I feel, however, that it is important that I give you a balanced view of the project. As mentioned in an earlier blog-entry, we were surprised by the dimensions of the ventilation system and today I want to air some frustration regarding delays in the project.
Not only have we lived in a draughty and cold house for more than 2 months, but as you can see from the picture – the construction company has stopped using containers and our garden is now storage area for all the removed windows and other garbage from the construction work.We have added more pictures of the half-finished ventilation system at the end of this blog-post.
There are two aspects to delays – the delay itself and how the expectations are set by the project leader. We have many times been promised that a milestone will be reached one week later – and then two weeks later, when we ask for status, they say (again) that it will be finished next week.
We don’t have a contract with given deadlines and penalties associated with delays. Such a contract would probably have helped – but I expect that the total price would have gone up, and I do understand the problem they face when personnel call in sick (the flue) and the delivery of windows is delayed from the subcontractor. I prefer to work with the team rather than against them (pointing at the contract all the time).
If the expectations had been set more correctly, I still believe that we would have initiated this project – but there would have been considerably less frustration on our part.
Like they say on commercial TV stations...."Don't go away! After the break we have all these goodies lined up for you.." What effect would you get from cancelling the charter-trip by plane to Spain or sell your thirsty SUV? Maybe the effect of a JAHUS project reduces CO2 emissions more - and much more pleasantly than “extreme actions” such as not eating meat or jumping on your bicycle to get to work rather than in the comfort of your car? In my next blog-post (tomorrow) I will include some thoughts and calculations on energy saved (and equivalent CO2 emissions) for different scenarios.
Some of the facts about the delays have been included below for reference.
Like most energy efficiency projects, this one started off as a renovation project (a bedroom, a bathroom and a restroom/WC). During the summer I read the book “Sustainable energy without the hot air” (http://www.withouthotair.com/) - and as a result we decided to add isolation, replace old windows, buy a heatpump and add a ventilation system (see proposal 2).
The initial proposal (1) was accepted July1st
- The actual construction work started after the summer vacation on August 24th. (according to plan). 3 months later we believe they will have finished this project.
- They said that 3-4 weeks from project start they would start to install the new bathroom furniture. Two months and two weeks later we hope that this work will be completed (by the end of this week).
- The new shower cabinet was ordered on September 10th. Nobody said anything about delivery problems, but it will not be delivered until Friday November 13th (9 weeks later)
- Tiles, bathroom furniture and the wardrobe cabinet were chosen “just in time” (when they asked us). There should have been no delays caused by late decision from us.
Proposal 2 included the actual JAHUS project - adding isolation, replacing old windows/doors, a heatpump and a ventilation system.
- Add isolation to the attic: was accepted August 31st. Delivered on time.
- Replacing windows/doors: was accepted August 20th. 11 weeks later we are still waiting for the patio door, but the windows have been replaced (and the “makup” work will be finalized this week).
- Ventilation system and heatpump: was accepted the proposal on September 18th and is now (6 weeks later) still work-in-progress. 2 weeks ago they promised to have it completed last week, but we expect at least 2 more weeks.
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