Recommendations

Todo

These are probably outdated. Should update or remove.

In keeping with the asset-based methodology, a consistent set of upgrade recommendations are considered for each home’s assets, based on the home’s location. Variations occur as a function of home characteristics, cost- effectiveness, etc. Upgrades considered in the Scoring Tool include improvements to the house envelope and major equipment (the “assets”), but not to upgrades of lighting, appliances or behavioral changes (e.g. change thermostat settings). Unlike other rating tools, the Scoring Tool applies a fixed, standardized retrofit cost (from the NREL National Residential Efficiency Measures Database) and generates recommendations that provide the highest performance level with a payback time of 10 years or fewer. Recommendations considered during the improvements analysis are as follows:

Category	Measure
Basement wall insulation	R11
Basement wall insulation	R19
Central air conditioner	Energy Star (SEER 14)
Attic insulation	R19
Attic insulation	R30
Attic insulation	R38
Attic insulation	R49
Attic insulation	R60
Boiler, gas	Energy Star (85% AFUE)
Boiler, oil	Energy Star (85% AFUE)
Boiler, propane	Energy Star (85% AFUE)
Cool roof	High Slope - 15% reflectivity
Foundation wall insulation	R11
Foundation wall insulation	R19
Duct insulation	R6
Duct sealing	Reduce leakage to 3% of total airflow
Floor insulation	R11
Floor insulation	R19
Floor insulation	R25
Floor insulation	R38
Furnace, gas	Energy Star (90% AFUE)
Furnace, oil	Energy Star (85% AFUE)
Furnace, propane	Energy Star (90% AFUE)
Heat pump	Energy Star (SEER 14.5, HSPF 8.2)
Envelope/Air sealing	75% of existing leakage (25% reduction)
Room air conditioner	Energy Star v 3.0 (EER 11.3)
Roof EPS insulation	Add R5 foam sheathing
Skylights	Energy Star (Double-pane low-E argon wood frame)
Wall insulation	R13
Wall EPS insulation	Add R5 foam sheathing (only for wood frame w/ certain siding types)
Water heater, electric	Energy Star (heat pump, EF 2.76)
Water heater, gas storage	Energy Star (0.67 energy factor)
Water heater, gas storage	Premium Efficiency (energy factor 0.81, 88% recovery efficiency)
Water heater, propane storage	Energy Star (0.67 energy factor)
Windows	Energy Star (Double-pane low-E argon wood frame)

These recommendations are provided in two categories.

Repair Now improvements can help the homeowner save energy immediately. These include:

• Attic insulation

• Basement wall insulation

• Basement/crawlspace floor insulation

• Crawlspace wall insulation

• Air tightness

• Exterior wall insulation

• Duct sealing

• Duct insulation

Repair Now energy savings are achieved by moving between the baseline home and the upgrade recommendation. The cost used for the cost-benefit analysis is the full cost of installation.

Replace Later improvements are recommendations that should be implemented when it is time to replace specific equipment or building materials. These include:

• Central air conditioner

• Boiler, furnace or heat pump

• Room air conditioner

• Roof - reflectance

• Roof - insulated sheathing

• Skylights

• Siding - insulated sheathing

• Water heater

• Windows

Replace Later improvements are recommended at the time of product replacement because the incremental cost between the minimum efficiency equipment and the cost of the high efficiency equipment is used in the payback analysis.

The Home Energy Scoring Tool does not include PV as an automatic recommendation for homes to improve their Scores. If an Assessor believes a home is a good candidate to improve their Score by adding a PV system, they can utilize the Tool’s “Alternative EEM” feature to showcase the home’s Score with Improvements with PV included.

It is important to note that the sum of the savings from each measure recommended does not equal the total savings for the package of selected upgrades (the number shown on the label). This difference is due to interactive effects of some energy improvements. For example, insulation will reduce heat and cooling energy use. This will reduce the potential savings available to the heating/cooling system upgrade. This difference will be reflected in the total savings number on the Home Energy Score label.