CHENANGO — Two years of hard work have paid off for Foam It, which recently won honors from the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA) as “Outstanding New Contractor.”
NYSERDA honored the company for completing more than 70 home-performance projects, more than any other new contractor, in the two years since Foam It, an insulation company, started working with NYSERDA.
“We set a new bar,” Jonathan Norton, Foam It’s owner, says. “We did the most jobs ever for a contractor in the program in two years.”
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Norton says the company won partly because it runs all of its projects through NYSERDA’s programs instead of picking and choosing select jobs. Norton decided to work with NYSERDA and its Home Performance with Energy Star Program because it fits the company’s work and offers many benefits to his customers including rebates, low-interest financing, and grants to help reduce the cost of energy upgrades.
Foam It (www.foamitinsulation.com) was one of six companies honored by NYSERDA with Statewide Home Performance with Energy Star awards presented in February at the agency’s Affordable Comfort, Inc. conference in Saratoga Springs.
Norton started Foam It in 2005 after taking on an insulation project at his family’s business, TNC Bingo, a charitable gaming supply company that employs about 10 people. After insulating that company’s buildings, Norton says he realized there was a real need for a firm providing that service in the area.
“We kind of just fell into it,” he says of starting Foam It, which employs 15 people.
Along with offering spray-foam insulation, Norton’s company also provides free energy audits, heating and hot-water systems, windows, and doors.
Norton and his employees are out there pushing those products and services, he says, because he wants to be NYSERDA’s top company again at the next biennial conference.
“We just have to keep the product numbers up so we get another award in two years,” he says.
This year started out strong for the company, he says. “Fuel prices are at an all-time high, so it’s the perfect time” to look for ways to cut energy costs, Norton says. A well-insulated home will use less heating fuel in the winter and require less air conditioning in the summer.
According to NYSERDA, properly insulating a home can save an average of 20 percent of heating and cooling costs or up to 10 percent of total energy costs for a homeowner.
However, this winter’s mild weather made insulation the last thing on anyone’s mind and business dropped off a bit, Norton says.
“Unfortunately, a lot of homeowners procrastinate,” he says. “That’s why we have a busy season in the fall.”
In spite of the unseasonably warm March weather, Norton says he still expects to have a great year and projects his revenue will rise 50 percent.
“We set high standards,” he says. He declined to release revenue totals.
Foam It, located at 327 Water St. in Chenango, says it is a Build Performance Institute-accredited company that can work with new and existing residential, commercial, agricultural, and steel-frame projects.
