THE ENERGY AUDIT

I am one of those homeowners so dutifully obedient to lessons learned in my childhood about turning off lights that I have pangs of guilt whenever I transgress, but I have done little more to change habits.  But we have all been beaten about the head with BG&E bills, so I thought it a good idea to order an energy audit that promised better guidance than instincts and mother's advice.  It was fascinating.

When asked in what year my house was built, the best answer I can give is 1868, 1910, 1955, 1985, and 2001.  Property tax records have the earliest date. My insurance company came up with 1910.  I learned that a couple in the mid-50's did some extensive renovations that ruined their marriage.  Then my wife and I took our own journey into home renovation Hell not once but twice with additions in 1985 and 2001.  We survived, but I soon learned that putting on additions leaves scar tissue in the fabric of the house that compromises its integrity.

The whole process took about four hours.  After a basement-to-attic tour, the energy auditor inspected the furnace and water heater for any signs of carbon monoxide leakage.  Next came the fun part.  I closed all windows, doors and fireplace flues.  I was then asked to put an old blanket over the ashes in each fireplace because of the turbulence generated by the next step.  The auditor put a large fan in the front door opening and sealed it up top-to-bottom, side-to-side with a spring-loaded frame and Velcroed fabric.  The fan then got cranked up.  And up. And up.

The idea is to get air blowing out the door so that every crack, gap, seam, fissure and worm hole in the rest of the house is sucking air in.  My house is so leaky that the pressure differential between outside and inside did not get near the level of acceptability.  A well-sealed house has something like a 35% per hour turnover rate, meaning that at any time, about 35% of the air in the house has penetrated from outside within the last hour, or roughly 100% of the air in the house is replaced with outside air every three hours.  After some volume measurements and calculations, the air turnover rate in my house was determined to be a whopping 124%.  That's not much different from leaving the front door open all day long.

While all this cold air was being sucked through the crevices, the auditor took a hand-held camera which shows differences in infrared radiation (heat) on the surfaces where it is aimed.  An image of one of our dogs shows an eerily red glow on the eyes and jowls and cool blue on the nose and neck.  Pointed at each door and window, its screen reveals where cold air is sneaking past poor weather-stripping.

The biggest surprise was in the basement.  Much of the foundation is stone.  Typical construction tops the foundation with a wood beam or plank (sill plate) to which is nailed the vertical studs that form the walls.  Wood-on-stone does not form an air-tight seal, especially after a century or more of settling, cracking and shrinking. I could hear air whizzing through.  The camera revealed in the second floor ceiling large gaps around exposed beams allowing the free flow of air from the attic.

Several weeks later I received a written report that ranked by payback priority all the recommended energy saving measures.  The biggest items were air sealing and attic insulation.  I called a contractor recommended by the auditor, and within a few weeks and a few thousand dollars later, I had sprayed-in foam insulation all around the basement, a blizzard of blown-in attic insulation and a checklist of do-it-myself weather-stripping, caulking and appliance replacing.

As part of the deal the auditor came back to inspect the work and re-run the fan test.  The improvement in air turnover was substantial, but because of the age of the house and the many points of weakness where new construction has been added to old, there is a limit to what can be done.  We are far from an ideal air turnover rate.  But it's better than it was, and the energy savings over the next few years will easily cover the cost of the sealing and insulation work.

The energy audit costs $350.  Money well spent.  Next stop...solar panels(?)

John P. (Jack) Machen is a real estate attorney in the Baltimore office of DLA Piper LLP (US), a global law firm with over 3,500 lawyers in 28 countries.  In addition to his law practice, Mr. Machen is certified by the U.S. Green Building Council as a LEED Accredited Professional and provides advice to his firm and to clients on green building, green building codes, sustainability and resource conservation.