OLDER NEWS MENTIONS
Recurve Raises $8 Million From Lowe’s, Others - TechPulse 360
If you need more proof that big-box home-improvement retailers are sold on the home-energy retrofit business, here it is. [+] MORE
Deadline Ahead for Energy Credit - Wall Street Journal
Homeowners have until the end of the year to make improvements that qualify for a federal energy-efficiency tax credit, including insulation upgrades and purchases of heating and air-conditioning equipment. That isn't to say incentives for home energy efficiency will go away for good. There are efforts under way in Washington to extend the credit plus the HomeStar bill slowly working through Congress would provide similar and possibly bigger breaks. [+] MORE
Recurve Raises $8M for Home Energy Audits - Earth2Tech
Recurve, the startup that has built a business off of auditing homes for energy efficiency, has raised $8 million. [+] MORE
Startups Help Homeowners Conserve - Sea Change Radio
A profile of three Bay Area companies trying to help people lower their electric bills. [+] MORE
Recurve’s Toolbox Helps a Struggling Industry - SF Business Times
Recurve is making homes more energy efficient and empowering an army of contractors to replicate its success. [+] MORE
America’s Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs 2010 - Bloomberg Businessweek
The social enterprise—a sustainable business that creates social or environmental value alongside profit—is no longer a niche concept. The companies profiled here were selected from more than 200 candidates suggested earlier this year by Businessweek.com readers. They range from fresh startups to established, multimillion-dollar enterprises. [+] MORE
Home Star, A Smart Investment in Jobs, Innovation - Earth2Tech
For hundreds of thousands of American construction and manufacturing workers who have been sidelined by the recession, the proposed Home Star program – which now awaits Senate approval – represents a lifeline to good jobs with living wages in a growing 21st-century industry. [+] MORE
Small Contractors Await ‘Cash for Caulkers’ - Businessweek
The House may pass the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act on May 6, but construction companies banking on energy upgrades still need the Senate to vote [+] MORE
Recurve App for Tablet Devices Gives Speedy Home Efficiency Audits - Treehugger
Recurve, a San Francisco-based provider of energy efficiency services has come up with a software application that allows an auditor to print out a report with recommendations for services that will improve efficiency. [+] MORE
40 People Who Are Redefining Green - Grist
Four decades after the first Earth Day, the circle of people working toward a cleaner, greener world has expanded way beyond treehugging hippies, red-paint-throwing protesters, posturing politicos, and card-carrying members of enviro groups. [+] MORE
Energy Audit Software Review for Home Energy Efficiency Industry - Examiner
Recurve energy audit and energy management company has decided to get into the energy efficiency software business to help with energy savings. [+] MORE
Energy Retrofitter Recurve Unveils Software For Energy Contractors - TechPulse 360
Recurve’s goal is to be the software powerhouse selling its product (and online service) to businesses getting into energy remodeling. [+] MORE
Recurve Releases Energy Audit Software - Greentech Media
Recurve promises faster audits and improved customer engagement with its new software. [+] MORE
Recurve Releases Efficiency Tool - Sustainable Industries
Home energy auditor and retrofitter Recurve says it has funneled its expertise into a new software offering that will streamline the residential energy auditing process. [+] MORE
The 15 Best Green Tech Startups - CNBC
The selection criteria included technological edge, potential to disrupt the market, quality of the management team, market opportunity, amount of funding and hype power. [+] MORE
Recurve App Speeds Home Energy Efficiency Audits - CNET
The Recurve software is designed to speed up the process of generating a home efficiency audit report and sales proposal. [+] MORE
Net Zero Home - Forbes
The steps to a net zero energy home. [+] MORE
Will This Man Make Money By Retrofitting His Home? - Greentech Media
If everything works, Mike Odynski will save $995 in utility bills a year AND get a free furnace and insulation. [+] MORE
Homeowners Can Pay For Efficient Upgrades Slowly - ABC
Making homes and businesses more energy efficient has now become easier and less expensive in San Francisco. [+] MORE
A Greener Home and More Green in Your Pocket - KCBS
San Francisco homeowners are jumping on a new low cost program to go green, and one of the early birds to the program expects significant reductions in his monthly energy bill. [+] MORE
Things You Didn’t Know About Your Furnace - Grist
Home Star -- aka Cash for Caulkers -- is being cast as a way to fight climate change, lower energy bills for 3.3 million homes and create an estimated 168,000 sustainable green jobs in a recession-wracked nation. [+] MORE
The Top Fifty Green Start-ups - CBS News
We put our energy reporters and analysts to the task of picking fifty VC startups in greentech that have at least a fighting chance of succeeding as VC-funded startups and making an impact on our energy-intensive lives. [+] MORE
Weatherization: Energy Efficiency Hits Home - Mother Nature Network
From the federal stimulus to 'cash for caulkers,' home weatherization has never been hotter. But can it really save the environment and the economy? [+] MORE
Made in the U.S.A.: Efficiency Materials - New York Times
A new study suggests that the majority of materials associated with building efficiency are manufactured domestically. [+] MORE
Who Wins in the Home Star Program? GridPoint, Big Box Retailers - Greentech Media
Will federal and state programs help those that sell big-screen TVs and dishwashers? [+] MORE
Top 50 VC-Funded Greentech Startups - Greentech Media
Greentech Media announces the top 50 startups in greentech. [+] MORE
A Green Seat At the Table - TIME
Home Star could be the next step in creating a new national focus on energy conservation that will generate thousands of jobs at the same time. [+] MORE
Obama’s ‘Cash for Caulkers’ boosts energy efficiency - Christian Science Monitor
As President Obama boosts energy efficiency through Cash for Caulkers, home weatherization will receive rebates. [+] MORE
Can home insulation become a celebrity like Lady Gaga? - Christian Science Monitor
Lady Gaga and home insulation - one's a celebrity and the other deserves to be, a home renovator says. [+] MORE
California governor race key to U.S. climate change - Reuters
Business and environmental advocates see the governor race as pivotal for climate change. [+] MORE
Recurve Ranked Third Most Innovative Energy Company By Fast Company
Recurve named 3rd among Fast Company’s 2010 ranking of the World’s Most Innovative Companies in Energy ... an honor that cements its place among other top energy innovators like First Solar and Silver Spring Networks. [+] MORE
Reducing Emissions One Crack and Infrared Photo at a Time - SF Gate
Efficiency is the less flashy side of greenhouse gas reduction, but it's getting more attention these days, especially since it's the one sure bet when it comes to reducing emissions. [+] MORE
Energy audit sheds light on costly appliances, electronics - Contra Costa Times
Since the Bay Area rollout last fall, PG&E's SmartMeters have come under fire. Consumers have complained that they do not accurately measure electricity usage, resulting in significantly higher utility bills. [+] MORE
The Case for Home Efficiency Retrofits - Forbes
How smart investment in residential energy upgrades can rescue a troubled industry. [+] MORE
Renewed Energy: Cities To Tap Muni Bonds For Green-Building Loans - Wall Street Journal
California cities plan to use the municipal bond market to help property owners improve energy efficiency and install solar panels--and create jobs in the process. [+] MORE
Why Wall Street Will Pay You To Renovate Your House - Greentech Media
This time, the home-as-financial-instrument story will have a different ending. [+] MORE
San Jose Mercury News Interview: Matt Golden, Founder and President of Recurve
Matt Golden is the founder and president of Recurve, a San Francisco-based company that provides detailed energy audits and green energy remodeling to Bay Area homeowners; several venture capitalists are among its clients. [+] MORE
Home Star Program to Plug Home Energy Retrofits - CNET
For homeowners, the proposed legislation provides incentives to weatherize homes and upgrade to more efficient lighting or heating and cooling systems. [+] MORE
Home Weatherization Can Pay Off Big - Marketplace Money
Recurve recently did some simple improvements on reporter Sam Eaton's home to plug energy leaks. By insulating and sealing leaks Recurve was able to boost the overall efficiency of his house by more than 70 percent. [+] MORE
Energy efficiency to shine in 2010 - San Jose Mercury News
Solar and wind power may get the headlines and attention, but green-tech experts say 2010 will be dominated by energy efficiency. [+] MORE
Green Mansions - Greentech Media
In Palo Alto, miracle foam, windows turn 1930s house into net-zero energy home. [+] MORE
Demand for upgraded energy efficiency at home - USA Today
The recession-driven drop in new home construction is forcing more companies to seek work upgrading the energy efficiency of U.S. homes. [+] MORE
Show us the money: Cash for Caulkers poised to return - WalletPop
Cash for Caulkers, the Obama administration's push to subsidize home energy efficiencies via tax credits, faltered before 2009 came to a close -- but is expected to return this month. [+] MORE
How Obama’s Home Star Program Could Green Up America’s Homes - CleanTechnica
Unlike smaller and postponed tax credits for efficiency, the Home Star program would offer immediate upfront money, making investment into energy efficiency feasible, even in these economic times. [+] MORE
Energy Outlook for the Next Decade - Green Chip Stocks
Outlooks for oil, natural gas, coal, renewables, uranium, efficiency, water, and agriculture in the next decade. [+] MORE
The Top Ten in Green Building in 2009 - Greentech Media
Stimulus funds, new technologies, a few old ideas and programs to change the economics of retrofits some clever prodded green building forward. Lights, camera, action and bricks. [+] MORE
Cash for Caulkers: Right Program, Wrong Name - Huffington Post
Home Star cash is not just for caulkers. The workforce that will benefit from its incentives includes a wide range of skilled workers. These include insulators, air sealing technicians, heating and cooling technicians, electricians and many more. [+] MORE
Win-win: energy savings + historical renovation - Palo Alto Weekly
A Silicon Valley greentech entrepreneur updates his older home, without destroying its architectural integrity. [+] MORE
Job Seekers: Buy a Clipboard and a Hammer - Greentech Media
Consumer spending can’t drive the economy. But rebuilding stuff just might, says the President. But overpayment is a looming problem. [+] MORE
Home Star, a great idea - Greentech Media
The idea behind Home Star would be that homeowners would get significant financial credit toward the cost of accredited home energy efficiency retrofits. [+] MORE
Sustainable (Schmustainable) Spaces changes name - SF Business Times
Energy efficiency contractor and software company Sustainable Spaces is now the fancier sounding Recurve. [+] MORE
“Cash for Caulkers” Could Deliver $23B for Home Energy Efficiency - Earth2Tech
The White House is reportedly considering rolling out a two-year, $23 billion program to encourage homeowners to undertake weatherization projects such as adding air sealing, insulation and energy-saving light bulbs. [+] MORE
Cash For Caulkers: The President is Mulling Home Energy Efficiency - Greentech Media
Cash For Caulkers, now officially called Homestar, is in front of the president, according to the New York Times. [+] MORE
‘Cash for Caulkers’: The Details - New York Times
Cash for Clunkers mobilized all of America’s car dealerships and caused change very rapidly. The equivalent of that for home retrofits would be “Cash for Caulkers". [+] MORE
Sustainable Spaces Renames Itself, Plots National Expansion - Greentech Media
Sustainable Spaces is now Recurve and it's going national. [+] MORE
Sustainable Spaces Changes Company Name to Recurve
As part of its bid to expand the company and brand nationally, Sustainable Spaces will be changing its name to Recurve effective November 13, 2009. [+] MORE
Predictions Of A Booming Green Home Retrofit Market - Techpulse
There are more than 500 green home and building retrofitters in the United States, but few that can outmuscle Sustainable Spaces, soon to be Recurve, in California’s San Francisco Bay Area. [+] MORE
The Zero Energy Home - TechPulse 360
This Palo Alto home is a showcase for environment conservation – a so-called zero energy home. Only a few homes in the country can truly claim that distinction. [+] MORE
The Energy-Neutral Home - Forbes
How Recurve turned a historic house into an energy sipper to reduce the amount of energy the home uses by 62%. [+] MORE
Energy Retrofit Market to Surge - Earth2Tech
The White House wants to see the home energy retrofit market surge, and a new report announced today predicts a growing appetite for energy-efficient heaters, air conditioners and roofing materials, part of a larger trend in the growth of green home renovations. [+] MORE
Sustainable Spaces Jumps to #14 on List of Fastest Growing Bay Area Companies
Sustainable Spaces ranks #14 on San Francisco Business Times' list of Fastest Growing Bay Area Companies with 284% growth, up from #16 last year. [+] MORE
White House to Push for Easier Financing for Home Retrofits - Greentech Media
U.S. homes waste a lot of energy, but who has the money to remodel? The White House is pushing for financing mechanisms to ease the burden. [+] MORE
The Home Energy Challenge pt 2 - Greentech Media
While the government has offered cash incentives for consumers to trade in their old gas-guzzlers, most Americans still live in houses that are real "clunkers" in terms of household energy efficiency. [+] MORE
The World’s Biggest Home Utility Bill? And Why Retrofitting Is About Software - Greentech Media
Sustainable Spaces bills itself as a company performing home energy retrofits and in the past year and a half it has become one of the more visible California companies in the market. But its ultimate goal is to become a software company. [+] MORE
Sustainable Spaces Celebrates Five-year Anniversary from a ‘Bus-strapped’ Beginning to 1,000+ Green
Sustainable Spaces, a San Francisco-based provider of home performance services, this month celebrates five years of helping homeowners and builders create healthy, energy-efficient homes through green energy remodeling. [+] MORE
California Earmarks $3.1B for Retrofits, Appliances - Greentech Media
Long the leader in energy efficiency, California has upped its budget for energy retrofits, new light bulbs and appliances. [+] MORE
The Home Energy Challenge - Greentech Media
Sustainable Spaces' founder Matt Golden presents a sustainable approach to reducing residential carbon emissions while creating jobs for American workers. [+] MORE
Energy Retrofits Not so Stimulated by Stimulus Bill - Earth2Tech
The $4.3 billion in stimulus tax credits for better insulation, double-paned windows, and other energy-saving measures are having a "small but positive" effect. [+] MORE
Blowing up the House for Energy Efficiency - KQED
Tom White is the Publisher of Home Energy. He's gotten to know a lot about home performance in this job over the last few years, but there was one more initiation to go. So he went to the Web to find someone to do an energy audit on his house. [+] MORE
Top 5 Misconceptions about Home Energy Performance - Earth2Tech
Energy retrofits are becoming more common as people look to reduce energy bills and shrink their carbon footprints. But beware. There are snake oil salesmen out there. Matt Golden, President of Recurve, shares the top 5 misconceptions plaguing the industry. [+] MORE
The Top Ten in Green Software - Greentech Media
A green technology analyst about a year ago told me there was no such thing as a green software market. He was wrong. [+] MORE
Neighborhoods Unite to Save on Home Energy Retrofits - Flex Your Power
Building retrofit firm Recurve and community organizer One Block Off the Grid (1BOG) are teaming up to help make home energy retrofits more accessible and affordable. [+] MORE
Entrepreneur turns his house into a green-tech showcase - San Jose Mercury News
Marc Porat, a green-technology entrepreneur, is on a mission to massively reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions in buildings, and he hopes to lead by example. [+] MORE
Attic Fan or Insulation? - Treehugger
Options for preventing the roof from absorbing heat include installing a "cool roof," or shading your roof with a tree or solar panels. But once the energy has been absorbed the options become running your air conditioner, installing an attic fan, or adding more insulation to your attic. Of these options, the latter two are the most cost effective, but which one is better? [+] MORE
Keep it cool - Sunset Magazine
To keep a house cool, it's all about (1) keeping the sun out, or (2) keeping the air cool/conditioned. The key to this efficiency is having a solid thermal envelope for your home. [+] MORE
Sustainable Spaces Receives Accreditation from the Building Performance Institute
In receiving this accreditation, Sustainable Spaces becomes the first home performance retrofitter in California to offer it's customers invaluable third party verification of the quality of its work. [+] MORE
How To ‘Green’ Your Home - Forbes
Think twice before starting with solar panels. "It doesn't make sense to put expensive solar panels on a drafty house that leaks out heat," says Matt Golden, Recurve's Founder and President. [+] MORE
Before Adding, Try Reducing - Wall Street Journal
Should the U.S. government be doing more to subsidize conservation? Projects that improve efficiency pay for themselves quickly, the advocates say, and help people and businesses save money. Renewables, meanwhile, cost more money to achieve the same reductions in carbon-dioxide emissions [+] MORE
Delivering On Our Promise
Policy discussion by Matt Golden intended to stimulate discussion among policy makers, city officials, and citizens. [+] MORE [+] MORE
Best Overall Flex Your Power Award
Flex Your Power, California's statewide energy efficiency campaign, selected Recurve for the sixth annual awards from among over 200 applicants. Recurve was one of 4 organizations recognized in the Best Overall category, including he California Academy of Sciences and the University of California, Irvine. [+] MORE
Green homes: solar vs. energy efficiency - The Christian Science Monitor
Want to cut your home electricity bill? While solar may seem like the way to go, many homeowners are shelving the idea in favor of insulating their attics ... just part of an energy retrofitting performed by Recurve. [+] MORE
Sustainable Spaces Recognized as High Growth Company by SF Business Times
Recurve, a San Francisco-based home performance contractor and national leader in the growing field of home health and energy efficiency, today announced that the company was ranked 16th among the San Francisco Business Times' Top 100 Fastest Growing Private Companies in the Bay Area. "The Fast 100", now in its 17th year of publication, surveys Bay Area companies to find the most innovative and inspiring privately owned firms who have shown the highest fiscal growth rates. [+] MORE
Cheap Green: Home Rating Systems - New York Times
Building a green home, with features like solar panels and top-of-the-line insulation, involves significant up-front costs. Energy retrofitting an older home offers the same (or greater) benefits to the environment but with significantly less cost and hassle than LEED certification. [+] MORE
Sustainable Spaces Merges with Renu
Leading home performance companies merge to form one trusted name in home testing and home performance retrofitting. [+] MORE
Cheap Green: Shower Power - New York Times
Taking a long, hot bath is one of life's luxuries. It isn't very green, though: a 5-minute shower can use about one-third of the water required for a 70-gallon bath. To conserve in the bathroom, the New York Times turned to the experts at Recurve. [+] MORE
Home, green home - The Economist
Systems, like ... solar panels, that enable homes to generate their own electricity may get a lot of attention, but finding ways to reduce the need for energy in the first place is just as important. Green homes start with a sealed envelope. Matt Golden, Recurve founder, says that a typical home exchanges around 35% of its air with the outside each hour, whereas carefully sealed "green" homes rate around 7%. [+] MORE
Audit home for energy efficiency - The San Francisco Chronicle
To see exactly how these energy audits work, The San Francisco Chronicle called on Recurve to assess a 1950s rancher. The process consisted of a questionnaire to help determine my carbon footprint; a three-hour visit; and a summary report, called a Home Performance GreenUP, that offered details and estimates for recommended work. [+] MORE
Green Ghostbusters Nab Hidden Power Leaks - Wired
San Francisco-based startup Recurve estimates that homeowners could reduce their energy costs by up to 50 percent by taking simple steps like fixing bad duct work and installing the right insulation. And since 21 percent of U.S. energy consumption goes into American homes, greater efficiency could help reduce the country's overall energy footprint, too. [+] MORE
Sniffing Out Indoor Air Pollution - KQED Public Radio
Most people think of their house as a sanctuary from toxic air, but indoor air pollution can be at least as potent--and often much more so—as what you breathe outdoors. [+] MORE
Simple, money-saving upgrades improve energy, water efficiency - San Francisco Chronicle
One of the best and most affordable strategies people can employ to combat global warming is to improve the energy and water efficiency of their homes. Instead of spending $20,000 replacing windows, you can spend $2,000 and get the same effect with insulation," said Matt Golden, whose business, Recurve, diagnoses energy-wasting problems in homes and also profiles people's overall energy use patterns. [+] MORE
Can This Home Be Greened? - Natural Home
Do you live in a sick apartment? A couple in San Francisco called upon Recurve to improve indoor air quality, energy efficiency and home comfort. Recurve installed an Environmental CheckUP Monitor to record levels of particulates, VOCs, carbon monoxide, temperature and humidity inside the condo for several days. [+] MORE
Recent Press Releases
Recurve Offers Free Home Energy Audits for Berkeley Residents
Recurve today announced that it will provide free audits and deferred remodeling payments for residents of Berkeley who are eligible for the city’s new rebate program, Money for Energy Efficiency (ME2), that launched on July 6, 2010. In conjunction with the city rebate offer, PG&E is offering incentives as well. [+] MORE
Recurve Raises $8 Million in Series B Funding
Recurve raises $8M Series B led by strategic investor Lowe's Companies (NYSE: LOW)[+] MORE
Recurve Announces Beta Release of Home Energy Auditing Software for Home Performance Contractors
Built by Contractors for Contractors, New Software Allows Fast and Accurate On-Site Audit Reports to Turn More Audits into Retrofits - General Release Planned for Later This Year [+] MORE
Recurve Ranked Third Most Innovative Energy Company By Fast Company
Recurve announced that the company was ranked 3rd among Fast Company’s 2010 ranking of the World’s Most Innovative Companies in Energy. [+] MORE
Sustainable Spaces Changes Company Name to Recurve
As part of its bid to expand the company and brand nationally, Sustainable Spaces will be changing its name to Recurve effective November 13, 2009.[+] MORE
Sustainable Spaces Jumps to #14 on List of Fastest Growing Bay Area Companies
Sustainable Spaces ranks #14 on San Francisco Business Times' list of Fastest Growing Bay Area Companies with 284% growth, up from #16 last year. [+] MORE
Sustainable Spaces Celebrates Five-year Anniversary from a ‘Bus-strapped’ Beginning to 1,000+ Green
Sustainable Spaces, a San Francisco-based provider of home performance services, this month celebrates five years of helping homeowners and builders create healthy, energy-efficient homes through green energy remodeling. [+] MORE
Sustainable Spaces Receives Accreditation from the Building Performance Institute
In receiving this accreditation, Sustainable Spaces becomes the first home performance retrofitter in California to offer it's customers invaluable third party verification of the quality of its work. [+] MORE
Sustainable Spaces Recognized with Home Performance with Energy Star Century Club Award
Sustainable Spaces announced today that it has received a 2008 Home Performance with ENERGY STAR Century Club Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy. [+] MORE
Sustainable Spaces Names Google Veteran Joel Truher VP of Product Development
Sustainable Spaces today announced it has hired engineering veteran Joel Truher as the company’s first vice president of Product Development. Truher brings more than 15 years of engineering experience to this newly created position. [+] MORE
Best Overall Flex Your Power Award
Flex Your Power, California's statewide energy efficiency campaign, selected Recurve for the sixth annual awards from among over 200 applicants. Recurve was one of 4 organizations recognized in the Best Overall category, including he California Academy of Sciences and the University of California, Irvine.[+] MORE
Sustainable Spaces Recognized as High Growth Company by SF Business Times
Recurve, a San Francisco-based home performance contractor and national leader in the growing field of home health and energy efficiency, today announced that the company was ranked 16th among the San Francisco Business Times' Top 100 Fastest Growing Private Companies in the Bay Area. "The Fast 100", now in its 17th year of publication, surveys Bay Area companies to find the most innovative and inspiring privately owned firms who have shown the highest fiscal growth rates. [+] MORE
Sustainable Spaces Merges with Renu
Leading home performance companies merge to form one trusted name in home testing and home performance retrofitting. [+] MORE
Sustainable Spaces Secures $6 Million Series A Investment
Recurve, a national leader in the growing field of home energy efficiency and health, today announced it has closed its Series A funding. The company secured $6 million dollars from RockPort Capital Partners and Shasta Ventures. The infusion of funding will enable the company to invest in building its infrastructure to meet the exploding demand for its services. [+] MORE
REGREEN Highlights Sustainable Spaces for New Best Practices Guidelines
Sustainable Spaces today announced that REGREEN, a best practices guidelines manual for green remodeling, has highlighted the company’s approach to remediating home performance by including an in-depth home performance case study in their recent guidelines. [+] MORE