What's a Professional Home Energy Audit?

A Professional Home Energy Audit evaluates how energy efficient a home is by assessing the amount of energy it consumes. Based upon this report, a home energy professional will be able to point out problems and suggest measures that a homeowner can take in order to make the home more energy efficient. Over time, such measures could potentially save the homeowner a significant amount of money. A professional auditor will also assess the efficiency of the home's heating and cooling systems and present ways by which hot water and electricity can be better conserved.

What's a Building Analysis?

A Building Analysis, also known as a Diagnostic Audit, uses a variety of techniques to do an in-depth diagnosis of a home's energy efficiency. For example, in conducting a building analysis, the technician will use a blower door to measure the extent of leaks in the building envelope and may use an infrared camera to pinpoint hard-to-detect areas of air infiltration and missing insulation. In addition, diagnostic tests are also performed to ensure that combustion appliances are operating safely.

What's a Comprehensive Home Energy Audit?

A Comprehensive Home Energy Audit or CHEA is where diagnostic data is entered into special U.S. Department of Energy approved software, resulting in a rating score on the Home Energy Rating System or HERS Index. Both the Residential Energy Services Network and the Building Performance Institute can issue a CHEA certification. The HERS Index scoring system was established by The Residential Energy Services Network or RESNET to evaluate how homes rate as per the specifications of the International Energy Conservation Code. This is done by comparing the target home's HERS Index score against that of a Reference Home, which was built entirely to the International Energy Conservation Code's specifications. The Reference Home generates a score of 100 on the HERS Index whereas a net zero energy home will achieve a score of 0. The lower a target home scores on the HERS Index, the more energy efficient it is as compared to the Reference Home.

Each 1-point reduction in the HERS Index score for the target home works out directly to a 1% fall in the energy consumption level. Therefore, a target home which scores 85 points on the HERS Index is 15% more energy efficient than the Reference Home (which always maintains a score of 100) while one that scored 80 points is 20% more energy efficient.

A Comprehensive Home Energy Audit (CHEA) consists of generating a HERS Index score rating before any home improvements are made and then putting together a detailed work plan of improvements for the contractors to follow. A post-retrofit evaluation is conducted, whereby a new HERS Index rating score (based upon the retrofits) will be taken, which will highlight the energy savings for the home as compared to before the improvements were made. It is based upon a standard that is common to both the residential energy services network and the building performance institute. In order to take advantage of or to qualify for any tax incentives or rebates, some programs require that a Comprehensive Home Energy Audit be done.