Energy Conservation

Our home performance program is divided into four steps:

Step One – Home Assessment:

One of our project managers will call you to discuss your homes’ current comfort, safety, health, and energy use. A day/time will be arranged for our audit team to come to your home, meet with you, and perform the home assessment audit.

On the day of the audit, a RESNET or BPI-Certified energy auditor will spend 4-5 hours at your home where they will thoroughly inspect over 20 aspects of your home.  Since air doesn’t move in a straight line and the source of drafts and air-leakage are many times far removed from where they are felt, we leverage some level of building diagnostics in all of our engagements. We use sophisticated instruments such as Blower Doors and infrared cameras for diagnosing the source of problems. The blower door is able to test the overall air tightness of a house and is essential to finding where the home is leaking cold air in or losing conditioned air to the outside.  The blower door and infrared camera together enable pinpoint accuracy for identifying drafts and energy loss through the building envelope.

Each home assessment also includes an inspection of the insulation levels throughout the home, including the attic, basement, and walls. We also examine the HVAC systems to determine their expected efficiencies, test air ducts for leakage where applicable, and review your utility bills.

And don’t forget the safety inspections that are done on all combustion appliances that were mentioned above.

Step Two – Home Solutions Meeting (Review Findings and Prioritize Solutions):

Your project manager will meet with you to review the home assessment audit results and comprehensive set of recommendations on what can be done to reduce your energy cost.  The report will have work estimates, and a tailored financial solutions package so you can make the most of rebates and incentives available.  Recommendations for improvements will be prioritized by return on investment.

Also at this meeting, we will guide you through the complex world of financial incentives/financing mechanisms so you can take full advantage of many of the unprecedented financial rebates and incentives (Utility and Gov’t) currently available to homeowners. Our goal during the Home Solutions Meeting is to arm you with all the information you need to make upgrade decisions you will feel confident about.

Step Three – Improve the Energy Performance of your Home:

Our skilled professional team, all of whom have particular expertise in the green building industry, go to work to install the agreed upon energy efficiency measures.

Step Four – Verify the Effectiveness of Installed Energy Conservation Measures:

We verify that the energy efficient measures that we installed are working appropriately.  We document that the installed measures are performing as expected.

We also present a Home Performance Service Package that provides our clients with a one-stop solution for the continuing performance of their home’s comfort and energy systems.

Specific information on the various tests is below:

Building Science for Audits

• Blower-Door Test – This diagnostic tool detects air leakage. With a calibrated fan and a device to track air flow and building pressure, a blower door changes the air pressure inside your home to measure the quantity and speed of outside air rushing in.

• Duct-Blaster Test – An average home leaks 30% of its conditioned air into the attic and crawl spaces. A duct blaster uses a fan to force air through all holes and cracks in the ductwork until we can measure the amount of leakage. We then track down the sources of the leaks.
• Tests of the Heating & Cooling (HVAC) System – We perform a battery of HVAC tests, including:
  • Static Pressure – Measures how hard the air handler has to work to push conditioned air through the ducts. Too much static pressure decreases air handler efficiency.
  • Temperature Rise – If your temperature rise (supply air temp minus return air temp) is higher than your furnace’s specs, you may have a dirty filter, undersized ducts or other deficiencies.
  • Carbon Monoxide Test – Check for cracks in the heat exchanger that could lead to CO infiltration into your home.
  • Freon Check – Verify your air conditioning unit is charged with the proper amount of Freon.
• Flow-Hood Test – When placed over supply grills, where air flows from ducts into rooms, a flow hood measures delivered air in cubic feet per minute. The results help determine the effectiveness of the HVAC and duct systems.  Is your system properly balance to keep the temperature in all rooms within 3 to 5 degrees.
• Combustion Appliance Zone (CAZ) Test – An inspection of furnaces, water heaters, ovens and other combustion appliances. A CAZ test detects dangerous byproducts of combustion that are not properly vented.
• Infrared Photography – Using thermographic photography, we get a picture of the various temperatures inside your home and on its exterior. Based on the amount of infrared radiation (heat) visible in the image, we can identify insulation deficiencies and points of air infiltration.
• Solar Power Evaluation – Based on your home’s site, structure and energy use, we’ll analyze the potential benefits of installing solar panels. First we apply energy-efficiency measures to reduce your current electricity load, and then we implement a photovoltaic system to help meet that reduced load.