The Home Energy Assessment

Want to know where and why your home is spending your money? The video below was created by the U.S. Department of Energy to provide you with an overview of the Home Energy Assessment - and why it is the best first step to comfort and savings.

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Home Energy Assessment FAQ

  • Why do I need a Home Energy Assessment?

    The home performance assessment or energy audit is the single most important step to quality work and the successful installation of home energy improvements. Information on your utility bill is useful in comparing how efficient your home is to others, but it will not tell you how to reduce your energy use or where your home is working harder than it has to to keep you warm or cool.
  • Who is qualified to give me one?

    Your home energy assessment should be performed by a Building Performance Institute Certified Building Analyst (BPI BA). These individuals have had special building science training and testing to earn this Certification, and LEAP requires every assessment done in our program be completed by a Certified BPI BA.

    Using diagnostic tests, such as a blower door reading, and looking carefully throughout your home (inside and out), a good Building Analyst will provide you with a report that lists energy and money saving improvements, and using software to model your home’s energy use, he or she will prioritize steps to reduce those costs. The end goal is give you the information you need to decide which improvements you want to make and when.
  • What kinds of home energy improvements might my home assessment suggest?

    Most important and cost effective is the air sealing of your home. Cracks around your home's foundation, in the attic, around windows and doors, and where you have pipes and wires coming into the house and between floors, altogether equate to an open window in your home - 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In many older homes, this "window" is the size of a 3 foot x 3 foot hole.

    Adequate insulation in your attic and areas where you have installed heating and cooling equipment, is also important, as is sealing leaky ducts. Many homes could do with a heat pump or furnace upgrade, and their water heater may be old and inefficient. It may surprise you to know that the least cost effective and last measures you should think about are new windows. There are many good reasons to replace windows, but greater energy efficiency can be achieved through less cost by paying attention to these other measures first.
     
  • What should I expect during a professional Home Energy Assessment?

    - Visual inspection, which entails poking around every crevice of the house inside and out that can be safely investigated. In older houses in particular, evidence of moisture build up can be obvious at a glance.

    - Air leakage test to determine how well your house resists air infiltration. You pay to heat or cool your air, so the amount of unwanted air coming you’re your home says a lot about your home’s energy performance. Sealing air leaks is the most cost effective measure a homeowner can do.

    - Evalution of the amount and condition of your insulation. Some Building Analysts will use infrared technology or cut a tiny hole in an unobtrusive section of drywall to investigate further. Insulation in kneewalls and around recessed lighting fixtures (as in, a lack of it) tend to be trouble spots.

    - Health and safety checks. The quality of ventilation (the amount and source of fresh air) will be evaluated, and issues involving asbestos and mold will need to be resolved. All visible gas lines, the gas stove, and gas powered water heater will be checked for leaks and backdrafting of dangerous carbon monoxide gases.

    - Assessment of your heating and cooling systems for cleaning, a tune-up, or replacement.

    - Appliance check, including water heaters, dryers and refrigerators. If he or she finds one that is very inefficient, a newer model may be one of your recommendations.

    - Delivery to you of your Home Energy Assessment Report, which will outline a path forward to savings and increased comfort in your home. LEAP has Office Hours on Fridays from 1:00 - 4:00 if you would like to discuss the results of your assessment.

Top 5 Reasons a Home Energy Assessment is One of the Greenest Things You Can Do

1. Greening the workforce starts with your home. Together we can spur local economic development and put people back to work doing building efficiency upgrades.

2. A "green home" helps more than the environment. A full home energy assessment also checks several health and safety aspects of the home, not to mention identifies ways you can be more comfortable.

3. Control your home and your footprint. Even if you drive a hybrid or take public transportation and work or study in a "green" space, a considerable amount of energy nationwide is used in homes -- and they are the source of a good chunk of carbon emissions. Choices like how you light, insulate, heat, cool and care for your home can have a huge impact.

4. Go green and save green. Energy efficiency improvements to your home can offer one of the highest returns for your investment. Air sealing, insulation and even new windows cost less than solar panels and hybrid cars and have a shorter payback period.

5. Have your heart set on solar panels? Get your home ready by lowering your energy demand and ultimately the cost of renewables. 

Bonus: The best way to fight polluting power plants is to remove the demand for them. The cheapest, cleanest source of energy is that which we don't use.

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