Building Doctors

Building Doctors is the Los Angeles area expert in home performance and the healthy home. Our highly trained and BPI Certified team treats your house as a completely integrated system and is able to diagnose home performance issues through a comprehensive energy audit and implement energy efficient solutions for insulation, heating, ventilation and air conditioning. Learn more about our process and how we can help you save money on energy bills and reduce your carbon footprint! Building Doctors' energy audit combines building science and modern detection devices to evaluate your home's energy efficiency and health.

Moisture in your basement (and the mold that results from it) is prone to enter your home's living space and cause indoor air quality problems for you and your family. Our whole-house solution addresses this problem at the root by eliminating sources of moisture in your basement or crawlspace. This fact sheet form FEMA further explains the full range of Los Angeles Vapor Barriers systems, which are critical in controlling your home's moisture and reducing the risk of rot, mold, and the resulting structural and indoor air quality problems that result from a lack of moisture control.

We install condensing gas furnace models with the highest efficiency ratings (92% AFUE or greater). Instead of a constant pilot, many models include a hot surface igniter and a microprocessor that automatically adjusts furnace output and blower speed for optimum efficiency based on thermostat information. These variable speed systems not only save natural gas but also dramatically cut electrical consumption. A heat pump is a 2-in-1-furnace/air conditioner and therefore serves as an excellent choice when taking into account furnace efficiency.

Insulation is installed in walls and ceilings to slow down the flow of heat between the interior and exterior of the house. Insulation is all about controlling heat flow. In order to understand how insulation works, you first have to understand how heat moves through your home. Heat travels in two major ways through the home: by conduction and by convection. Conduction refers to how heat moves through solid materials. You experience conduction when you hold a hot cup of coffee and the heat warms up your hand.

The image at the right shows un-insulated water pipes as seen through an infrared camera (part of our home energy audit). As you can see, the pipes are very hot, which dumps unwanted heat into your home, increasing your cooling costs; and costing you even more in water heating costs. Building Doctors provides pipe insulation services throughout the Los Angeles metro region. Pipe insulation falls into the "low hanging fruit" category of home energy efficiency. A relatively easy, low-cost fix with a high payback period (both in terms of comfort, and energy savings), it's a no-brainer for homeowners concerned about summer cooling costs, water heating costs, or home comfort.

Conventional storage water heaters remain the most popular type of residential water heating system and operate by providing a reservoir of between 20 to 80 gallons of hot water. As hot water leaves from the top of the tank, cold water enters the bottom to be heated, ensuring that the tank is always full. Because water is constantly being heated in the tank, even when there is no direct draw, energy can be wasted using this method of water heating. The associated loss, called a stand-by heat loss, can be minimized in the Los Angeles area by using a heavily insulated tank, but can only be avoided by using a tankless Hot Water System.

The first problem to guard against is oversizing an air conditioner. 99% of all of the comprehensive energy audits that Building Doctors has completed have had oversized air conditioning condensers. On first thought, this would seem like a good idea - how can you have too much cold? First is that an air conditioner is most efficient the longer it runs. If it is too big, it will run for a couple of minutes at a shot, whereas, if it is the right size, it will run much longer - on the hottest afternoons of the year, it should run all the time.

Renewable Energy is energy generated from natural sources such as sunlight, wind, and geothermal heat, which are renewable or naturally replenished. In Southern California, most residential and commercial applications are solar based, though new applications are emerging for wind. Building Doctors are big supporters of renewable energy. However, through our "Whole Home Performance Check-Up" it is important to first identify your waste, then to reduce and conserve your energy use. Only after we identify how your home functions as a complete system comprised of intertacting components can we accurately calculate which solar or wind sources will best balance out the remainder of your energy consumption.

Home water filtration systems are a great way to reduce your environmental impact by cutting back on the amount of bottled water your family consumes, while providing a steady supply of clean, purified drinking water. While the city of Los Angeles has made strides in recent years to improve the quality of its drinking water, the drinking water in Los Angeles and many other American cities has been found to contain potentially cancer-causing chemicals that can pose a long-term health risk to you and your family.