Elements was referred to me by a friend to help assess the energy efficiency of my house. From that first call with Alfredo, to the very end when he provided his detailed report and recommendations, my experience with Elements was superb. In addition to being knowledgable and very professional, what set Alfredo apart for me was the amount of care and passion he showed for what he does. It was the 'extra mile' he was willing to go, not to justify charging more, but to make sure he's delivering the best service to his customer. If you're looking for for someone to give you an assessment of your home's energy efficiency, Alfredo is your man! read more

I had recently moved into an older home and needed advice on how to improve comfort and reduce our high utility bills. I reached out to several providers of energy audits on the BayREN, and Elements was responsive and available in few weeks. On the day of the audit/inspection, their team arrived on time, and I was impressed how thoroughly they prepared for their various tests, taking care to minimize dust and whatnot. Alfredo then spent a fair amount of time walking me through the results, and on a subsequent call after the report was complete he helped me understand the nuances of energy efficiency upgrades and which to prioritize given our situation. I very much appreciated his attention to detail, as I could see that he could have easily provided less personalized recommendations, but instead I got what I needed and now feel confident making some energy efficiency upgrade decisions. Thank you to the Elements team! read more

Alfredo and his team are true professionals. They take the time to explain the process before and during the energy assessment. It turned out that our house has serious leakage, resulting in significant energy loss. But they never made me feel overwhelmed by it. They came up with recommendations that made sense, backed up by specific measurements and pictures. I fully intend to follow each and every recommendation they made. Alfredo took the time to walk me through his entire assessment with a one hour follow up phone call. His explanations were clear and concise. I was expecting this energy assessment to be an ordeal but it turned out to be pleasant and interesting. I highly recommend Elements-E3! read more

Alfredo is a true professional. He cares about doing right by the client and doesn't immediately jump to solutions or assumptions. When I first reached out he asked many detailed questions to determine the best way to proceed with an assessment. His direct communication and fast response time were very much appreciated and it's clear that he wants to do right by his customers. Highly recommend working with him! read more

We've now used ELEM3NTS for two assessments. We called them about 2 years ago to assess our 1930s era old home in the Rose Garden area of San Jose which just felt too drafty and cold in the winters, especially in the baby's room. Alfredo and his team were prompt and very knowledgable. The detailed assessment helped us understand where we'd get the most return for our investments. That led us to do about $7,000 worth of insulation, air sealing and duct sealing work that definitely made the house feel a more consistent temperature that winter (we got a rebate check for over $1,000 from the REN program as well after they did a test out). We ended up moving a few months later, so it wasn't enough time to tell how much the energy bills really improved. Still, the pictures and report write up were a great reference to include in the seller's packet when we sold our home. We found the cost of heating and cooling our new Willow Glen house (1966, remodeled in 1994) over the past year a little unappealing, so I contacted ELEM3NTS again recently. Alfredo did a great job and identified some immediate areas we could tackle ourselves like air sealing and weatherstripping, along with bigger projects (ductwork, furnace). Because he's independent, he's also free to give good advice -- such as do any energy upgrades *before* you do something crazy like invest in solar, or you'll install more solar than you need. Good point! The assessment is definitely worth the cost and time if you feel like your house is drafty, the temperature is uneven, your spouse or kids are complaining you won't turn the thermostat up or down, or your PG&E bills are just too damn high (aren't they always?). It takes Alfredo and his team about 4 hours to do a full assessment, and you'll want to be there to answer questions and get some initial feedback. He's good about giving you some immediate feedback even before he leaves, so it's worth talking through his findings while he's there. read more

I started trying to do the whole PGE Energy savings green home improvement thing, with the rebates and all, and quickly figured out that all the contractors who were certified for the program, for the most part, charge exorbitant fees for the same work a subcontractor you hire yourself can do. I did not need the max of $4500 in PGE rebates, I needed to have my house improved for a good price, and not get overcharged. we had our house analyzed by Elements. $450. And got a thorough report on what needed to be done. It's not rocket science. The only nit-pick I can say about the report is: Alfredo needs to have it proof-read before presenting to clients. There's some obvious grammatical and other language errors, but it does not effect the knowledge and thoughtfulness of the work, but it did make it necessary to talk with him on the phone to ensure we knew what we were reading. I appreciated Alfredo's knowledge and handling of us when my wife and I needed to conference call with him and understand the bottom line of what needed to be fixed. 1] fix or replace the leaky A/C ducts and make sure they are insulated (I called Malibu heating and A/C). Now, PGE will not give you a rebate for just fixing leaky old ducts, but the work I had done was many MANY thousands less than the quotes to replace. Since I plan to remodel and possibly reconfigure the A/C it made no sense to pay $5000-8000 to replace my ducts. 2] vent our roof (Jeff Jewitt, roofer). $1750 and my ENTIRE home roof was ridge-vented! I did the eave vents myself. 3] get insulated. (Ponzini) Good lord, Thousands less than any PGE certified bid! How hard is that to handle? Elements does not do the home improvement work. you then need to call someone to do the improvements. If you then get a-certified PGE contractor to arrange the jobs for you, you might qualify for rebates from PGE, but even after the rebates, you'll pay way more than if you just make the calls yourself. For example: The quote I got from Ponzini to insulate my home exterior walls was at least 1/2 the quotes from the PGE certified contractors. The quote from Ponzini to blow insulation into my attic was, in some cases, only 1/4 the price of the PGE certified contractors. Some of the PGE guys would not do the job unless they first sucked out all the old insulation. Not necessary unless you have a serious vermin problem. Vacuuming alone cost the same amount Ponzini charged just to improve my insulation and get the job done. It's the single most important mod we did and cost well less than $2000 for 1900 sq ft + garage. When they showed up, it turns out my walls were already insulated, but they quickly changed gears and helped me figure out what of my garage mud-room walls needed insulating, so we did that instead, for a lower price. Even with the PGE rebates, these PGE certified contractors are pocketing THOUSANDS of extra dollars for themselves, and probably hiring Ponzini to subcontract for them to work on your house. Then they charge you extra since they are the ones who made the call. Make the call yourself and save a ton of money. Oh, and the attic insulation? I strongly suggest if you are going to blow in the attic, have them blow it to at least a total of 16" thick. Not that much more $$ and an amazing difference for our 1972 tract-type house with barely 3" of cellulose in the attic. Before, we'd turn the heat up and after 15 minutes, the temp would drop 1 degree, at least. Now, we get it up to 70F at 6pm and it takes till 7am in the morning to drop to 67F, when the heater then kicks back on. remember, my house HAD wall insulation, but the house performed horribly. Now that we have what amounts to about R40 or so, in the attic, it performs much better. Don't skimp on the attic! I will give Alfredo some serious credit: he told me himself, "if your walls need insulating, it won't make that much difference if you insulate them. But from looking at your attic, you WILL notice a difference if you get that done." He turned out to be completely correct and I appreciated the fact he was willing to put that out there. read more

Our house is really cold during the winter and parts of the house are too hot during the summer. We've been talking about getting an energy audit done for over a year now and finally this winter we got tired of the cold house and expensive heating bills and looked for someone to do an energy audit. Yelp steered us in the right direction and Alfredo exceeded our expectations with a very thorough audit and report. He's a pleasure to work with, a good communicator-presented information in a way that was easy to understand, and has a sexy Italian accent (sorry ladies, he wears a wedding band). The audit was interesting and fun to see all the toys they use, especially the blower door and infrared camera. We learned a lot about the current systems, appliances, leakages (he found a big hole next to a sliding door that was hiding behind some blinds-it's no wonder the living room was so cold). He conducted a duct blower test and showed us pictures of massage holes and leakages in our duct system. The report was solid, detailed, and very well done. I was expecting a one page summary, but this was like a finely crafted Italian purse with attention to details. It included relevant photos, summaries, details including $ amounts of what we're spending, % efficiency, graphs, and recommendations. After we got the report, Alfredo came back and sat down with us to answer any of the questions and to go over the report. He has a great sense of humor, is a pleasure to work with, and I highly recommend him to anyone who is looking to lower their energy costs and live in a more comfortable home. read more

I have been working with ELEM3NTS for quite sometime and every time I am impressed with the knowledge that Alfredo brings to the table. You will not find a better company that will give you such a detailed energy audit-assessment. There is no cutting corner to save time, each assessment takes anywhere from 4 to 5 hours and every aspect is taken under consideration. Alfredo spends time with each homeowner finding out what their specific concerns are, then collects and analyzes the data and offers solutions that are cost effective and prioritizes them so you know where the best bang for your buck is. The service that ELEM3NTS offers and delivers, which includes a blower door, duct testing, thermal imaging, safety test and more, reaches far beyond that of any other energy audit around Alfredo's knowledge and background in residential architecture allows him and his team to collaborate with other high standards construction companies. ELEMENTS is a company with an innovative approach and a excellent resource for the quality of health, comfort and energy efficiency solutions of your home. If you are planning on doing any construction to your home or just want to know what kind of shape your house is in then call Alfredo, you will be glad you did. read more

We have a fairly new house and I'm interested in going solar, but I wanted to see if there are energy savings we could make 1st. When elements did the survey I was surprised in the detail they went into and their professionalism. They showed me even with a 9 yrs old house there were some big improvements we could make and most wouldn't cost much either. I highly recommend them read more

For years we've complained about having a cool home during the wintertime. Our furnace seemed to run continually. We thought we could do a DIY and install more installation in our attic. We took a look in our attic and thought better! We had ELEM3NTS come out and complete a Home Energy Assessment. They arrived promptly and completed a very detailed energy analysis (4 hour) of our home. During the process Alfredo and his crew were very friendly, professional, knowledge, and clean. Alfredo sent us a very detailed 14 page report suggesting upgrades that prioritized, safety, comfort, efficiency, and cost. Upon completion, Alfredo spent 1 hour on the phone conducting a thorough overview of our home's energy usage and performance with recommendations. Money well spent! read more

Very professional and thorough; the team was extremely friendly and courteous from their prompt arrival throughout the energy assessment of my home. During their time in my home and through the report out afterwards, they provided very helpful and practical advice in a way that made sense to me. I also appreciated how their recommendations were prioritized showing the projected impact the change would make as well as including changes I could easily make right away to save energy that were also low cost. I know Alfredo for many years and I highly recommend his company ELEM3NTS to anyone who is looking for a very seasoned detailed company specializing in energy upgrade remodels. His knowledge and background in residential architecture allows him to go beyond an energy remodel as he is able to integrate energy efficiency in any new project you have in mind for your current or future home. His company is also great about collaborating with other companies with equally high standards and expertise in different areas. For all of the reasons mentioned, this is a 5 star company and I would recommend them to my friends and family. read more

SIX STARS! If you're considering upgrading your home for energy efficiency, call Elem3nts first! Alfredo and his company provide an invaluable service, well worth the upfront investment. To qualify for BayREN/PG&E incentives, you need to get specific baseline testing done first, and then testing after completion, all tests that Elem3nts does very well. It's well worthwhile to go beyond that and hire Elem3nts to do a complete whole-house evaluation before you begin. Elem3nts was recommended to me when I decided to replace my furnace and air conditioner (the AC died a year ago, and the furnace was 22 years old), and the ducts. As a result of the BayREN incentives and Elem3nt's testing, I had all that work done, plus I selected an outstanding insulation company that does comprehensive air sealing and insulation (I had the old removed), and installed baffles to improve air circulation in the attic. Alfredo is a consummate professional. He not only knows all aspects of energy-systems testing, but he also can explain what upgrades and modifications are most important, while still noting the energy-using habits that are often overlooked. (I am now going to unplug my toaster and other appliances that are drawing current even when not in use. He also pointed out needed change to the venting of my water heater.) The team finished all the tests today, and now I have the peace of mind that all the work I had paid for--furnace, AC, ductwork, attic and crawl-space air sealing, insulation--had checked out and will yield a much more comfortable home and much lower energy use for years to come. And I will also be doing something more to save the planet. read more

We asked ELEM3NTS conducted a full energy audit on our home last year. The results were eye-opening to say the least and provided valuable guidance on the biggest ROI items to pursue in improving the energy efficiency and comfort in our home. The exhaustive report gave a detailed look into where the energy we consumed each month was being used, along with seasonal fluctuations. We initially thought we only needed to put some insulation in our walls, but the report showed there were much lower-hanging fruit that should be prioritized instead. Alfredo and his team were very patient in answering questions and honest in what would or would not make a difference for us. Over the past year, we've followed the recommendations given by ELEM3NTS and have noticed a marked improvement in the comfort of our house. I would recommend them to anyone interested lowering their energy bills or improving the quality of life in their home. read more

We had Alfredo and his team come out for an assessment as we were considering solar and wanted to know how efficient our home was before going the solar route. We heard that the more efficient your home is the less you will pay for solar in the end. The communication regarding what service and reports would be provided was clear before we even made the appointment. On the day of the assessment, the team was professional, polite, and on time. We learned a tremendous amount while the assessment was being completed as the team communicates with you while doing the assessment. The report and follow up meeting with Alfredo was extremely informative. We have a clear path of what is recommended in order to make our home more comfortable and efficient. To be certain, Alfredo goes through all options recommending various levels of improvement based on budget as well as which would be most impactful. If you have high energy bills and are wondering why, don't hesitate to call Elements! read more

This review was due long time ago. we had purchased a house in San Jose and it needed some remodeling. Since it was an older construction, we had issues with regards to the heat/cool retention in the house. We had Alfredo run his tests for the house. Apart from the work that we had planned, Alfredo also gave us some more info that helped us plan better our upgrades. He had shown how the cathedral ceiling had no insulation and we should probably take care during the ceiling refit. Alfredo also suggested some contractors for the upgrades to insulation, heating and cooling. Getting some of the work done has made quite a bit of difference to our living conditions in the house and when fully completed I am sure would improve comfort even further. Some of the work is also eligible for PG&E rebates. Alfredo was available by phone for additional questions I had regarding the report he had generated. I would recommend Alfredo and ELEM3NTS for all houses that are going to be upgraded or would like having comforts improved/upgraded in the existing house. Alfredo was very thorough and methodical in his testing and assessment for the upgrades. read more

I have been working on upgrading the energy efficiency of our home for quite some time, and ELEM3NTS-E3 and Alfredo have been an immense help. As a mechanical engineer, I am quite familiar with all the relevant issues for energy efficiency in a home, and I had been extremely disappointed with the quality of the assessments provided by insulation and HVAC contractors. Each contractor only can give advice on their own area of expertise, and are wholly unable to explain how significant these issues are in the scheme of the whole house as a single system. This has made it impossible to prioritize insulation, ductwork, doors/windows, HVAC equipment, etc. Alfredo spent several hours doing a careful and detailed assessment of our home. He used test equipment that is not accessible to even very motivated homeowners. Examples include the blown door tests, heating duct loss measurement gear, and a FLIR thermal imaging camera. He then compiled all his tests into a clear report, which he spent about an hour reviewing with me over the phone. He was able to find some big issues in our house, like major air leakage, missing attic insulation and rodent damage. We have since had many of these issues rectified. Of course, only time will tell how helpful these upgrades were, but we would still be totally lost without Alfredo's input. read more

This company has been instrumental in saving us thousands with an energy assessment. We wanted to purchase solar but decided to have an energy assessment with the Owner Alfredo and that decision was invaluable. He noticed major deficiencies in our duct / house leakage and insulation. Elements was able to make recommendations based on our budget, which was very important to us. When the work was completed, we noticed a big difference in the comfort of our home......"without installing solar". Alfredo and Gabe were professional, knowledgeable, curtious, resourceful and very patient. This is a 1st class company and I highly recommend!!!!! read more

We sought an energy audit to get the PG&E Energy Upgrade rebate as we were looking to replace a furnace and insulation. ELEM3NTS was one of the few independent raters approved by PG&E so we reached out to them and we couldn't have asked for a better experience. Alfredo was responsive in scheduling, came on time and was very thorough in explaining everything he was doing and pointing out where the leaks are. I would highly recommend being at home while he does it as he does a great job explaining everything and it was eye-opening to see and feel first-hand where unexpected leaks were coming from while his huge fan pushes the air out of every corner of our house. You get a thorough report in a week after the 3-4 hour test and then set up a phone call to walk through the report page by page, where he'll answer any questions you may have on how to implement the recommendations. Some of them are low hanging fruit that I am sure will pay for audit itself shortly while the others I am working with contractors on now to get implemented now. Looking forward to seeing lower energy bills soon! read more

My HVAC installed at the first floor does not cool down my 2nd floor (under the attic) properly during summer. My house is over 30 years old and I've never done any work on the air ducts or insulation in my attic/crawlspace. I contacted ELEM3NTS for an assessment (Air Duct Testing, Air Flow and Attic Insulation). I've been very pleased with the service provided by Alfredo who came with a technician to perform the measures while taking time to explain the process, results and interpretation of air leakage measures, and options for remediation. Alfredo was very friendly and shared plenty of information to guide me through my attic/crawlspace project (Insulation removal, attic clean up, sanitization, rodent exclusion, air sealing, new insulation & Air Ducts Replacement). Alfredo shared the results via e-mails with many pictures and measurements captured during the assessment. I was also able to follow up with him via e-mail to clarify my understanding and he provided further details to answer all my questions. I would highly recommend the service that Alfredo and his team provide as it is a good way to educate yourself and understand the root cause of the key issues to be addressed. read more

Alfredo was wonderful to work with and gave us a lot of good information on our home. With the information, we have a time plan to make important upgrades to our home and even save more money via PG&E rebates. Prior to meeting with Elements3, we were considering a new HVAC. However after our analysis, we decided to get a new duct system as well which would increase the efficiency in our home as well as qualify us for approximately $1,900 in PG&E rebate. Alfredo went above and beyond to deliver! Additionally he was able to recommend to us a very reliable contractor, Cooler Living, to help us install a new hvac system. All in all, we saved at least $5k from what another reputable company would have charged us. If you are looking for ways to warm up your home but not sure how, I would definitely recommend getting a home audit. One of our best investments this year. read more

Excellent and very professional service. Customer service is top notch.everything is clearly documented and explained in detail.Alfredo is a very easy person to work with and has very good sense of humour and friendly attitude. read more

I wanted an impartial assessment of my home's HVAC and envelope condition. Our house is old and inefficient and I didn't want a contractor determining the scope and equipment. I found Alfredo and Elem3ts. The team did thorough inspection of the house. They pressurize the building and determined the areas of concern. The graphic of the leaks and the sources was amazing. I can now be a knowledgable consumer when planning and bidding the changes. Alfredo was patience, helpful, and an expert in his field. We now have a clear path for comfort and energy home improvements. read more

Several energy upgrades were completed at my house recently and Alfredo helped with the testing and BayRen rebate process. Everything was smooth sailing. Once again, he was reliable, incredibly responsive, and helpful. This review is not enough to express how much I appreciate his time and customer service. He's definitely in the top 5% of the hundreds of home service providers I've dealt with over the years. Keep up the great work! read more

After consistently being told by PG&E that our energy use is high compared to other "similar" homes, we decided to take action and have a home energy audit. We received some recommendations for a company called ELEM3NTS and decided to give them a try. It turned out to be a great choice. We were impressed by the professionalism and thoroughness of the audit team. Alfredo interviews you and puts things in perspective clearly explaining the impact of your home energy habits. The energy audit-assessment lasted about 4 hours. They thoroughly inspected every part of our home, used infrared cameras to look for energy loss, pressure sealed the HVAC system to look for leaks, checked gas line integrity and perform a whole host of other tests. The end result was a professional report that clearly prioritized efficiency measures showing the projected impact each change would make. We thought for sure there would be some value in putting in more energy efficient windows on the sun beaten side of our house. Alfredo was quick to show some simple math where it would never provide a sufficient return. Instead, he identified other lower cost measures that would have a bigger impact. The report was solid, detailed, and very well done. It included relevant photos, summaries, and details including % efficiency, graphs, and recommendations. Since the audit we have done some of the more simple things and we have seen a definite impact on our PG&E bill. We are now considering some of the more complex items. If you are looking for an un-biased energy report we would highly recommend ELEM3NTS. A side note: Alfredo also has a background in residential architecture and remodeling. If you are considering a remodel he can also help recommend improvements to incorporate for energy efficiency. read more

Best money we ever spent on a home improvement project! My husband got on a serious "green" kick in the last year. Before running off and buying huge solar panels for our house we agreed to have an energy assessment done on our house so we could gauge the cost vs. benefit of making such a major move. That's when we called Elem3nts. Alfredo talked us through the whole process on our initial phone call. He showed up promptly for the first appointment and spent several hours walking through the house and the rest of our property, taking measurements, pictures and documenting his findings. After less then a week, we received a 10+ page report documenting all of his findings and ranking suggestions to improve our energy efficientcy, as well as the cost of each improvement. After we received the report, we made an appointment with Alfredo to review the report in detail. Again, he was prompt and took over 2 hours with us, going over the contents of the report, answering questions, and helping us put together a game plan as to what we could do both immediately and long term to help us become a "greener" household. He also gave us contact information for several different service providers that could give us bids on some of the various projects we were interested in completing. I would completely recommend using Elem3nts as a first step in deciding on your energy conservation goals. read more

We have a 1960's vintage duplex and we decided to have an energy audit by ELEM3NTS (www.e3-elements.com). It was clear that our duplex was in need of a major energy overhaul. The final report was comprehensive and revealed that the duct work was not sized appropriately also the furnace/AC in the smaller unit was very old and had to be replaced. The project included a new furnace/AC in the smaller unit, new water heaters (both units), hot water pipe insulation, building sealing, the insulation and new ducting throughout both sides of the duplex. This was the best investment we ever made. I could not believe the difference in our PG&E bill. The ELEM3NTS team was great, very professional and experienced. I wish we did these 10 years ago!! read more

My wife and I have 3 kids, 6 dogs, 2 cats, 1 parrot and a few other animals and thought that wasn't enough chaos, so we decided to do a major remodel of our 2 stories home on the hill in San Jose. One of our main goal was to figure out a way to get all the energy savings and to become zero energy. We felt it was probably going to be a complicated process but once we started working with Alfredo and his team at Elements, we found everything we needed under one roof. They have great knowledge, specialized consultants and they drove my project based on our budget and time. I found them to be professional and serious and I felt every cents spent was well invested. THANK YOU ELEMENTS!! If you are looking for a high qualify company that can guide you on architecture, remodel, energy and construction, I would definitely recommend ELEMENTS! read more

It is very important to make sure your house is comfortable, energy efficient and livable. Calling Alfredo to analyze our home was the best thing we did. He is very professional and thorough. Alfredo and Louis were such a pleasure to work with. They treated our house like theirs and are a completely trustworthy team. They checked everything possible to figure out how we are loosing energy and educated us along the way on why and where we were loosing energy. we are really looking forward to implementing most of their suggestions to get our home energy efficient. We learnt a lot about our home going through this process. I highly recommend them to anyone who is reading this review and is thinking of making their home energy efficient and comfortable to live. read more

We hired Elements to do an energy audit after getting a new furnace and duct work. Alfredo and his team spent an entire afternoon with us doing a variety of tests. We found out that our newly installed ductwork had 17% leakage. Called the installer back to fix it. They took it down to about 10%. This was our savings #1. We also found out that we were leaking energy around the house and started closing them. The house started feeling warm uniformly instead of having warm and cold spots. I learnt so much about how to save energy and keep the house comfortable during this audit. Alfredo's reports are well organized and prioritize what you need to do to the house to make it energy efficient. After a few months, we called Alfredo back to guide us through second set of energy upgrades. We got our second furnace installed and did a second set of duct work. Alfredo took us through energy efficient California process and saved us thousands of dollars in PGE rebates. Before you do any furnace upgrade or duct work, call elements and get energy audit. It pays for itself almost right away. read more

I own a house in Willow Glen with my mother and older sister. The temperature difference between the front of the house and the back can be quite different depending on the time of year. This was not only causing our bills to go up particularly during summer and winter, but also we did not have any comfort. After looking online we found ELEM3NTS, a unique company specialized in energy-performance home assessment. We contacted ELEM3NTS and decided to engage them for the audit-assessment. ELEM3NTS team looked at all aspects of our energy consumption and they did so many tests: blower door, duct test, infrared camera, detailed inspection of all aspects of our home, energy bills analysis, and more.. The whole process concluded with a full home assessment report and phone call consultation which gave us a complete understanding of our home and all recommendation based on our goals, priorities, and budget...considering also the PGE-California Rebates were available when people make their home more Energy Efficient! The team was on time, friendly and professional, and the detailed report was surprisingly easy to understand. ELEM3NTS was a great way for us to get a long term plan to keep costs down and address all aspects of our homes potential energy savings and have finally comfort (no more blankets or extra layers in the house...) I highly recommend this great company! read more

An energy audit is the way to go if you are planning any energy efficiency upgrades to your home. I found Elem3nts on the Energy Upgrade California website as one of the accredited raters for the PG&E energy upgrade rebate program. Alfredo provided a prompt and detailed description of his service and cost. Before the audit, he collected information about our energy use and arrived prepared with spreadsheets and graphs. The audit lasted 4-5 hours, including discussion time. One thing I particularly appreciated is that Alfredo listens to you and tailors his advice to your goals. He offered great suggestions for coupling energy efficiency upgrades to future remodeling projects. He clearly communicated the rationale and degree of urgency for particular improvements. The final report was exactly what we were looking for - a well-organized and prioritized list of potential upgrades, with ballpark cost and rebate estimates. The rebate program is set up so that raters and contractors operate independently. Therefore, there is no pressure to make improvements you cannot afford, but Alfredo and his team provide an understanding about which improvements will net the greatest energy savings. read more

This is my first ever review on Yelp. I found the Elem3nts team and Alfredo to be absolutely great! When embarking on a project like a home energy upgrade it is very important to have an independent champion in your corner. Most homeowners don't understand the concepts of air flow, ducts, insulation, furnace, air conditioning, etc. and how they work together. Despite having researched the topics on the internet and having read a book or two on home maintenance, etc., you do not really understand what's going on unless you are a contractor or have spent decades inspecting attics and crawl spaces, etc. That's where Elem3nts comes in. They are completely independent of the contractors. They come to your home and do a complete honest assessment. Alfredo explained everything to me down to the air leakage, types of insulation, why a second return was important, etc. His assessment was very comprehensive with pics and organized by most impactful intervention. He also gave me a very accurate assessment of the range of costs I should expect from contractors. After his review, I got three bids from 3 contractors he suggested. Prices were in the ballpark he had stated. After all the work was done, he came back and repeated the tests to make sure it was done right. He also takes care of all the paperwork involved with the CA rebates. I ended up doing about $20k in work with a new furnace, A/C, ducts, sealing, and insulation. There is no substitute for having an independent person in your camp. Do not be fooled by contractors who offer this testing at low cost or for free. There is no way that you can ensure that they are accurate or if the contractor is upselling you. You need an advocate in your corner, and Elem3nts is a great one to choose! read more

I am a homeowner living in the Willow Glen area of San Jose. I recently completed a project through Home Upgrade California Rebate and ELEM3NTS performed the necessary Assessment In & Out and HERS testing. They are very knowledgeable and professional when it comes to what they do; their tests, Blower Door, Duct Blaster, Airflow, Home Safety Test, etc....are unique and really interesting to observe. I had my furnace and duct system replaced, because the highly efficient furnace I had was installed incorrectly and failed after only 12 years. Having Alfredo and his team inspect and test this system after it was installed was yet another benefit. I now have absolute confidence this installation was done correctly and according to code. The City inspector does not even come close to the kind of overall testing ELEM3NTS does to qualify the project for the State rebate. ELEM3NTS is a third party specializing in Energy Assessment-Audit testing for any homeowners looking to make their homes more comfortable, safe, and efficient. If you are looking for a quality service to lower your energy bills and guarantee a safe, pleasant atmosphere within your home, I highly recommend the ELEM3NTS team. Thanks, Alfredo! read more

I had Elem3nts do an energy audit of my home. The process was very educational and handled with extreme professionalism. I was most impressed with the detail of the audit report and the various options presented for making our home more energy efficient. I did not feel like I was being sold to, but that Mr. Baccari wanted to save me money and make my home more comfortable. I would recommend you give the service a try. read more

Alfredo and his team were excellent at performing an energy audit on our house -- it was a real eye-opener! They were very thorough and professional and the documentation Alfredo sent us after the audit was very detailed. After we had received the results of the audit by email, Alfredo came back to go over the findings and all of our options. He really took the time to explain everything and presented solutions both big and small. Although we were lucky enough to have had a significant rebate from the County of Santa Clara for the audit (which Alfredo did all the paperwork for), I think that it would have been worth every penny even without the rebate. We knew that our house was "leaky" but we were shocked to actually see with our own eyes how much heat was escaping through our ceiling and windows. I would highly recommend Alfredo and Elem3nts. Really nice people and excellent work! read more

Alfredo at ELEM3NTS Zero Energy was great. I was referred to his services and it was an absolute pleasure. He met with me to walk through the options and process involved with PG&E. I wanted to save $$ on my utility bill so his team came in, collected data and pictures, identifying a number of ways my home could be more energy efficient. The thorough report he published was very easy to read and educational. I acted on many of the high-impact solutions and upon retesting saw a huge improvement, which yielded a sizable PG&E rebate that covered about half of the expenses of the work I did. Then I got my next monthly utility bill and was amazed at how much less energy I was using while feeling more comfortable in my own house. Since that point, I've saved almost enough in monthly costs to cover the other half of my expenses. I'll break even by the end of 2015 then it's all savings from that point forward. Thank You Alfredo! I'll continue referring your company to my friends. read more

I had an energy assessment done. The process was great and the report was clear, thorough, and was great to understand exactly where my energy costs were. After that I got a few quotes and decided to schedule some work. Having the report and pictures was very useful for the bidding process, it was detailed enough that I could get quotes without them having to physically climb into my attic or crawlspace. Before I got the work done, Alfredo followed up with me to see how things were going and gave me some advice on which rebates to target based on my upgrades. Thanks Alfredo! read more

I had contacted Alfredo about coming out to take a look at our energy efficiency in 2017, but at the time we were unable to schedule it. I contacted him again in 2018 and he was able to pull up our conversation, which impressed me. I scheduled an assessment, he was on time, efficient and accommodated me having two small children in the house. When he contacted my husband and I a week later to go over the results, he made a special phone call to us late at night since that was the only time my husband and I were both available. He spent an hour on the phone with us honestly going over what we needed in what order, and roughly how much it was going to cost us. I was very impressed, and I'm glad we spent the money to be able to give contractors exactly what we need done without being given the runaround or trying to be up sold on things we don't need. Definitely recommend! read more

We used Alfredo and his team for the testing required for a BayREN rebate on the insulation and ductwork we had done. He was always very responsive to my emails and phone calls both before and after the testing, explaining what documentation was needed for the rebate, and answering all of my questions, and also following up and getting the rebate approved quickly and easily. For the testing itself he and his team were very nice, and professional. They were clean, got the job done quickly, explained everything to me, when I asked questions etc. I was 8 months pregnant with a toddler at home so these were all things that were very important to me when having people come into the house. Thanks Alfredo! read more

Over the summer we were interested in not only installing AC into our house, but also in plugging up any gaps and making any necessary repairs that may have accumulated over the years. We googled HVAC companies in the area and called the first hit. The representative told us that in order to get a clearer idea of what work we would want done, we should really give Alfredo a call over at Elements for a full house assessment. He said Alfredo would very clearly and concisely outline what work we would need done, in addition to highlighting other work we might also want to have done. We followed his advice and called up Elements. Alfredo picked up, and we were off to the races. Alfredo asked us very high-level details such as how many stories, and rough square footage. Based on that criteria he told us right then and there what his services would cost, and gave us a complete overview of what they would do when they come on-site. The rough outline for the game plan was as follows: 1. Alfredo and his crew come out to evaluate the home 2. They produce a report of the energy efficiency of my home 3. Alfredo comes out to sit down with us and go through the findings 4. We identify the work we want done on the house, and move forward with an HVAC company Regarding #1: Alfredo and his crew were there precisely on-time, and also called beforehand as they said they would. Regarding #2: The report was astounding. Not only did they do the expected thing of evaluating our HVAC system's efficiency, but they also delved into and analyzed my entire household's energy consumption. When they first arrived at our house they asked us for our last 12 months of energy usage data from PG&E (and showed us where we could find it online). They combined that usage data from PG&E with the efficiency numbers from my HVAC assessment (which were extremely poor) to get a general idea of how much we waste every month on our energy bill. They then went on to identify any outdated appliances we may have that were particularly inefficient. In our case our washer and dryer were from a prior decade, so they immediately stood out. They also pointed out that the old refrigerator we had in the garage was committing double offense because it was not only extremely inefficient, but they pointed out that since it was running in the garage and was surrounded by uninsulated warm air, it was pretty much always running at maximum to keep the contents cold. What was impressive about their assessment of our inefficient appliances was that they didn't just point them out, but they actually put numbers to these things in the form of the monthly cost figure. He also identified that our furnaces (we have two) were a decade past their end of life and that they aren't just inefficient, they are also dangerous at this point. It was extremely insightful and thorough. That was just the extra stuff that we were impressed with. The report pertaining to the actual HVAC integrity of the house was also extremely impressive. They seal off (or attempt to, in the case of our horrid upstairs system) your duct system and run leakage tests. They also scan your entire house with infrared cameras to identify other sources of heat leakage. Those images were extremely helpful, as my wife and I thought for sure our master bedroom windows were poorly insulated since they were as old as the house, but the crew at Elements were able to confirm that our windows were actually perfectly fine, and pointed to other sources of leakage that were surprising - such as our can lights. Regarding #3: After the analysis, Alfredo came out again (he was present and participated in the on-site evaluation) to go over his findings with us. This is where he walked us through all of the information we outlined above. This is also where we were able to draw clear conclusions regarding the work we wanted done on our house. This is why the initial HVAC representative we reached out to recommended that we do this - because now we had a perfectly clear picture of what we wanted done and why. Regarding #4: With the desired work clear in our heads, we were then able to reach out to several HVAC companies in the area and get quotes for the job. What was an unexpected surprise is that both of the HVAC companies we reached out to weren't only familiar with, but were actually enthusiastic to hear that we had Elements evaluate our home. They asked if we could send them the report from Elements along with our request, which we were more than happy to provide. At the present time, Element's remains a proactive step in the HVAC renovation space. In my mind, this should be a requirement. No matter how well-reputed an HVAC company is, how much can you truly trust that you need what they are recommending? They are the ones selling their service, so their incentive is to sell you as much as possible. I highly recommend Elements to anyone, even if you aren't planning any major HVAC work at all! read more