Software program for energy audits/inspections?

What software program do you use for performing an energy audit or energy inspection?

I want to strike a deal with a software company for all InterNACHI inspectors who desire to perform an energy audit or inspection.

If I’m not mistaken, there are several inspectors using HIP (Home Inspector Pro) that have created templates for IR reporting.
You might want to post this over on the HIP forum…
http://www.homeinspectorpro.com/inspector-forum/7-Inspection-Discussion/

I know that when/if I get into IR, I want Home Inspector Pro for my software :stuck_out_tongue:

I was thinking more about RESNET inspectors or inspectors who are certified/qualified as energy auditors. What software do they use?

Rem Rate, rather long and technical.

CMC, Home tune up, easy to read.

Mic

I am RESNET certified and am having difficulty finding the right program. I have used REMrate, Energy Gauge and the Oak Ridge Weatherization program. Whatever program is used we need the ability to plug in different variables such as increased insulation and energy/money saved or money saved by radiant barrier vs the cost. The program needs to be able to use blopwer door and duct blaster numbers before improvements and after.

How about Home Energy Tune-Up?
or BestTest?

I found Home Energy Tune-up to be shallow and simplistic.

Hot2XP
Hot2000

http://canmetenergy-canmetenergie.nrcan-rncan.gc.ca/eng/software_tools/hot2xp.html

Can this software be used by American energy auditors?

Sorry Ben - it is primarily based on Canadian Geographical Climatic data.
Cheers, Claude

http://www.psdconsulting.com/software

Which do you use for residential?
Commercial?

What? NACHI inspectors can’t be energy auditors? dang,

There certainly are a lot of so-called “energy auditor” certification organizations out there…with no particular U.S. defined standard required by anyone, that I can find.
This field seems to be wide open…and ripe for fraud?
correct me if I’m wrong.

I know of the LEEDS certification for builders, RESNET for “Energy Auditors”, (huge training costs IMHO) HomeTuneUP auditors, and countless other certifiers for energy related fields.

Yet I can’t find anyone “requiring” anything like them.
I guess its a matter of how much “energy related” background, education, experience and certifications you have?
Seems to be a lot of “self proclamation” going on, with no benchmarks that I can see.
What should a consumer expect from an “energy auditor”?
comments welcome.

Not all consumers want an energy star grade on their home, they just want to save money on their utility bills. That why we are starting free energy audit classes… http://www.energyauditclass.com

Just let me know what you guys need to have added in and I’ll get it into HIP to make it ready for energy auditing :wink: I know some guys like Charley Bottger are using Resnet right now to get the info then dumping it into HIP to finish the report, add pics, etc.

http://texas-inspection.com/report/energyaudit.pdf

Well… I all I have to say right now is… Wait. I’m working on something very BIG related to energy audits. I’ll have lots to say in about a month or two. :wink:

If I guess what it is, will I win a prize? :mrgreen:

Hey Ben,

I think Energy Audit Certs are going to be one of those “mines bigger then yours” arguments we love to have. Can’t wait for the blower door wars.:twisted:

So far I’ve only found one energy audit software that produces anything the typical consumer can read and that’s CMC Energy Tuneup. Now as a technically oriented person I’d agree it’s a bit shallow if you’re into a lot of numbers. But as a businessman I’ll say that the report is accessible to the typical consumer who really doesn’t give a c*** about technical stuff. They want a list, they want to know how much and they want to know how much they save. It can stand a lot of improvement but it’s headed in the right direction. The ability to comment thye sections lets the knowledgeable auditor add information to expand depth if it’s needed. (In a real pinch I just crack the report pdf and add a page)

I have loaded and tested every other piece of software that I could lay my hand on. (and if anyone has something they think is better I’ll be glad to accept a copy and put it through the wringer.) Some is technically impressive but needs a real nerd to drive (I am one). Nothing has what I’d call a good reporting engine Nor did I find one with an intuitive front end (CMC’s best of a bad crop).

My definition of a good piece of software is being able to produce a consumer usable report out of the box with no tweaking by the user. Just fill in the blanks of the data. The report should be customizable as well. And the software has to be intuitively drivable by anyone who has a reasonable kinowledge of the subject matter without having to crack a users manual to figure out the software. Yes, it also has to produce workably accurate results that are usable by the typical consumer. And the final criteria is cost. The vigorish has to be reasonable.

Right now I haven’t seen any that can meet those criteria.