Home Energy Audits: Great Information for Existing Homes
Chances are, you're spending much more on utility bills than you need to be. A home energy audit gives you the opportunity to fix that. Using the latest technology, including a blower door to assess air leakage and infrared thermography, a comprehensive home energy audit will point out leaks in your home's thermal envelope, deficiencies in insulation, and other opportunities to stop heat loss and reduce energy consumption, while improving the comfort and safety of your home. In addition to recommending fixes to reduce energy, we'll also evaluate carbon monoxide safety, mold and other air quality isssues and improvements to temperature and lighting comfort. Our comprehensive audit report will include a prioritized list of potential improvements, and an estimate of the savings our recommended work will likely lead to.
Energy Star and LEED Certification
As green building standards become increasingly prominent in the real estate community, more and more homeowners are looking to green building certifications as a way to distinguish their properties. As a LEED AP I am fully qualified to determine whether your new construction or remodeling may be up to the stringent standards of Energy Star Homes or one of various tiers of LEED (basic certification, Silver, Gold, or Platinum), and to provide certification where applicable. Fully aware that sorting through the red tape of green building can be difficult for homeowners and contractors alike, I'd be happy to work with you to help you achieve your green building goals.
Blower Door Testing
Blower door testing is a way to test the "leakiness" of your home. By depressurizing your home and measuring the rate at which air infiltrates through imperfections in the building envelope, we're able to assess how much energy (and money) is escaping through air leaks, and how much you're likely to save by fixing those leaks. As part of this process, we will inspect the house with a smoke stick to pinpoint potentially hidden air leaks (making it much easier to address them when the time comes to get to work). We also offer blower door testing as an isolated service to test the effectiveness of improvements that have been made to a home, and to provide homeowners and contractors with a roadmap to further improve a home's efficiency moving forward.
Infrared Diagnostics
Having your home evaluated with an infrared scanner sheds valuable light on the effectiveness of your home's thermal envelope. An infrared scanner reveals hidden air leaks and areas where insulation isn't performing, and can also yield some interesting surprises -- such as where an uninsulated hot water pipe or recessed lights may be contributing to an ice dam, for an example. It's a valuable part of any good home energy audit, and a step that we guarantee to take with thoroughness and precision (although our experience tells us that it can also be a fun part of the energy audit for homeowners).
