Making good decisions about improving an existing home's energy efficiency and lowering its energy costs can be challenging for a consumer. Homeowners, builders, contractors, and weatherization agencies have a wide range of energy efficiency upgrades to choose from, each with different benefits and costs.
This course compares the popular upgrades and systems available to help you make the best choice for your projects and is intended to serve as a guide to answer questions about prioritizing energy efficiency investments for existing homes. By closely examining a study commissioned by the Propane Education and Resource Council, the “Analysis of Energy Efficiency Upgrades for Existing Homes,” this course will provide objective information about the most effective measures and/or equipment choices across five climate regions in the United States.
Learning Objectives
- Examine the importance of residential energy efficiency upgrades for existing homes and the difference between “elective” and “non-elective” energy efficiency measures (EEMs).
- Discuss the primary metrics used to evaluate EEMs in this study and identify the most beneficial EEMs in each of the five targeted climate zones covered.
- Understand how to determine approximate payback periods and Savings-to-Investment ratios for EEMs in your projects.
- Explore the results and key takeaways from the study, as well as the future evolution of residential energy efficiency improvements.
Pre-Requisite: Basic knowledge of home energy efficiency equipment and systems.