Building Efficiency

We bought a 90 year-​old home in San Francisco and the walls are paper thin. We replaced all the windows and saw almost no improvement in how cold our house was. Our heater works amazingly and heats up the house in 30 minutes, but it only took 1 hour for it get cold again. After looking for a company that does insulation, I read about Building Efficiency on Next Door — neighbors with similar houses had recommended it so I thought I’d give it a try. The price was higher than I expected (about $ 8000 for 1200 square feet), but since PG&E gives energy rebates right now, the price fell by more than half. The job took 5 days, working from 8am to 3pm each day. That was inconvenient, of course, but the results are worth it. The house maintains its temperature! If you don’t have the money to do everything, just do the attic. The day after they insulated our walls I didn’t notice much change. But the day after the attic was done was completely night and day. Definitely worth it if your home is leaking heat.

Hi found Dave and his crew at Building Efficiency on Unilocal and everything ran like clock work. I insulated both my attic and basement and received a rebate of about 50% to cover the cost. My home is much warm, quieter.
Both Dave and his team arrived on time, did exactly what they needed to do and then cleaned up after themselves. The process could not have been easier or more professional.
Thank you!

I selected Building Efficiency to replace my 70 year old gravity furnace after talking to several other contractors. The project involved removing and replacing asbestos ducting for two units and installing a high efficiency unit. Every person I encountered from Building Efficiency impressed me. Dave was extremely patient in answering my long list of detailed questions, his office staff was proactive in managing the PG&E rebate process, and every person who set foot on my property was skilled, respectful, conscientious, communicative and did excellent work. I would have been happy to have every one of them join us for dinner.
Shortly after Dave and his crew began work, I wanted to make a significant change to the project. The BE team was flexible, creative and informative in addressing my new goals, and Dave was fair in negotiating a modest change to the project cost. Last week the building inspector visited to clear the project. His sole remark: «I wish everyone did it right like this.» All in all, I got a good product and will be happy to call on Building Efficiency again.

Building Efficiency did a great job insulating our house. We hardly need to turn the heater on now and, when we do, it holds the heat longer. Along with the other changes they made, our final test-​out showed our energy efficiency had improved by 50%. They also do all the paperwork for PG&E rebates which helps you save money. The workers (Lalo and Jose) are reliable, efficient and clean. I thought there would be a big mess afterward with dust everywhere but there wasn’t! Highly recommend this company.

We had Building Efficiency do the insulation for our house in Daly City last September. Our winter this time is so much better unlike in the past and our heater is not working overtime just to warm up the entire house. Thank you David and gang for the very good work that you guys did. We are now enjoying our house that we moved in over two years ago.

We’re having Building Efficiency replace our asbestos covered ducts and insulation. So far, the team has been nothing but super professional! They have been prompt and clean up well after themselves. Heather and David have been super responsive and accomodating, especially on allowing me to spread our payments over the course of a few months. Beto was very courteous and even brought us space heaters when we won’t have our furnace available for a few days. These guys are the best! 5 stars!

This review is long overdue. I hired building efficiency to replace my old furnace and ducts more than a year ago (last summer). I contacted several companies, and I am very glad I decided to go with this company. The team of David, Ben, Beto and Becka is an excellent team, working very well together on the different aspects of the project. David was great, going over the scope of the project, explaining the options and working the quotes. He was flexible and attentive to my requests. Ben came to do the energy efficiency assessment, and he was great too. He knew what he was doing, he was efficient, and then he gave me the great news, that I am eligible for a $ 4000 rebate. Beto was the main person who actually installed the furnace and the ducts, and did an excellent job. It also helped that he is relaxed and pleasant. Becka, in the office, coordinated the whole project, and helped a lot with the rebate process (my rebate wasn’t handled properly by build-​it-​green, the company that processes the rebates for PG&E, and Becka was very diligent in following up with them until my rebate as approved). Besides the problem with the rebate (which was not Building Efficiency’s fault), everything went smoothly. I was very impressed with the level of customer service, and I highly recommend them.

Customer service is back in fashion and Building Efficiency delivered.
Last May, I reached out to get a house fan installed as well as add attic insulation to keep things cool. Before the modification, I peaked with a house temperature of 92 °F on some of our hotter days in 2014. Since the insulation, I only hit 80 °F once in 2015. Needless to say, I’ve been quite happy with both additions in keeping a cooler house while avoiding AC.
3 months out of warranty, the house fan need a service call. David came out and worked with the manufacturer to solve the problem. Even though it was just out of warranty, he wanted to make sure I remained a happy customer. It’s nice to do business with a company that does great work and you know will be there when problems arise (if they do).

Great from start to finish. Patient educating us, thorough with rebate-​qualification … These guys are pros, but with the small-​business touch. Top quality. Definitely recommend.

Amazing experience with David and Becka at Building Efficiency with having them pump insulation into our completely uninsulated walls. Started with the energy assessment and then a very clear quote about what would be done, and what wouldn’t be done. Got it scheduled, they showed up on time, were incredibly clean at the end of each day, and were finished on time. We ended up getting more money back from PG&E than they had originally estimated. Our house is now completely different. We haven’t turned our heat on hardly at all since the project and it’s also much quieter. If you’re going to do your insulation, use them.

Couldn’t be happier with this company. From initial contact with Becka to dealing with David and the rest of the field crew this company is professional, thorough, and competent. Couldn’t recommend them enough!

It was a pleasure working with Building Efficiency. From the informative energy audit that they performed at the beginning of the project (required and rebated as part of the PG&E rebate process) through the abatement of the old asbestos covered ducts to the installation of the new furnace /​ducting system Building Efficiency was thoroughly professional and effective. We’re thrilled with the improvements to our house, and look forward to the next phase (insulation) soon.
Building Efficiency’s front office (Becka) was very effective at processing the rebate material and handling paperwork in a timely fashion — we’re looking forward to receiving a rebate in excess of that originally estimated (the improvements to our home’s efficiency was better than that forecast).
David was helpful before/​during/​and after the project helping us to keep our house comfortable when the old furnace was not functional. After the project he helped us deal with a problem that arose after another contractor finished their work, eventually sending his team back to find and fix the problem that the other contractor had diagnosed but was unable to pinpoint.

Last year I attended a informational meeting about the rebate program offered by PG&E and the city of San Francisco to make our home more energy efficient. We have the typical 90 year old home with zero insulation. We chose Building Efficiency as they are one of the license contractors who work with the rebate process and know how to get he most bang for your buck with the process. The process itself is not much fun. They poke holes all over your home and blow in insulation, the dust and mess that ensued was simply overwhelming to me. This process lasted about a week, they tried as best they could to clean daily but it’s an impossible task. At the end of it all, they bring in a professional cleaning crew to take care of the rest.
These guys did an amazing job. They were super communicative during and after the entire process and even did some things they didn’t have to do to make my home both safe and more energy efficient. My first gas bill after the installation was already $ 100 less and that was just for ½ of the month.
While there’s no way to get around how messy and disruptive this process is (unless you stay in a hotel for a week!), I’m glad we chose to have it done and do not hesitate in recommending this company to be the ones to do it.

Building Efficiency does fantastic work. They replaced the furnace, put in a whole house purifier, a tank-​less water heater, and a device that creates «positive» pressure. These upgrades made my home more energy efficient. The best part was getting back «clean» air to breathe in my home. I was robbed of clean air due to a chain smoking neighbor who smoked ²⁴⁄₇. For the past 10 years, I had more than a dozen air purifiers running 24/​7, but I still had asthma attacks, sneezing fits and watery eyes and nose from the 2^nd hand smoke that kept coming in from the neighbor’s constant smoking. Two of my cats died from cancer since they were extremely susceptible to the carcinogenic effects of 2^nd hand smoke.
After the positive pressure was in place, the first 2 days at home was like heaven since I had clean air to breathe. Air quality issues are quite difficult, and upgrades do not yield results at 100%. I am glad that David will have more ideas for me to keep the air in my home clean and breathable. I will not have to think about moving out of my precious home anymore.

Building Efficiency did a fantastic job. They were in and out of our house, clean, in five days, full weatherization, furnace replacement, the works. They followed up to make sure our rebates were processed (saving us $thousands). AND, whenever we wanted info or help after the job, they were always there. I can’t see any other company beating that.

After years of dealing with a freezing cold flat I finally made the decision to insulate. It has been one of those why-didn’t-I-do-this-sooner things. My flat has gone from a tree house, subject to the whims of the weather, to a consistently comfy fortress. I haven’t turned on the furnace once, NOT ONCE during this SF summer.
Building Efficiency made it an easy process. They were a real pleasure to work with and were very considerate, timely and on budget. I appreciated everything from the great communication I received to the expert patching they did to the thorough cleaning that followed the work.
With PG&E offering such great rebates there really is no excuse for not getting this energy-​saving work done. BE took care of all the rebate paperwork to boot!
Thanks guys! Highly recommended.

Since I posted my review here, Building Efficiency did reach out and offer a full refund on my install fee (I accepted a partial refund). I do sympathize with BE to some extent given how bad Nest is at supporting its products and its installers (e.g., changing the types of systems supported midstream). However, this doesn’t change the fact that I would expect a higher level of professionalism from a certified Nest installer.

I am very happy with the work and the service I received from Building Efficiency. My old victorian home was very drafty and I needed insulation. The whole team was very professional and performed quality work. They worked with me to schedule the project around my timeframes and completed it quickly and on time. In addition, the pricing was competitive if not the best I could find.
I wasn’t sure how much rebate I was going to be able to get and I think BE was able achieve the maximum possible rebate for the work I did. They also handled all of the paperwork and I have since received both rebates, one from PG&E and one for the energy assessment.
Last and maybe most important, my house is SO much warmer! The heat was on constantly and now it heats the place up for a few minutes and then isn’t on for the rest of the evening.
My one recommendation to the office was a more communication on who was showing up and when, once the plans and schedule was finalized. I realize it’s a big team but just wanted to know who was going to be running the project.
Highly recommended.

I was referred to Building Efficiency through the CA Energy website and could not be happier with their service. Ben, David, Sarah and all whole crew were very patient, courteous and informative on my project — helping understand my various options, benefits and what to expect along the way. I had my old gravity furnace and asbestos duct replaced, walls and attic insulated and doors and chimney sealed. My house is nice and cozy. David also helped me install an air purification system. I appreciate all their efforts to follow-​up, the thorough cleaning crew after the job and most especially their quick follow through to submit the paperwork to get my rebate from PG&E.
Great people to work with (including all the crew) and welcome to my home — respectful, courteous and hardworking professionals.
Thank you Building Efficiency!

Building Efficiency did a great job on making my home more comfortable and efficient. They did attic, wall, and subfloor insulation. My house is in the Sunset district and it is always cold there. Before any work was done, it used to be about 66 degrees in my home in July. The insulation made a HUGE difference in the comfort of my home. Now it is warm (73 degrees) without using the furnace. I’ll update this as I go through my first winter with the insulation as to how long it holds this temperature.
David was very professional in every aspect of the work. Even when I had some issues, he never sighed or got frustrated. He treated me with respect and tried everything he could to help me resolve my issue. He is a true professional.
The insulation crew worked fast and did a great job. It was very messy but they did a great job cleaning up daily. They respected my property and belongings by masking and covering it up. One tech gave me smart remark and a crooked look when I had made a request and I thought that was unprofessional but he did get the task done.
This company is courteous, polite, professional, and they sure know what they are doing. I highly recommend Building Efficiency to help improve the comfort of your home.