About Home Star Iowa | BPI & RESNET Certified

Serving Eastern Iowa from Cedar Rapids to Iowa City, and beyond

Home energy work runs in the family. I grew up around Novak Heating and Air Conditioning — a family HVAC business founded in 1934 — and spent 15 years in the trade before a simple question changed my direction: why do so many homes have the right equipment and still feel uncomfortable, drafty, or expensive to heat?

That question led me to building science, and eventually to founding Home Star Iowa to focus entirely on whole-house performance — the intersection of the building envelope, mechanical systems, and the people living inside.

From the Trade to Building Science

After 15 years installing and servicing equipment, I kept running into the same pattern: a perfectly sized furnace in a house that still couldn’t hold heat. The problem usually wasn’t the equipment — it was the building. Air leakage, missing insulation, moisture, and pressure imbalances were doing the damage. Building science gave me the tools to diagnose the whole house instead of guessing, and it’s why every assessment I perform looks at the envelope, the mechanicals, and how they work together. (See Why an Independent Auditor?)

A BPI-Certified Trainer & Testing Center Since 2009

In 2009 I became a BPI-certified trainer, and I’ve been certifying building performance professionals across the United States ever since. Home Star Training is an official BPI Testing Center, where contractors, auditors, and utility-program staff come to earn their certifications. Training other professionals to the BPI standard means I’m held to that standard every day — and it keeps me current on the diagnostics, codes, and best practices I bring to every home in Eastern Iowa.

DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Partner

Home Star Iowa is a partner in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) program — a national standard for homes so efficient that a renewable energy system can offset most or all of their annual energy use. That partnership reflects how I approach every project: not just finding problems, but understanding what a high-performance home should actually do.

Veteran-Owned, Family-Rooted

Home Star Iowa is a veteran-owned business. Between military service and three generations of family HVAC experience, the work comes down to the same things: doing the job right, standing behind it, and being straight with people about what their home needs.

Credentials & Certifications

• RESNET HERS Rater & QA Designee — Rates new-construction energy efficiency; required for ENERGY STAR homes and many code-compliance paths. (See New Construction HERS Ratings.)
• DOE Home Energy Score Assessor — Official DOE program that rates homes 1–10 for energy use; recognized by lenders, real estate agents, and utility programs. (See Home Energy Score.)
• BPI Building Analyst-T — The foundational whole-house diagnostic certification from the Building Performance Institute.
• BPI Building Analyst-P — Advanced certification focused on the building envelope: insulation, air sealing, windows, and moisture.
• BPI Heating Professional
• BPI AC & Heat Pump Professional
• BPI Residential Building Envelope Whole House Air Leakage Control Installer (RBE-WHALCI)
• BPI Healthy Home Evaluator (HHE)

Serving Eastern Iowa

I’ve assessed homes across Eastern Iowa and helped homeowners in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Marion, North Liberty, Coralville, and surrounding communities understand exactly what their house is doing — and what it should be doing.

Ready to find out what your home is actually doing? Whether you need a Home Energy Score for a sale or refinance, a full diagnostic assessment, or help qualifying for utility rebates — I can help.