What We Do: Customer Stories
Read how the TerraLogos integrated whole-house approach has resulted in multiple benefits for our customers.
 Tran-Davis Residence, Annapolis
This Case Study for the Home Performance with Energy Star program outlines the projects completed and the benefits obtained by these homeowners. They are saving $1,650/year after a $9,000 investment. Read more.
Gormley Residence, Annapolis
 "When we refinanced our home to make improvements, your services were priceless! We thought we needed a fireplace insert, but called and had the evaluation to plan out our priorities. What we found was all the original 7 slider doors were failing and we had huge air leaks throughout the edges of the roof of our great room.
The great room roof had become soft in one area, which has now been replaced with a foam vapor barrier under the batting, sealing the roof. We replaced all our sliders with Anderson E3 sliders and added blown in insulation 4-6" to the attic, per your recommendations (did it ourselves for only $200 from Home Depot). And we changed our old ceiling fan to a reversible one.
We're going into winter and our heat pump is rarely on, we're nice and toasty and comfortable in every inch of the house. Thank you for making it so easy to prioritize our improvements-we got a ton of bang for our buck!" - Erin Gormley
Hamill Residence, Catonsville 
"We were quite impressed with the [duct sealing] process and with the technicians who provided the service. The job took them a full day, but there was almost no intrusion into the house aside from machinery they set up in the basement.
They worked for probably nine hours testing, setting up, doing the ductwork, retesting, and then packing up, but what was most impressive was the "detective" work that the team used to maximize their results.
There was clearly one big hole, which TerraLogos had diagnosed earlier, and it probably took the technician an hour to determine exactly where it was and how to get to it and then another hour to repair it, through the air return opening, before going back to the sealing process. There was no extra charge.
The two techinicans were careful, thoughtful, polite, and neat in every way.The results seem to be highly successful, and we are eager to see whether this is reflected in our BGE bill.
The initial duct leakage was 1778 CFM ( equivalent to a 337 square inch hole). The finish duct leakage was 253 CFM (equivalent to a 48 square inch hole).This corresponds to an 86% reduction in duct leakage and a 68% heating and cooling improvement (based upon measured leakage reduction and original register flow)." - Kate Hamill
Paugh Residence, Belair
"Thank you for sending our inspection report. That was incredibly quick. I wish all businesses were as friendly and efficient as TerraLogos!!
I have enjoyed the whole experience, and I have learned MUCH . I have, and will continue to highly recommend your services.
The temperature outside is a little warmer than it has been the past week, but it is still drafty and cold inside the house . I look forward to having the house sealed as my first step to more warmth and lower energy bills. Thank you so much." - Denise Paugh
Bodian Residence, Baltimore
 “I wanted to reduce energy use in my house and thought I needed to replace my old furnace with a more efficient one and to upgrade the windows. I decided I needed some professional advice on types of furnaces and windows and contacted TerraLogos.
They came out and did a study whose results were a great surprise to me. I learned that the primary thing needed was to dramatically improve the insulation in the basement, the ceiling of the garage, and the crawl spaces under the roof.
I decided to do the work in two steps based on the priority given by TerraLogos. First, in 2005, I insulated the basement and garage ceiling. That alone reduced electric use by 30% (going from needing supplemental electric heat in one room in the winter to needing none!). I reduced gas use for heating by 17%.
Turns out that the old furnace worked fine and cost me lots less when it didn’t need to heat the outdoors. Instead of spending to replace it, I used the money on solving the real problem—not enough insulation.
I expect to see more savings in 2007 as I put on a new half roof last fall. I was able to eliminate the whole house fan (a giant chimney for the heat in winter) and now use passive air exchange with flow from new soffit vents to a new ridge vent. I used recycled blue-jean insulation to upgrade the insulation in the attic crawl space.
The change in general comfort in the house this past winter was remarkable." - Brenda Bodian
Baker Residence, Keswick Neighborhood, Baltimore
 "We thought we needed to replace our great old windows which we love so much (to reduce drafts). Now we have reduced the drafts AND kept the old windows, saving the huge replacement expense in the process.
Our home feels suddenly tighter and cozier. We had to adjust to lowering the thermostat." Libby Baker
The owners love their home, but winter drafts were an issue and dust seemed to collect throughout the house.
This 75 year old, brick tutor townhouse had beautiful metal casement windows with single glazing. Most of the windows had functional interior storm windows from the 1960's, but it seemed clear to the owners that these windows were the big energy drains.
The original attic insulation was 2 - 3 inches of loose rock wool from 1931. This loose fill had drifted like snow, with the depth in some areas sunken or missing altogether. The owners had been advised 20 years ago when they purchased the house that attic insulation upgrade in a townhouse would not make a big difference in heating costs or comfort.
The Blower Door Infiltration Test revealed that there was a total of 7.5 sq ft of holes in the building envelope which allowed frequent air changes - more than twice every hour on a calm day. The biggest leak in the house was a downdraft through an interior partition from the attic to the basement through which outside air continuously infiltrated. This was a big surprise to the owners. In addition, this was the main source of the grey dust ñ the grey rock wool insulation was being sucked down from the attic and accumulating in the basement below this downdraft.
The Blower Door Test also revealed that the old casement windows, in spite of their age, where very tight and accounted for a very small portion of the 7.5 sq feet of leaks.
The Bakers were using an old whole-house exhaust fan in the attic to improve comfort on hot summer nights. However, in the winter this fan opening acted like a chimney, draining heat into the attic and pouring cold attic air down the center stairwell. The stairwell would get that same grey insulation dust in the winter.
Energy Upgrades
- Air Sealing reduced the infiltration a full 26%. Big holes were plugged in the attic floor and basement ceiling. Small holes were sealed throughout the house. Only two windows required a specific sealing measure. It now takes an hour for an air change in this house.
- The attic fan was replaced with an insulated access hatch. A crawlspace access was also sealed with an insulted hatch.
- The attic insulation was upgraded from the existing R6 to R30+ with fire and pest retardant cellulose. This is a quadruple increase in insulation. The old rock wool fibers are now effectively encapsulated preventing further dusting.
Total cost of Air Sealing and Insulation upgrade $1350
"I really wish we had done this years ago." - Libby Baker
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