconnect homes from the storm drains.
We also recommend changes to the way homes are heated, cooled and ventilated to provide energy savings and increased comfort, such as multi-zone thermostats, HVAC retrofit zoning systems and much more.
We are proud to be at the forefront of practical solutions that can make a big difference in our customers’ energy and water use environmental footprint.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Success for Greenheart Buildings is being able to look back on our projects and seeing that the customer’s comfort has been increased, costs have been reduced, they have more time to pursue their lives and their values in environmental impact have been fulfilled, all through our actions. At the end of the day, being able to make a living doing this while maintaining work-life balance is success for me personally.
Contact Info:
- Address: 343 Ashland Avenue, Suite 400 (rear building – appointment only)
- Website: www.greenheartbuildings.com
- Phone: 312-809-6808
- Email: info@greenheartbuildings.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greenheartbuildings
- Yelp: https://yelp.com/biz/greenheart-buildings-river-forest?osq=Homes+Energy+Auditors
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