BPI Energy Audits
What is an Energy Audit?
Energy audits are used to identify areas of your home that use the most energy and areas that lose the most energy through air leaks and other inefficiencies. An EDGE energy audit will clearly pinpoint these problems and suggest the most effective measures to cut your energy costs. We would be happy to describe how an energy audit can improve both the comfort and efficiency of your home during a free consultation. See Preparing for an Energy Audit.
Areas of Focus in an Energy Audit:
The typical home energy audit incorporates:
- Envelope Inspections: Blower Doors, zone pressure diagnostics, and Infrared Cameras used to create an air-sealing and insulation scope of work. Attic, basement, crawlspace inspections. Software modelling of home to analyze cost effectiveness of various improvements.
- Combustion Safety and HVACHeat pump and HVAC name plate data, Gas appliance inspection, Carbon Monoxide (CO) combustion safety testing, duct leakage inspection, indoor air-quality tests, ventilation systems check, HVAC register air-flow and balancing report.
- Electrical and Appliances: Create lighting and appliance survey, generate light bulb schedule and recommend low-wattage lighting retrofits that do not sacrifice color temperature or lumen output.
- General Durability:Inspection against 2009 building codes, check for construction defects, water management systems, windows and doors, siding, flashing, and painting.
- Renewable Energy: Feasibility Study with ROI estimate: determine access to renewable energy sources or whether existing systems in home are compatible. Includes solar PV, solar hot water, and geo-thermal systems.
In the course of our energy audits, we perform a hands-on energy analysis, where we conduct two sophisticated tests to analyze the air-tightness of your home, a blower-door test and an infrared scan. See Details of Our Testing.
We will also ask to see your energy usage record (available from your local utilities) for the past year. Comparing your usage with expected usage based on local weather records gives us an additional way to assess the overall efficiency of your home.
BPI Certification
All of our energy auditors are certified by BPI (Building Performance Institute), which is a national standards development organization for residential energy efficiency and weatherization retrofit work. View details of our certifications and licenses.
Our Energy Audit Report
After completing an energy audit, we create an in-depth report that explains how you can reduce energy waste and cut down on costs. See Secrets of the Energy Audit. Our report includes:
- The type, size, condition and rate of energy consumption for each major energy-using item or system in a house
- Results of HVAC and mechanical inspections
- A home performance work scope, a home energy savings plan with cost estimates and projected savings from implementing specific energy upgrades
- Analysis of any current or potential health and safety problems in your home and proposed solutions (e.g., poor indoor air quality, combustion safety, natural gas leakage, etc.)
Suggested behavioral changes for you and your family that can reduce energy waste
Request a sample energy audit.
