Everything you need to know about the required Energy Score. 

Beginning January 1st, 2018…

…sellers of single-family homes in Portland, Oregon are required to obtain and disclose a Home Energy Score estimating the energy-related use, associated costs, and cost-effective solutions to improve the home’s efficiency. 

Tyler shows us how they check for insulation in the walls.

The great people at Portland Energy Assessors were kind enough to walk us through the entire process of scoring a home – and even gave Robin some great pointers on how to improve the score of her 1913 Alameda home. If you’re going to be selling soon and want to get ahead of the game, check out the video above. It’s full of useful tips and tricks to improve the score of your home.

But for those of you who want the highlights…

Many parts of your home are considered.

However, there are five main factors:

1. Age of the home.

2. Orientation (North, East, South, or West).

3. Amount of temperature-conditioned space.

4. Total window area and type.

5. Heating/cooling systems.

Rock Wool insulation- a great option.

What’s easiest to fix?

We were surprised by how much a score could improve with a few simple changes.

Robin’s home could easily go all the way from a four to a seven, simply by air-sealing her attic, and changing out her water heater – which would save her almost $350 every year.

Adding insulation, especially to your attic, is an easy way to improve your score. If you have any single-pane windows, upgrading to storm windows or double-pane is also a terrific improvement.

What’s the bottom line?

For sellers: If you have a Portland address, you’re now required to have an energy score of your home, which will cost between $200 and $300. Your home will be given a final score from 1-10, and receive suggestions for improving the score. 

For buyers: If you’re wondering what the 1-10 number means, a score of 5 indicates average energy efficiency, whereas a 10 would indicate greater efficiency than 90% of homes currently built. Chances are, the older Portland homes you’re looking at are scoring between a two and a four – and that’s okay.

Your next steps?

Do you need a score? We had a great time working with Laurel and Tyler. Give them a call if you have any questions at all about the process, or if you’re just wondering about energy usage in general.

Click to visit their site.

You can also look around pdxhes.com if you want to know more about the program itself.