Question & Answer

What exactly is a home energy audit?

A home energy audit examines the energy efficiency of your home, and provides results which you can use to upgrade certain components of the home to improve energy efficiency and save money on utility bills.

What certifications does Better Building Company have?

Better Building Company technicians have been through rigorous certification programs with both the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) and the Building Performance Institute (BPI).

What exactly is a “whole house assessment?”

A “whole house assessment” involves looking at the entire house. Typical energy audit companies only look at the energy efficiency of a home and provide a report detailing the issues. A “whole house assessment” includes an energy audit, but also looks at the entire condition of the home and identifies non-energy issues that affect the value and livability of the home.

What is a “make sense maintenance plan?”

A “make sense maintenance plan” is a comprehensive plan designed to improve the energy efficiency and livability in the home. What makes a “make sense maintenance plan” different is that it is designed to work within your budget, and provides understandable recommendations with detailed economic benefits.

How do I know whether or not a company is qualified to perform an energy audit?

With the abundance of energy efficiency companies, it is important to understand the certifications that a company holds. BBC testers are certified by both the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) and the Building Performance Institute (BPI). In becoming certified by these agencies, BBC testers underwent significant education and were required to pass both written exams and hands on training. As a result, our technicians are able to provide you with a HERS rating on your home.

What is a HERS rating?

There are two types of ratings:

Projected ratings – Ratings performed prior to the construction of a home or prior to the installation of energy improvements to an existing home.

Confirmed ratings – Ratings completed using data gathered from an on-site inspection, which could include performance testing of the home.

Based on the home’s plans, the Home Energy Rater uses an energy efficiency software package to perform an energy analysis of the home’s design. This analysis yields a projected, pre-construction HERS Index. Upon completion of the plan review, the rater will work with the builder to identify the energy efficiency improvements needed to ensure the house will meet ENERGY STAR performance guidelines. The rater then conducts onsite inspections, typically including a blower door test (to test the leakiness of the house) and a duct test (to test the leakiness of the ducts). Results of these tests, along with inputs derived from the plan review, are used to generate the HERS Index score for the home.

What are typical problems discovered in an energy audit?

Typically, most older homes suffer from a leaky building envelope due to inadequate insulation, windows, or other factors that allow air to move freely in and out of the home. In certain cases, a home might also be operating with inefficient appliances such as heating and cooling units, which can cause excessive energy bills.

What are "sealed ducts"?

Ducts are a system of tunnels that distribute conditioned air to rooms throughout a structure. Sealed ducts have properly installed joints and connections to minimize air leakage. Air leaks cannot be seen, and so diagnostic testing verifies leakage. The use of a fog machine in conjunction with the Duct Blaster can help to locate them. These leaks can then be addressed by using approved tapes, mastics, and mechanical fasteners.

What is a "Duct Blaster"?

A Duct Blaster® is a tool used to test the air leakage rate of forced air duct systems. The equipment consists of a calibrated fan, tape to temporarily seal all the registers, flexible duct to connect the fan to the central return of the duct system; and a digital meter to measure fan flow and duct pressure. Duct leakage is measured by pressurizing the duct system and precisely measuring the fan flow and duct pressure. Duct leakage measurements are used to diagnose leakage problems and certify the quality of duct system installation.

What is Duct Leakage Testing?

Duct leakage measurements are used to diagnose duct leakage problems and verify the quality of your duct system. HERS Raters can use either a Duct Blaster or a blower door to measure the effeiciency of a heating or cooling system.

Leaky ducts can reduce the efficiency of a forced-air heating or cooling system by 20 to 40+%. These leaks can make your home uncomfortable and unhealthy. Leaks in return ducts can pull pollutants into your home from your attic, basement, or garage. Leaky supply ducts can negatively pressurize the house and cause drafts or moisture problems.

Sealing leaky ducts will improve both the efficiency and performance of your heating and cooling system. Leaky ducts make your heating and cooling system work longer and harder to keep you comfortable. Homeowners who have had their leaky ducts sealed have noticed a decrease in their monthly energy bills and an increase in comfort.

What is a Energy Efficient Mortgage

An energy efficient mortgage is a mortgage that credits a home’s energy efficiency in the home loan. For an energy efficient home, for example, it could mean giving the home buyer the ability to a larger mortgage because of the lower monthly costs of operating the home. This concept allows the money saved in monthly utility bills to finance energy improvements. There are two types of energy mortgages:

Energy Improvement Mortgage - Finances the energy upgrades of an existing home in the mortgage loan using monthly energy savings

Energy Efficient Mortgage - Uses the energy savings from a new energy efficient home to increase the home buying power of consumers and capitalizes the energy savings in the appraisal. www.resnet.us/ratings/overview/faq_mortgage.htm

What does a building analyst do?

A building analyst conducts building performance audits with a focus on optimizing performance of the energy systems.

What do all of those Acronyms mean?

 

SPB – Simple payback in years. Initial investment divided by annual savings

ROI – Return on investment, in percentage. Annual savings divide by Initial investment.

SIR – Savings to investment ratio. Lifetime savings divided by lifetime costs.