A blower door test reveals air leaks inside a house; "The blower door close up." (CC BY-NC 2.0) by EE Image Database

by Christine Yott on April 12, 2017

• Environmental planning category: Sustainability
• When: Winter 2013
• Where: Maryland, Calvert County

Background

In a previous job, I wrote brief pieces on how employees could be more environmentally friendly in their everyday lives. One week's item discussed how energy audits could save both energy and money. My family decided to get an energy audit for our home, because it was often very cold in the winter.

What happened

Our energy provider sent a contractor from a local, small business to conduct the audit. Two of the audit recommendations that were projected to save the most energy were adding insulation and sealing the air ducts.

We calculated when lower energy bills would pay back the upfront costs, then decided to move forward. The projects provided an immediate increase in personal comfort and a decrease in energy bills.

This project incorporated sustainability's triple bottom line by:

• Planet — reducing the amount of energy required to heat and cool our house;
• People — providing contracts for a local, small business; and
• Profit — saving money on energy bills and providing an effective selling point for renting out the house later.

Successes and lessons learned

The successes and lessons learned of this story are outlined below.

Successes

• Our energy bill decreased by almost one-third.
• The energy improvements we made became a selling point when the house was later rented.

Lessons learned

• Payback period calculations provide useful information for making decisions.
• Talk to your energy company about their energy audit deals.

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