What is an Energy Audit?

Energy auditors visit residential buildings and talk to owners and residents during an energy audit. Energy auditors inspect, test, and measure to decide what energy-efficient retrofits are practical and cost-effective. An energy audit is also called a home energy analysis, a home performance analysis, or an energy survey.

Specific purposes of an energy audit are to:

Identify the type, size, condition, and rate of energy consumption for each major energy-using device.
Recommend appropriate energy conservation, operation, and maintenance procedures.
Estimate labor and materials costs for energy retrofits.
Project savings expected from energy retrofits.
Note current and potential health and safety problems and how they may be affected by proposed changes.
Explain behavioral changes that will reduce energy waste.
Provide a written record of decision making.

Computerized energy audits help set retrofit priorities by rating the cost-effectiveness of each retrofit, as well as analyzing the entire building retrofit proposal. The energy auditor may be an independent party or may be employed by an energy service company, in which case the auditor might also be a salesperson.