Nexus Energy Center works with ADECA and Earth Advantage to create Alabama Home Energy Score

Nexus Energy Center works with ADECA and Earth Advantage to create Alabama Home Energy Score

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 9, 2016

 (Huntsville, AL) – Nexus Energy Center, in partnership with the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) and Earth Advantage, is now offering the U.S. Department of Energy-approved Alabama Home Energy Score. The Alabama Home Energy Score is a new benefit of Nexus Energy Center’s AlabamaWISE program, enabling homeowners to quickly and easily understand how efficiently their home is performing. The main objective of the new Alabama Home Energy Score is to encourage homeowners to make energy efficient home improvements, therefore improving their score and increasing their home’s market value.

Nexus Energy Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Huntsville, Alabama, works to educate the public on the importance of saving energy. Nexus administers the AlabamaWISE program, a statewide program connecting homeowners looking to make energy improvements with trusted local contractors. Established in 2010, AlabamaWISE has already helped over 1600 homeowners in northern Alabama save over 22 million kWh of energy, representing roughly $2.2 million dollars in savings. Through AlabamaWISE, homeowners can receive a one percent loan to jumpstart their energy projects, and with the introduction of the new home scoring system they will now receive an Alabama Home Energy Score rating at the completion of their upgrades.

One of the best aspects of the Alabama Home Energy Score is how simple it is to understand – to homeowners, contractors, and real estate professionals alike. The score is a simple 1 – 10 rating system, using calculated measurements from a professional energy assessment to determine if a home is performing at lower efficiency (1-4), medium efficiency (5-6), or higher efficiency (7-10). Energy assessors verify the amount of air infiltration, insulation levels, type of heating and cooling systems, and other variables to determine the level of home performance. However, it’s not just its simplicity that makes this energy score so unique. The Alabama Home Energy Score is accompanied by a Recommendations Report that estimates specific improvements in energy performance and utility costs before any work is actually done, allowing homeowners to feel more confident in their investment and removing barriers to closing for contractors.

  Pictured: the Alabama Home Energy Score as presented in an energy report.

But why should people be concerned with home performance at all? Nexus Energy Center executive director Ruchi Singhal has the answer.

“The biggest factor that will grab most homeowners’ attention is how much improving their home’s performance can affect their bottom line and their day-to-day living. Homes with a high Alabama Home Energy Score rating are more valuable in the real estate market, they stay more comfortable in the extreme temperatures of the south, and their monthly utility bills are consistently lower. It’s a win-win for everyone.”

Another benefit from this project is the positive effect on the state’s economy. As more homeowners make energy efficiency a priority, there will be an increased demand for quality contractors able to provide a variety of services, such as insulation, windows, duct sealing and more. ADECA has seen the economic value in funding these types of state energy projects, and as such they have been long-time supporters of Nexus Energy Center, granting them with funds allocated by the U.S. Department of Energy and promoting AlabamaWISE throughout the state.

Earth Advantage, a Portland, Oregon based nonprofit, provided the fundamental assistance of creating the seamless, user-friendly software called CakeSystems™, behind the Alabama Home Energy Score. Contractors will use the software to input measurements done both before and after efficiency measures are implemented to calculate the final energy score that a home receives. Easy use and smooth functionality of the software is a crucial component for Alabama Home Energy Score’s success.

“I believe the Alabama Home Energy Score will see great popularity throughout the state,” says Singhal. “We’ve already seen interest from contractors in Huntsville, Birmingham, Mobile, Montgomery, and other cities. The web traffic to our AlabamaWISE site has increased drastically. We’ve already started using the score for one of our other residentially focused programs called the Comfort Project, and we’ve seen great results.”

The development and implementation of the Alabama Home Energy Score is funded by a competitively awarded grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and is administered by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs – Energy Division.

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About Nexus Energy Center:

Nexus Energy Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit building smart energy communities throughout the state of Alabama. We do this by administering energy programs for education, conservation, efficiency and renewable generation. Nexus has helped over 1600 north Alabama residents save over 22 million kWh of energy, representing over $2.2 million in savings through the successful AlabamaWISE (Worthwhile Investments Save Energy) program. Nexus Energy Center also administers the Comfort Project, a community-based program that helps underserved homes lower their utility costs through the installation of energy efficiency measures, all at no cost to the homeowner.

For more information, contact Kristen Pepper, Nexus Energy Center Marketing Coordinator, at kristen@nexusenergycenter.org or 256.426.6941