Let Us Help Make Your Home More Comfortable, Healthy, And Efficient
At Green Collar Crew, we take a “whole-house” approach. That means we don’t just fix your furnace or replace your windows. We examine your entire home and appliances to find the problem areas. Then we recommend the most cost-effective, energy-saving solutions that get to the root of the problems – and ensure your family’s safety and comfort.
What Exactly Is An Energy Audit Or Home Assessment?
One of our experienced and certified energy auditors will inspect your home to find exactly where your home is losing energy and causing comfort issues. Like a detective with building science expertise, they know where to look and how to test for energy loss, safety issues, problems with your home’s durability, water leaks, mold, mildew and moisture issues, etc.
You have two options for inspections – the Comprehensive Home Energy & Health Audit is a thorough, top-to-bottom, inside-and-out inspection of your home using diagnostic equipment to pinpoint the exact location and nature of problem areas. The Home Energy Assessment is a more basic assessment of the general energy features of your home, without the use of diagnostic equipment. It is the “lite” version of the Comprehensive Audit.
Basic Home Energy Assessment
The Home Energy Assessment is a basic, walk-through assessment of the general energy features of your home. Visual inspection is used rather than diagnostic equipment to locate problem areas. It is the “lite” version of the Comprehensive Audit (see below).
After the assessment, your auditor puts his findings in a detailed report with recommendations for energy-saving home improvements.
Comprehensive Home Energy & Health Audit
The Comprehensive Home Energy & Health Audit is a thorough, top-to-bottom, inside-and-out inspection of your home using diagnostic equipment to pinpoint the exact location and nature of problem areas.
Your auditor will use special diagnostic equipment to:
- Make sure your appliances are running efficiently and safely
- Test your inside air for carbon monoxide
- Test your gas and other fuel appliances for carbon monoxide
- Ensure your appliance flues are properly venting
- Test your mechanical room to ensure that it will not “backdraft” your appliance flues, which could release carbon monoxide
- Test your attic, crawl spaces, basement, outer walls, windows and doors for air leaks using a blower door
- See if you have enough insulation
- Inspect your heating and cooling ducts for leaks to see if conditioned air is being lost on the way to the rooms of your home
After the Comprehensive Audit, your auditor will prepare a detailed report, showing problem areas and recommendations to make your home more comfortable and energy efficient.
Basic Home Energy Assessment
The Home Energy Assessment is a basic, walk-through assessment of the general energy features of your home. Visual inspection is used rather than diagnostic equipment to locate problem areas. It is the “lite” version of the Comprehensive Audit (see below). After the assessment, your auditor puts his findings in a detailed report, with recommendations for energy-saving home improvements.
Comprehensive Home Energy & Health Audit
The Comprehensive Home Energy & Health Audit is a thorough, top-to-bottom, inside-and-out inspection of your home using diagnostic equipment to pinpoint the exact location and nature of problem areas.
Your auditor will use special diagnostic equipment to:
- Make sure your appliances (including gas and fuel) are running efficiently and safely
- Test your inside air for carbon monoxide
- Ensure your appliance flues are properly venting
- Test your mechanical room to ensure that it will not “backdraft” your appliance flues, which could cause carbon monoxide in your home
- Test your attic, crawl spaces, basement, outer walls, windows and doors for air leaks
- See if you have enough insulation
- Inspect your heating and cooling ducts for leaks to see if conditioned air is being lost on the way to the rooms of your home
After the Comprehensive Audit, your auditor will prepare a detailed report, showing problem areas and recommendations to make your home more comfortable and energy efficient.
How Our Process Works
Complete The Home Assessment or Energy Audit
Our experienced, certified energy auditors inspect your home to find exactly where it is losing energy and causing comfort or health issues.
Recommend Energy-Saving & Home Health Solutions
Your energy auditor takes the findings from your energy assessment and provides specific recommendations to help you save energy and improve the safety and comfort of your home.
Make Essential Home Improvements
Your Auditor will also schedule an “Action Plan Meeting” where one of our Building Scientists will review our audit findings with you and develop a plan of home improvements that best suit your family’s needs and your budget.
Verify Results
After the work is completed, our crew will run diagnostic tests again to ensure the improvements are providing the expected results. We will work with you to resolve any remaining issues or concerns.
Ready To Make Your Home More Comfortable, Healthy, And Efficient?
Learn More About The Services We Provide To You And Your Family
Air Sealing
Air Sealing a home is one of the most cost-effective ways to make a home more comfortable and energy-efficient. Air leakage through windows, doors, walls, rim bands, floors and ceilings has been shown to increase heating and cooling costs 35-40%. Unsealed chases and cavities by way of attics and crawl spaces bring unconditioned and unfiltered air into living areas. Green Collar Crew’s Air Sealing Trade Partners use environmentally friendly caulks, foam, insulation board, etc. along with good building science to reduce air infiltration.
Attic Insulation
Insulation is only effective if it is a continuous thermal barrier, with no air gaps or voids, and is in continuous contact with the air barrier or building envelope. Batt insulation is very often improperly installed, stuffed into stud cavities, with gaps and voids between the batt and the drywall. When insulation is compressed, it loses R value. Our Insulation Trade Partners understand the building science behind proper installation and will work closely with your Auditor to determine the best products and insulation locations.
Attic Stair Cover & Hatch
You may have properly insulated your home’s attic floor, but did you think about the attic drop-down stairs or attic hatch? Do you have an open or non-insulated whole house fan? These are basically big holes in the air barrier and thermal boundary and could be responsible for heat loss in the winter and heat gain in the summer. Our Weatherization Trade Partners complete the weatherization process by sealing these opening to the attic of your home. They insulate the attic access with an Attic Access Cover which is made to drop down and fit tightly over the opening of a home’s attic access.
Duct Renovation
Leaky ducts are a leading cause of poor indoor air quality as pollutants are drawn into the system, re-circulated, and distributed throughout the house through the heating and cooling systems. Leaky ducts also contribute significantly to a home’s energy loss. Our Duct Renovation Trade Partners use Duct Blaster® equipment to pinpoint leakages in the HVAC ductwork and measure sealing success. You will be provided with before and after leakage measurements to guarantee success. Typical duct renovation also includes straightening or replacing ducts, sealing air handlers with proper materials, or hanging ducts where necessary.
Crawl Space
A majority of the air you breathe in your home rises from your crawl space and it can be perfect for breeding moisture and mold which can create a musty smell and release toxins that can affect your family’s health. Closing your crawl space keeps mold away with a high quality moisture barrier and converts it into a semi-conditioned dry space. Closed crawl spaces have been proven to save homeowners money on their energy bill. Our well-trained Closed Crawl Space Trade Partners encapsulate, insulate, drain and air seal your foundations ensuring energy efficient and healthy crawl spaces.
Green Collar Crew Tune-Up
Most likely, your HVAC systems are not performing at their optimal level. On average, systems perform at 60% of their capacity. If your Auditor determines your system(s) is performing poorly or is not properly balanced and typical Duct Renovation may not correct the problem, your Auditor may recommend more advanced diagnostics before moving forward with retrofitting. A highly trained HVAC Diagnostics Partner will perform comprehensive diagnostics to determine specific causes of the problems and recommend proper solutions.
Disclaimer: Green Collar Crew, Inc. reserves the right to make changes to its typical material and labor specifications to accommodate project situations.