Renewable Energy Leader's Forum: Chris Hoch, National Fiber

Buildings are the largest consumers of energy in the United States.  According the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, buildings consume 72% of America's electricity, account for 55% of the nation's natural gas consumption, and are definitely the country's energy hog -- eating 40% of all energy produced.  The energy costs for America's buildings are estimated to be US$350 billion per year.

Therefore, it makes sense that green building and energy efficient retrofits of existing buildings have become such a large and growing industry.  This week, the Renewable Energy Leader's Forum features an executive from National Fiber, one of the businesses involved in the emerging green building and energy efficiency sector.

Here's our interview with Chris Hoch, President and Owner of National Fiber:

PROFILE

Where are you headquartered?

Belchertown, Massachusetts.

Number of employees?

32 full-time employees.

How long has your company been around?

32 years; since 1978.

Public or Private?

Private.

Sales and operating revenues last fiscal year?

We do not disclose operating revenues or profits.

Company website: www.nationalfiber.com.
Contact information: natalie@nationalfiber.com or 347-240-1042.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/nationalfiber

INTELLIGENCE

Tell us about your company's main technology/service?

Our product reduces the energy needs of buildings and homes by as much as 50% compared to conventional insulation.

What is unique about your technology/service?

Cellulose is the only insulation that is green, high performance, and affordable.

How will your technology/service transform the energy sector?

By reducing the energy needs of buildings and homes by as much as 50%, cellulose makes alternative forms of energy (solar, wind, geothermal) financially viable. 

For example, it would be prohibitively expensive and impractical to use photovoltaic solar panels to provide the energy needs of a typical home that uses 100,000 BTU/year; however, by replacing the existing insulation with cellulose, the energy needs of the house drop to below 50,000BTU/year.  Inserting this insulation will reduce the number of panels required in half, significantly reducing the cost, and making photovoltaic solar panels financially viable.

How does your company compare to its main competitors?

Comparison to Other Insulation Materials
Neither fiberglass nor foam are remotely green:  foam is made from petroleum; neither foam nor fiberglass use recycled materials (compared to 85% for cellulose); both use huge amounts of embodied energy (fiberglass uses 20-25 times more than cellulose, foam uses up to 60 times more than cellulose); fiberglass is not in any way a high performance insulator.

Additionally, foam costs three to four times more than cellulose.  Cellulose is also a superior sound attenuator and a fire stop -- foam burns, with heavy smoke, and fiberglass melts when exposed to flame.

Comparison to Other Cellulose Insulators in the Northeast United States
National Fiber makes by far the highest quality (cleanest paper, best equipment), we have the largest and most experienced field sales and technical staff, and we have the best delivery service.

VISION

What are the guiding principles of your company?

They are my personal values:

• Quality is paramount -- whatever is worth doing is worth doing well.
• Treat people with respect and provide excellent customer service.
• Be honest, trustworthy, and talk straight.
• Work hard and be prepared.
• Be modest -- accept help or suggestions.  We do not have all the answers.

What do you think is the role of government when it comes to growing the renewable and clean energy sector?

I prefer that government stay out.  It is way too cumbersome and inefficient.  It is unreasonably raising expectations of financial help, which is always too late and too complicated.

When it comes to your business/product, what inspires you?

I am inspired by the product we make and the benefit it provides.  Energy conservation allows alternative energy to be viable.

What is your overall outlook of the renewable energy sector over the next three years? Is it:  very positive -- positive -- neutral -- negative -- very negative?  Please elaborate if you like.

I cannot speak about renewable energy, as I am not in that field and I consider it to be secondary to energy conservation.  However, I am very positive about the business of energy conservation and reducing the amounts of energy needed.

The US building industry accounts for one half of all energy used in the United States and two-thirds of all electricity used.  This is primarily because three-quarters of all buildings in the US are insulated with fiberglass. 

If we could replace all that fiberglass insulation with cellulose, we would not have an energy crisis and we would have the time we need to develop financially viable alternative sources of energy.

Chris Hoch's Bio

Chris Hoch is a graduate of the US Naval Academy (after which he served aboard a nuclear submarine) and Harvard Business School. He spent 16 years running companies and divisions for Nestle in the US, Europe, Africa, and Latin America, and he was President of Hartmann Luggage for 4 years. 

He has been the owner of National Fiber since 1997, during which time he has worked hard to establish cellulose as the only green, affordable, high performance insulation on the market. National Fiber has partnered with the Northeastern states to provide in depth training to installers, and improve industry quality across the board. 

Chris is currently a director of the Cellulose Insulation Manufacturers Association (CIMA) and a past President of the Association; he is also a director of the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA). He has made numerous presentations on the multiple benefits of cellulose insulation to architects and builders and at various industry trade shows in the Northeast, and he has been a member of the BSA Building Enclosure Council for 5 years.

Image credit: Chad Davis via Flickr