Home Energy Audit to Evaluate Building Heat Loss or Heat Gain & Choose Heating or Cooling Improvements

Home Energy Audits help a building owner to Evaluate Building Heat Loss or Heat Gain & Choose Heating or Cooling Improvements
How to measure or calculate heat loss (or gain) in a building
How to measure heat transmission in materials: definition of R-values, U-values, K-values, BTU, calorie, and rates of heat loss or gain
Building design temperatures & how to use a home energy audit or heat loss analysis
What insulation "R" values should be used in a building insulation?
Questions & Answers about home energy audits
References

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This article explains how to make best use of a home energy audit to reduce home heating or cooling costs. We provide related insulation and heat loss or heat gain analysis procedures including how to measure or calculate heat loss in a building, defines thermal terms like BTU and calorie, provides measures of heat transmission in materials, gives desired building insulation design data, and shows how to calculate the heat loss in a building with R values or U values.

How to Get the Most Benefit from a Free Home Energy Audit

Because no amount of insulation can keep a drafty building warm, also review ENERGY SAVINGS PRIORITIES. Also see HEAT LOSS INDICATORS (where is the building losing heat during the heating season, or gaining un-wanted heat during the cooling season), and see HEAT LOSS R U & K VALUE CALCULATION for a guide to calculating heat loss (or gain) rates for buildings and building insulation.

Formula-R™ and Owens Corning™ which may be visible in our page top photograph of pink Styrofoam™ insulation boards are registered trademarks of Owens Corning® and were photographed at a Home Depot® building supply center.

Many people have heard of using "R" values to describe "how good" a building's insulation is. This article explains three measures of the flow of heat out of or into a building: R-values, K-values, and U-values. Each of these is defined below. But before moving on to these basic concepts of building heat loss (or gain) theory, it is essential that this still more basic point be considered:

It doesn't matter much how wonderful the building insulation is, how thick it is, or what the insulating material's "R" value is (see R defined below) if the building is leaky. If, for example, we're considering an older home with leaky windows or doors, or if we're considering a tall building with poorly controlled heat in winter, such that occupants of the upper floors are leaving windows open in winter then the heat flow out of these openings will be so terrific that the amount of insulation won't matter much.

How to make use of a home energy audit or free home energy use survey

A less precise and less computerized method for calculating building heat loss (or gain) is used by people who perform an "energy survey" or energy audit for a building. Home energy audit services may be free from your local utility company. The energy survey technician uses a pre-printed form whereon s/he records the areas of the building's walls, top floor ceilings, foundation walls, floors, and the number and type of windows and doors.

An "R" value is assigned to these and the sheet is used to manually calculate the building's rate of heat loss. We had one of these "free" surveys performed on a home built in 1900 when we were renovating it years ago. Regrettably the surveyor was either poorly trained or simply not very observant.

The free energy audit surveyor rated our building walls at a very high rate of heat loss by assuming that they were not insulated whatsoever (and then proceeded to try to sell us an insulation service).

What that particular home energy audit surveyor failed to notice was that the building walls had been insulated (with blown-in foam) - a condition that was quite easy to see since we had removed the building's exterior siding and wall sheathing. He just didn't look.

So while home energy audits are a great idea, make sure your auditor is awake before you believe the results of the home energy survey.

And remember that some "home energy auditors" are really trying to sell you replacement windows (very long payback time) or building insulation. (Remember the urban legend about the home energy auditor who was using a camera light meter as an "energy loss" indicator to convince home owners that they needed new windows?)

Using infra-red or thermography to screen buildings for un-wanted heat loss, leaks, or heat gain points

Home energy loss surveys using thermography or simple infra-red thermometers are a great way to pinpoint individual points of heat loss (or unwanted heat gain) in a building.

In the hands of a properly-trained expert (not a window salesman) this equipment can help find unexpected building air leaks or heat loss points even when you think that the building has already been insulated. Having a "high-R" insulated wall or ceiling is not going to be enough to make a building energy efficient if there are many unidentified air leaks or insulation voids in the building's walls, ceilings, or floors.

What is the Typical Design Temperature for buildings and Building Insulation?

The "indoor design temperature" for a building refers to the assumed target indoor temperature that the building owner or occupants want. Typically 70 deg.F. is used unless the owner specifies something different.

The "outdoor design temperature" for a building is (for heating purposes) assumed to be the average lowest recorded temperature for each month between October and March (the heating season in most climates).

If we are specifying a "design temperature" for cooling climates we'd use the average outdoor highest recorded temperature during the heating season, perhaps April through September.

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Technical Reviewers & References

Related Topics, found near the top of this page suggest articles closely related to this one.

Asbestos pipe insulation in buildings
Brick "Insulation" in Building Walls
HEAT LOSS CALCULATIONS, Insulation Properties, Definitions of R, K, U values, Insulation Design
How to Choose an Air Conditioner - BTU Chart
How to Detect and Correct Attic Condensation & Prevent Ice Dam Leaks in buildings
How to Inspect Building Interiors and Building Insulation/Ventilation list of articles about building insulation inspection, defects, design, and ventilation requirements
Insulation Materials as Indicators of Building Age
Indoor Air Quality Investigations: Fiberglass in Indoor Air, HVAC ducts, and Building Insulation
Insulation Identification Photographs - Cellulose insulation photos, Mineral wool insulation photos, rock wool insulation photos, cotton insulation photos, balsam wool insulation photos
Insulation Identification Photographs - Vermiculite insulation photos
LP or Natural Gas Pressures & BTUH per Cubic Foot
Insulation Properties, Table of R-Values, density, moisture permeability, fire safety, aging effects on various insulation materials
Mold in Fiberglass in Insulation
Radiant Heat Floor Mistakes to Avoid
Rated Cooling Capacity - How to Determine Air Conditioning Equipment Rated Cooling Capacity
Un-Vented Roof Solutions - How to Prevent Attic Condensation, Ice Dam Leaks, Roof Mold, & Roof Structural Damage in buildings with Un-vented Roof Cavities
Vermiculite Building Insulation & Asbestos

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

Our recommended books about building & mechanical systems design, inspection, problem diagnosis, and repair, and about indoor environment and IAQ testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore. Also see our Book Reviews - InspectAPedia.

The Home Reference Book - the Encyclopedia of Homes, Carson Dunlop & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, 25th Ed., 2012, is a bound volume of more than 450 illustrated pages that assist home inspectors and home owners in the inspection and detection of problems on buildings. The text is intended as a reference guide to help building owners operate and maintain their home effectively. Field inspection worksheets are included at the back of the volume. Special Offer: For a 10% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference Book purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space. InspectAPedia.com editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author.

Or choose the The Home Reference eBook for PCs, Macs, Kindle, iPad, iPhone, or Android Smart Phones. Special Offer: For a 5% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference eBook purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAEHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space.

"The Elimination of Unsafe Guardrails, a Progress Report," Elliott O. Stephenson, Building Standards, March-April 1993
"Are Functional Handrails Within Our Grasp" Jake Pauls, Building Standards, January-February 1991
Access Ramp building codes:
- UBC 1003.3.4.3
- BOCA 1016.3
- ADA 4.8.2
- IBC 1010.2
Access Ramp Standards:
- ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), Public Law 101-336. 7/26/90 is very often cited by other sources for good design of stairs and ramps etc. even where disabled individuals are not the design target.
- ANSI A117.4 Accessible and Usable buildings and Facilities (earlier version was incorporated into the ADA)
- ASTM F 1637, Standard Practice for Safe Walking Surfaces, (Similar to the above standards)
America's Favorite Homes, mail-order catalogues as a guide to popular early 20th-century houses, Robert Schweitzer, Michael W.R. Davis, 1990, Wayne State University Press ISBN 0814320066 (may be available from Wayne State University Press)
American Plywood Association, APA, "Portland Manufacturing Company, No. 1, a series of monographs on the history of plywood manufacturing",Plywood Pioneers Association, 31 March, 1967, www.apawood.org
Animal Allergens: Dog, Cat, and Other Animal Dander - Cleanup & Prevention Information for Asthmatics and regarding Indoor Air Quality.
Asbestos: How to find and recognize asbestos in buildings - visual inspection methods, list of common asbestos-containing materials
Asbestos HVAC Ducts and Flues field identification photos and guide
Asbestos products and their history and use in various building materials such as asphalt and vinyl flooring includes discussion which draws on Asbestos, Its Industrial Applications, D.V. Rosato, engineering consultant, Newton, MA, Reinhold Publishing, 1959 Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 59-12535 (out of print).
Asbestos Identification and Testing References

Asbestos Identification, Walter C.McCrone, McCrone Research Institute, Chicago, IL.1987 ISBN 0-904962-11-3. Dr. McCrone literally "wrote the book" on asbestos identification procedures which formed the basis for current work by asbestos identification laboratories.
Stanton, .F., et al., National Bureau of Standards Special Publication 506: 143-151
Pott, F., Staub-Reinhalf Luft 38, 486-490 (1978) cited by McCrone

Brick nogging used as soundproofing is mentioned in this article on Popular Forest
Brick Nogging, Historical Investigation and Contemporary Repair, Construction Specifier, April 2006. Historical use of brick in timber-framed buildings, drawing on the investigations of the Kent Tavern in Calais, VT. "Brick nogging is a European method of construction which was brought to the new world in the early-nineteenth century. It was a common construction method that employed masonry as infill between the vertical uprights of wood framing." -- quoting the web article review.
Photo of very rough in-wall brick nogging at an architects website
Building Research Council, BRC, nee Small Homes Council, SHC, School of Architecture, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, brc.arch.uiuc.edu. "The Small Homes Council (our original name) was organized in 1944 during the war at the request of the President of the University of Illinois to consider the role of the university in meeting the demand for housing in the United States. Soldiers would be coming home after the war and would be needing good low-cost housing. ... In 1993, the Council became part of the School of Architecture, and since then has been known as the School of Architecture-Building Research Council. ... The Council's researchers answered many critical questions that would affect the quality of the nation's housing stock.
- How could homes be designed and built more efficiently?
- What kinds of construction and production techniques worked well and which did not?
- How did people use different kinds of spaces in their homes?
- What roles did community planning, zoning, and interior design play in how neighborhoods worked
The Circular Staircase, Mary Roberts Rinehart
Construction Drawings and Details, Rosemary Kilmer
"An Example of Colonial Paneling", Norman Morrison Isham, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Vol. 6, No. 5 (May, 1911), pp. 112-116, available by JSTOR.
Dust from the World Trade Center collapse following the 9/11/01 attack: the lower floors of this building contained spray-on fire-proofing asbestos materials.
"Energy Savers: Whole-House Supply Ventilation Systems [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Whole-House_Supply_Vent.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy energysavers.gov/your_home/insulation_airsealing/index.cfm/mytopic=11880?print
"Energy Savers: Whole-House Exhaust Ventilation Systems [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Whole-House_Exhaust.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy energysavers.gov/your_home/insulation_airsealing/index.cfm/mytopic=11870
"Energy Savers: Ventilation [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Ventilation.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy
"Energy Savers: Natural Ventilation [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Natural_Ventilation.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy
"Energy Savers: Energy Recovery Ventilation Systems [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Energy_Recovery_Venting.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy energysavers.gov/your_home/insulation_airsealing/index.cfm/mytopic=11900
"Energy Savers: Detecting Air Leaks [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Detect_Air_Leaks.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy
"Energy Savers: Air Sealing [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Air_Sealing_1.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy
Falls and Related Injuries: Slips, Trips, Missteps, and Their Consequences, Lawyers & Judges Publishing, (June 2002), ISBN-10: 0913875430 ISBN-13: 978-0913875438
"Falls in the home and public places are the second leading cause of unintentional injury deaths in the United States, but are overlooked in most literature. This book is unique in that it is entirely devoted to falls. Of use to primary care physicians, nurses, insurance adjusters, architects, writers of building codes, attorneys, or anyone who cares for the elderly, this book will tell you how, why, and when people will likely fall, what most likely will be injured, and how such injuries come about. "
Fiberglass: Indoor Air Quality Investigations: Health Concerns About Airborne Fiberglass: Fiberglass in Indoor Air from HVAC ducts, and Building Insulation
Humidity: What indoor humidity should we maintain in order to avoid a mold problem?
Lighting, proper use of: proper aiming of a good flashlight can disclose hard to see but toxic light or white mold colonies on walls.
Nogging: See this photo of exposed bricks on a building exterior on a building exterior in Canada. [Thanks to Carson Dunlop, Toronto - see References below].
Pergo AB, division of Perstorp AB, is a Swedish manufacturer or modern laminate flooring products. Information about the U.S. company can be found at http://www.pergo.com where we obtained historical data used in our discussion of the age of flooring materials in buildings.
Piquet Wall Construction: See this photo of piquet wall construction - involving timber-framed wall construction with long top girts, diagonal timber bracing, and small diameter logs placed vertically along with concrete chinking to fill in the wall plane.
Plank House Construction: weblog from plankhouse.wordpress.com/2009/01/25/plank-house-construction/ and where plank houses were built by native Americans, see
Large 1:6 Scale Plank House Construction / P8094228, Photographer: Mike Meuser
06/12/2007 documented at yurokplankhouse.com where scale model Museum quality Yurok Plank Houses are being sold to raise money for the Blue Creek - Ah Pah Traditional Yurok Village project.
Re-Bath, tub lining products is a bath tub relining manufacturer and distributor located in Tempe, Arizona - see rebath.com
Rubblestone Wall Filler: See this Lartigue House using exterior-exposed rubblestone filler between vertical timbers of a post and beam-framed Canadian building.
Slips, Trips, Missteps and Their Consequences, Second Edition, Gary M. Bakken, H. Harvey Cohen,A. S. Hyde, Jon R. Abele, ISBN-13: 978-1-933264-01-1 or ISBN 10: 1-933264-01-2, available from the publisher, Lawyers ^ Judges Publishing Company,Inc., www.lawyersandjudges.com sales@lawyersandjudges.com and also from the InspectAPedia Bookstore (Amazon.com)
The Stairway Manufacturers' Association, (877) 500-5759, provides a pictorial guide to the stair and railing portion of the International Residential Code. [copy on file as http://www.stairways.org/pdf/2006%20Stair%20IRC%20SCREEN.pdf ] -
What Mold and Allergens Look Like: mold identification photos to help identify mold - choosing what to sample in buildings
How to Clean Moldy Wood Framing & Sheathing How to clean/seal mold from/on exposed lumber or plywood subfloor or roof sheathing indoors - some suggestions based on our field and laboratory research
Lighting, proper use of: proper aiming of a good flashlight can disclose hard to see but toxic light or white mold colonies on walls.
Manufactured & Modular Homes: Modular Building Systems Association, MBSA, modularhousing.com, is a trade association promoting and providing links to contact modular builders in North America. Also see the Manufactured Home Owners Association, MHOAA, at www.mhoaa.us. The Manufactured Home Owners Association of America is a National Organization dedicated to the protection of the rights of all people living in Manufactured Housing in the United States.
Mold spores in the Home - a Photo ID Library for detection and identification of mold allergens.
How to Find and Test For Mold in buildings A "how to" photo and text primer on finding and choosing the right spots to test for mold in buildings
Stuff that is not mold but is often mistaken for it - things you may not want to test. Also, not all "black mold" is toxic - here are examples of harmless black mold.
Simple Adhesive Tape Sampling of Moldy Surfaces - how to send a mold sample to our lab
Mold Sampling Methods in the Indoor Environment - In-depth article: detailed critique of popular mold testing methods - Is your mold test kit worth the bother?
Mold-Resistant Building Practices, advice from an expert on how to prevent mold after a building flood and how to prevent mold growth in buildings by selection of building materials and by anti-mold construction details.
Slips, Trips, Missteps and Their Consequences, Gary M. Bakken, H. Harvey Cohen, Jon R. Abele, Alvin S. Hyde, Cindy A. LaRue, Lawyers and Judges Publishing; ISBN-10: 1933264012 ISBN-13: 978-1933264011
Slips, Trips, Missteps and Their Consequences, Second Edition, Gary M. Bakken, H. Harvey Cohen,A. S. Hyde, Jon R. Abele, ISBN-13: 978-1-933264-01-1 or ISBN 10: 1-933264-01-2, available from the publisher, Lawyers & Judges Publishing Company,Inc., www.lawyersandjudges.com sales@lawyersandjudges.com and also from the InspectAPedia Bookstore (Amazon.com)
Steps and Stairways, Cleo Baldon & Ib Melchior, Rizzoli, 1989.
The Staircase, Ann Rinaldi
Common Sense Stairbuilding and Handrailing, Fred T. Hodgson
The Art of Staircases, Pilar Chueca
Building Stairs, by pros for pros, Andy Engel
A Simplified Guide to Custom Stairbuilding, George R. Christina
Basic Stairbuilding, Scott Schuttner
The Staircase (two volumes), John Templar, Cambridge: the MIT Press, 1992
The Staircase: History and Theories, John Templar, MIT Press 1995
Steps and Stairways, Cleo Baldon & Ib Melchior, Rizzoli, 1989.
"The Dimensions of Stairs", J. M. Fitch et al., Scientific American, October 1974.
"The Elimination of Unsafe Guardrails, a Progress Report," Elliott O. Stephenson, Building Standards, March-April 1993
"Are Functional Handrails Within Our Grasp" Jake Pauls, Building Standards, January-February 1991
"Weather-Resistive Barriers [copy on file as /interiors/Weather_Resistant_Barriers_DOE.pdf ] - ", how to select and install housewrap and other types of weather resistive barriers, U.S. DOE
Weaver: Beaver Board and Upson Board: Beaver Board and Upson Board: History and Conservation of Early Wallboard, Shelby Weaver, APT Bulletin, Vol. 28, No. 2/3 (1997), pp. 71-78, Association for Preservation Technology International (APT), available online at JSTOR.
What Style Is It?: A Guide to American Architecture, Rev., John C. Poppeliers, S. Allen Chambers, Wiley; Rev Sub edition (October 6, 2003), ISBN-10: 0471250368, ISBN-13: 978-0471250364
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