Trius Home Performance

unknown

Please note the siding on my home was replaced less than 30 years ago and that the complaint I'm making here is not a result of 95 year old siding being a factor in the work.
Generally, Trius did a good job. The wall insulation was done by removing siding, drilling holes and pumping in cellulose insulation. In several areas of the house, the siding was reinstalled sloppily. Also, in several areas, the metal corners on the house were not re-nailed but left hanging loose.
I asked that this work be corrected, and later a CPW inspector took photographs and also asked Trius to come back and make the fixes, but they did not. The attic insulation was done wonderfully, the CPW inspector used a  device to show if any areas of the attic or walls were missed and those that were Trius was willing to send the crew out to correct. So, Trius was responsive with one type of problem that needed correcting, but not another.
This year (2015), I'm preparing to have the house painted and hired a contractor to do some work on my house ahead of the painters, including making the repairs that Trius would not. In doing so, he uncovered areas where the wooden plugs that Trius was supposed to have used on the drilled holes were not in place. A homeowner would never know this wasn't done unless they later removed siding.
The crew that worked at my house installing insulation was mostly good, the actual insulation work done is very good, the house is much warmer in the winter. I believe my issue is with the one member of the crew whose task it was to re-install the siding, he did a poor job that Trius was not responsive in dealing with.
I don't make it a practice to write poor reviews, but the cost I'm now incurring to prep my house for painting is not trivial and I feel that future customers should be aware of this. I suggest that you keep a very close eye on how the siding is put back together. I suspect if you do this, you're more likely to not have the issues I've had.

Everything Perfect, the crew was clean, fast, ...

The service went well. They gave me an excerpt for it. The cost was off-set by the utility. I remember them being there doing the testing for the energy audit. They seem to know their stuff and have the right equipment. I think the price was a standard price that everyone charges or something because 2:44-2:47. Their report was pretty detailed. I kind of feel like their responsiveness was pretty quick between when I said I wanted to do an energy audit and when we got it scheduled. I felt like that did not take a long time. They gave me a four-hour window whether that was for them to show up or for them doing the work. They probably showed up within that window. I did not had any issue.

unknown

Their services was fine.  For the most part, they were pretty good and they did a couple of things like a vent they were supposed to put in but they never completed that.  They did a good job but there are just some things that they did not complete.  They also have a reasonable price.

They were very professional and efficient.  The price was a bit high but the service was excellent.

We contacted Trius in April just a week after we moved into our new house. We got their contact information through CPW, and wanted to work with them due to their positive reviews. We had them give us an energy audit, which went well from what I remember -- Reed, the consultant, walked me through everything he saw in our house and the priorities for energy efficiency. We received a report of this audit in a timely fashion, and decided we would work with Trius to make some of the major upgrades that were identified in the report. It took 2 weeks to agree to a contract, partly because we were scrambling to find funds for
this giant project and deciding on which pieces were priorities and which could wait or be done by us, and partly because the estimates that we received had mistakes in them. We agreed on a contract by the first week of May, and started working with Maggie, the scheduler/administrator, to schedule the work. This also took a few weeks, as Maggie informed us (after a week of no communication) that they were "having delays and capacity issues with their HVAC crew". Although we had wanted the work to happen in June, so as to be able to get the CPW rebates before they expired at the end of August (and having a busy summer schedule), we were provided with the options of re-negotiating an HVAC estimate to get done in June OR putting off the HVAC work (and everything else that was tied to it) until August. We decided to wait until August rather than re-negotiate terms, as the CPW deadline for bids was fast approaching (end of June). Okay, then, we were all lined up and ready to get all this work done...
So then August comes around, and no word from Trius. THE DAY BEFORE THE WORK WAS TO BEGIN I contacted them, saying "um, are you guys going to start tomorrow?" They contacted me back the next day, letting me know that their HVAC crew had gone AWOL, and that we would need to pay another $5,000 to get the heat pump system installed that we'd agreed upon. This is after the deadline had already passed to get new bids, so we were being asked to pay another 25% of what we'd agreed upon for the whole project. I was floored, and after a heated discussion Mark (the owner) agreed that it was not our fault they'd lost control of their HVAC crew and hadn't bothered to let us know. So they agreed to charge us the original price. Thus began a new negotiation where we were sold a cheaper heat pump system that is apparently more appropriate for our house than what we'd been sold anyway. To their credit, though, Trius did absorb the extra cost that the new HVAC subcontractor charged, which we greatly appreciated (otherwise we would have had to cancel the project).
Finally, the work began in August after more scheduling delays and lack of communication. Santos and his team were super respectful and efficient in their work to install the vapor barrier, sealing, and insulation. They finished up these "smaller" jobs in 2 days, and Fabian and Santos inspected the oil furnace to determine the work needed for removal. They found asbestos tape on the ducting and gave us a $600 estimate for removal (above our contract), not including what might be in the furnace itself. We decided to abate the asbestos ductwork ourselves, following state, federal, and city regulations. What a pain in the butt, but we saved a few hundred dollars. (not sure if it was worth it....) After this process, Fabian and his team came back, opened up the furnace, and found more asbestos, and gave a quote of $400 for abatement. We were not interested in doing it ourselves again, so we agreed that they'd handle it, and I guess I shouldn't be surprised that we were charged $800 (a state auditor showed up and required them to take more intensive abatement control steps.  This understandably increased the cost, but we were not told about the increase until we got our final bill). This whole part of the project took about 8 weeks.
The removal of the furnace went quickly after the asbestos work was done, and we were so excited to gain space in our basement. The heat pump installation went smoothly as well (with a subcontractor). But the heat pump installation caused the electrical work to fail inspection, and that squabble between subcontractors took a few weeks to sort out, with too much explanation from us and not enough (I felt) engagement from Trius.
So, we're all done with the work by the end of *October*, with our final CPW inspection coming in mid-November. Our energy efficiency had doubled, which is awesome (but a lot of that had to do with the projects we'd done ourselves, including some substantial efficiency issues that were not identified by Reed's initial analysis). Then, it took a full 3 weeks of correcting Trius' mistakes on our invoice-double-charging us, applying incorrect rebates and forgetting others, etc.-before we finally were able to close out the contract and this project. We did appreciate the gift card as a thank-you for our "patience".
Side-note: during these 9 months, both Reed and Maggie left Trius.
Overall: glad we got the work done, and the quality was pretty good, but we were frustrated with some of the process and the lack of complete and coherent information.

We have an old 1907 home that badly need insulation and heating upgrades.  They started with a energy audit and continued with insulation, windows and a new furnace.  It was really nice to have one contact person and crew for the whole process.
This was a complicated process that Trius handled with professionalism and skill.  They provided a new modulating heat pump replacing our 50 year old oil furnace.  The old furnace had asbestos in the liner and required special abatement procedures.  It was difficult and time consuming to get the old behemoth out of the basement but they did it effectively and efficiently. 
They added insulation to the walls and attic and replaced all the windows with double pane energy efficient glass.  The crew was fast, hard working and conscientious.  They cleaned up thoroughly and left the house warmer, more comfortable, and more efficient.

Everything turned out well.  The gentleman was very knowledgeable, did a thorough assessment, and walked through the house showing the issues that he had found.  Furthermore, he followed up a with a very detailed report as well as helpful recommendations on how to improve the issues.

There was a bit of a delay due to an expired parking permit, and they placed some plastic sheets over some plants which we asked them not to do.  However, the project went well aside from that.  They were very friendly, did a thorough job with the insulation, and did a good job of communicating the work's progress to us.  Ultimately, the airflow throughout the house dropped from 55% to 35% just as they had predicted, and we're quite happy with the results.

It was fabulous!  We were somewhat disappointed by the salesman's lowball estimate, but the company rectified the situation and corrected the erroneous price.  Aside from this, everything turned out well.  The crew arrived on time, cleaned up after themselves, and did good work.  We really enjoyed the foreman due to his honesty about what work was necessary and what was not.

Trius HPC did an energy audit on my house, then airsealed
and insulated my attic. They gave me a very competitive price, were on time as
scheduled, did the work and cleaned up afterwards without interfering with my
routine. I felt an immediate difference in the comfort of my house both in
warmth and the tightness and in a quieter home?it just felt better. What
differentiated Trius from other companies was that they are engineers who know
all the building science behind improving the performance of your house and all
their installers are certified. This makes a huge difference in the quality of
the work. Also they spent the time explaining to me the why?s and how?s of the
improvement plan they developed for me.  I would highly recommend them to
everyone.

We were very pleased with Trius.  Their energy audit was very thorough and we felt that we got all of the information we needed on our home's energy efficiencies (or lack thereof). 

Workers did a great job and completed all work in a timely manner.  Communication was excellent.

Great! Community power works project.

We have a 1907 three story craftsman in Wallingford.  We heard about the Community Power Works program from a Trius salesman at the Ballard Farmers Market.  The salesman was pleasant, knowledgeably and helpful.  We signed up for the program and Trius had a Energy Auditor at our house before the week was over. 
The audit was mostly paid for by the CPW program and the auditor was extremely thorough.  He spent four hours looking at every corner of the house.  He answered our questions and gave us alot of suggestions for improvements we could do ourselves. 
We had a lot of work to do.  When we got the full report we realized we could save a lot of energy and get more than half of the improvements paid for by the program. 
Trius gave us a estimate and we got a simple loan to fiance the project.  They even helped with that.
Trius began work several weeks later.  They did insulation in the walls, attic and crawl space.  They sealed and insulated our ductwork and replaced several of the old leaky windows.  The process is invasive and disruptive but Trius was GREAT.  The workers were considerate and hard working.  I really like the way they cleaned up after themselves.  They checked their work with an infrared camera and always kept me informed about issue as they came up.  The whole thing took four days but I never
felt like the my feelings weren't considered at each turn.  This was such a relief from the last contractor we had.
We have had some time now to enjoy the house and I am amazed at how much lower our energy bill is and how much quieter, cleaner and warmer the house feels. Plus I'm saving money each month.  I would recommend this contractor to my
friends and family.

Trius had two people working for a very long day (about ten or 12 hours)  to complete all the tasks outlined above.  I was there almost the entire time and they worked steadily and methodically.  They knew what they were doing--it was a complex job on an old turn of the century house.
Since this project was partially funded by a Community Power Works grant, the work was inspected by an independent energy auditor who indicated the work was done according to the latest energy standards.  I was happy with the quality of the work, but it was reassuring to have my opinions confirmed.
My only minor complaint was that some of the debris leftover from the blocking process was not removed from the attic, but covered with insulation.  This could be a safety hazard if someone were to step on the nails in the boards.  I didn't say anything at the time when I noticed this and expect the workers would have removed the boards had I requested it.
Ovarall I'm very happy with the completed work.  Work was completed in a professional, timely manner.  I'm happy to report that my energy bills are lower and the house is much more comfortable during cold weather.

Estimator (Phil)  came out, did a great job explaining options and what needed to be done and sent a very detailed bid. We made some changes to the bid, and Trius handled the change order just fine. Trius was the subcontractor. There was a minor miscommunication and the job didn't get scheduled till after the main contractor finished theirs. Maggie worked hard and got us fit in quickly after one of their other projects got delayed. The crew was friendly, respectful, neat, and hard working. Because there were some moisture issues in the basement, Favian the crew chief recommended a different material than had been in the bid (new material was waterproof) which made sense, but it was flammable unlike the original material in the bid. When the Community Power Works Inspector came out to look over the project, he strongly recommended that they put the flame retardant barrier over the top of this material. . . . this is something they normally charge extra for, but they came out and did it w/o charging us. ..  The basement is now a nice white rather than polystyrene pink, and our house is very cozy! Thanks Trius!
7/2013 addendum Just did the math and with replacing the old oil tank with a heat pump (see my other reviews) decreased my heating costs by 78%  (a decrease of $1320). This was almost exactly what I was quoted as the likely heating cost savings!! Plus the heat pump provides air conditioning in the summer. YAY!

The whole project went well.  prior to the work starting, it was explained as to what would be done and how long it would take.  They came on time each day and cleaned up their work before leaving each evening.  They were professional and efficient.

They came when they said they would. They did the work. They checked the work and fixed everything they could see with their magic camera. They did a final fan test for air flow and leaks and pronounced it "Good." It was better than good. It was excellent.

unknown

I have an energy efficient home already so they couldn’t do much, but they were excellent.

They’re not 100% finished.  They have done a great job and have been lovely to work with.  They helped us find extra rebates.  We have and will continue to recommend them to others.