TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluation of a Holistic Energy Assessment Program
AU - Ketchman, Kevin
AU - Khanna, Vikas
AU - Riley, David
AU - Bilec, Melissa
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the Department of Energy Energy Consortium for Building energy Innovation, and the National Science Foundation, EFRI-SEED Grant #1038139. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. We would also like to thank our partners at the Penn State Center, Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation, the Penn State GridSTAR Center, and numerous Pittsburgh community partners, including Kinglsey Association, Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh, Polish Hill Civic Association, and the Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project for their support.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 The Authors.
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - The residential sector is responsible for 22% of U.S. primary energy consumption and CO2 emissions, annually, stressing the importance of building energy efficiency. Energy audits and assessments are commonly incorporated into energy conservation strategies. However, heterogeneity of homeowner behaviors and motivators has accompanied ambiguous conclusions on the effectiveness of energy audits. In response, the National Energy Leadership Corps (NELC), developed a holistic energy assessment approach tailoring information to homeowner motivators, with the goal of stimulating energy investments through informative personalized energy reports. A post-assessment survey, focusing on implementation, barriers to investment, and catalytic impact from the energy assessment, was developed and distributed to 82 houses that received an energy assessment. Statistical analysis of survey responses indicate homeowners' perception of skill and/or abilities and building envelope improvements are correlated to implementation rates. Homeowner prioritization of home improvements may also be related to energy improvements. Results from the survey and recommendations are presented including implications for energy education and energy service professionals in the design, engineering, and construction industry.
AB - The residential sector is responsible for 22% of U.S. primary energy consumption and CO2 emissions, annually, stressing the importance of building energy efficiency. Energy audits and assessments are commonly incorporated into energy conservation strategies. However, heterogeneity of homeowner behaviors and motivators has accompanied ambiguous conclusions on the effectiveness of energy audits. In response, the National Energy Leadership Corps (NELC), developed a holistic energy assessment approach tailoring information to homeowner motivators, with the goal of stimulating energy investments through informative personalized energy reports. A post-assessment survey, focusing on implementation, barriers to investment, and catalytic impact from the energy assessment, was developed and distributed to 82 houses that received an energy assessment. Statistical analysis of survey responses indicate homeowners' perception of skill and/or abilities and building envelope improvements are correlated to implementation rates. Homeowner prioritization of home improvements may also be related to energy improvements. Results from the survey and recommendations are presented including implications for energy education and energy service professionals in the design, engineering, and construction industry.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84999666458&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84999666458&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.proeng.2016.04.020
DO - 10.1016/j.proeng.2016.04.020
M3 - Conference article
AN - SCOPUS:84999666458
VL - 145
SP - 468
EP - 475
JO - Procedia Engineering
JF - Procedia Engineering
SN - 1877-7058
T2 - International Conference on Sustainable Design, Engineering and Construction, ICSDEC 2016
Y2 - 18 May 2016 through 20 May 2016
ER -