EEM Part 1: What does an Energy Rater Do?

This is the first in a series of Posts about Energy Efficient Mortgages (EEM). 

Meet John Shipman an Energy Rater and founder of Energy Efficiency Management Inc. I managed to sucker him into letting me tag along to see just what he does to help owners and buyers make their homes more energy efficient.

John will be putting this home through a series of tests and visual inspections to determine where and what cost effective improvements can be made. After John gets all the basic info down, such as, square footage of the home. He'll also note the size, number and type of windows. Such as double or single pane class, wood/aluminum/vinyl frames etc. The type of windows can play a really important roll in your homes energy performance. Single pane windows will conduct both heat and cold, while double pane (two layers of glass) will insulate and restrict the transfer of heat and cold. An extra benefit is sound insulation. Double pain vinyl windows are famous for the keeping the outside, outside.

The next thing on the agenda is looking into the walls... ok maybe not "into" the walls but he's got one very expensive piece of equipment called a Thermographic camera. It's very cool to play with. It allows you to see heat signatures in/on walls, floors and ceilings. As an electrician I've used these devices to look at motors and panel boards for over loaded circuits and failing parts. Anyway, an energy rater can see where insulation is failing or non-existent in the structure of your home. You might be surprised to find out that newer homes are just as likely to have missing or substandard insulation. In case your wondering, it's not necessary to remove all the drywall to install new insulation... it can be injected through small holes that are easily patched. It's very effective and has a surprisingly high "R" value. 

Now John will conduct a whole house pressurization test. This test can both pressurize and depressurize a home. Both are done to determine the house's ability to hold onto the air that's circulating through it. If a house is really leaky your air handler, heating and A/C units are working more often than they need to be. This means your sending more money to the power and gas companies than you need to be. It also means your big dollar items, heating and cooling units, are going to need service and or replacement more often! Visualize paper dollars blowing out the unsealed windows, drifting beneath doors and into the great outdoors. 

Next he focuses on the air ducting system. It's pressurized to see if it performs as designed. This house, as you can see in the photos above, failed that test. John couldn't get a reading, which meant an open or torn duct was present in the system. He quickly found the problem at the return air duct... it wasn't connected properly and as a result, was pulling foul air from under the house, the stairwell framing and carpeting. This gives you an idea of the poor air quality the occupants were breathing into their lungs. Adults, kids and pets alike. I wonder if colds and allergies were an ongoing issue.

After the tests are completed, a report is generated  and given to the owners/buyers. They will then submit the report to the EEM facilitator who then puts the documents together for processing (another blog entry). With the report in hand, the owners can determine which upgrades they wish to do. The report contains lots of information on utility usage and cost comparisons etc. The Energy Rater will come back at the end of the project, after the required work is completed, and conduct a second inspection to make sure the work was performed to new EE standards. This ensures the upgrades will have the predicted results and cost savings. This is required for the EEM.  John tells me that the problem he's noticed with the building trades, is that most of them are slow to change their building techniques. The issue is they know how to pass a city inspection which is based on, at least in California, old Title 24 requirements. New EE standards have specific installation and building specs. Rated equipment needs to be installed to "Manufacturer's" specs. Otherwise, sloppy or antiquated building practices will make the whole process a waist of time. A good Energy Rater will have a list of EE Certified Builders and Contractors. I should note that if you have a contractor you really trust, that's fine too. The Energy Rater will work with him to make sure everything is done correctly. If the home passes inspection he signs it off! I would encourage any contractors reading this to look into getting the Green Building Certifications. Its the dawning of a new day!

The fees for getting an EEM include the Energy Rater ($350-$800) and the EEM loan facilitator (around $350). The Rater will base his fees on the size of the home being qualified and you can expect him to be on site anywhere from 2-6 hours depending on square footage and scope of work. Most of the homes in the US are older homes and  Energy Raters can do a lot to help you find cost effective ways to bring your home up to or above current standards. Even if your not going to buy a home or not refinance your existing home, a raters fees are nothing compared to the money you can save on utilities, unscheduled maintenance of appliances and the possible health care costs that result from poor to downright disgusting interior air quality!

Talk to your Tax advisor about available Energy Efficient Home deductions and credits. On the right of the page you'll see the list of "Helpful Links" start there for more information. I would also encourage you to send me your questions and suggestions to help me improve the Scatterwave Blog. 

Thanks again to John Shipman of Energy Efficient Management Inc., for allowing me to shadow him on his project.

Next: EEM Part 2: How and Why of Energy Efficient Mortgages