“Start where you are, with what you have. Make something of it and never be satisfied.” — George Washington Carver

Messages from the Audit Edge Mid-October 2024

Where we reconsider your energy footprint

Where are we?

To review, as your EcoDharma Doula, for the next three months, I will offer you a monthly contemplation on what is commonly called ‘Getting to Zero.’ Science tells us we have 25 years to reduce our emissions to Zero. We are looking at a carbon reduction diet, which begins by looking at the big picture. We wish to turn the right side to Zero by 2050 or:

(Lighting + Heating + Cooling + cooking + driving + refrigeration + embodied energy + heating water + utilities + gardening + vampire energy) – (Clean Energy we Produce or Offset) = (Everything we Use)

The list has narrowed considerably since we began last May. This mid-month, we are reconsidering where we started: your energy audit. Using the WSWNW reflection model, we will work on turning your awareness into tangible actions. Since we survey the lowest-hanging energy fruit each mid-month, this is an opportune time to discuss what to do with your energy audit.

What

“Audits are the ideal way to start an energy-efficiency and decarbonization journey because an audit can help a person understand their home’s energy use and provide a road map for where to start reducing energy, emissions and lowering bills,” Lacey Tan, RMI.

Energy audits are excellent for identifying low-hanging fruit projects for improving household energy efficiency. A comprehensive energy audit, including a blower door test and thermal imaging, will provide a detailed analysis of your home’s energy use and pinpoint specific areas where you can make small and significant improvements. Some benefits of a good energy audit include:

1. Targeted Recommendations: An audit will show precisely where your home is losing energy—through air leaks, inefficient appliances, poor insulation, etc. This ensures that you’re tackling the most impactful projects.
2. Prioritized Projects: Auditors often list improvements, ranking them by cost-effectiveness and potential energy savings. This helps you focus on high-impact, low-cost projects first.
3. Customized Solutions: Every home is unique. An audit will tailor recommendations to your specific home and usage patterns, ensuring that any improvements are efficient and cost-effective for your situation.
4. Long-Term Savings: An audit can help significantly reduce energy consumption and costs by addressing issues like air leaks, insulation, and inefficient systems.
5. Health and Comfort Benefits: Besides saving energy, many recommended improvements—such as sealing air leaks or improving ventilation—can enhance indoor air quality and make your home more comfortable.
6. Incentives and Rebates: Some energy audits also include information about available local, state, or federal rebates and incentives for energy-efficient upgrades. These can reduce the cost of implementing suggested improvements.

Overall, an energy audit acts as your roadmap, helping you avoid guesswork and focus your efforts where they’ll get the most benefit for the least effort or expense. It’s essential if you’re serious about making your home more energy-efficient but unsure where to start.

If you have not requested an Energy Audit, as things get cold again, it is an excellent time to find an Energy Auditor who will test your home’s efficiency using a blower door test and thermal imaging. If you don’t know the age of your carbon-combusting appliances, you should also ask the auditor to estimate the expected replacement years for these fouling devices. Even if you are renting, it is good to know how to reduce your utility bill (if asked, your landlord might be willing to fund improvements).

To find an energy auditor, if you haven’t done so, your utility is interested in the economics of right-sizing energy demand, so a visit to your utility website will usually include a list of approved energy auditors and subsidized costs.

So What

“We really need to kick the carbon habit and stop making our energy from burning things. Climate change is also really important. You can wreck one rainforest then move, drain one area of resources and move onto another, but climate change is global.” – David Attenborough

This step is about reflecting on why the findings matter. It’s about understanding the implications of the audit results, both in terms of energy costs and environmental impact. Take a moment to observe what the energy audit is telling you. What are the key findings? Where is your home losing energy? How efficient are your systems compared to recommended standards? Here we ask, What do these findings mean for you? Is your home less energy-efficient than you thought? Are you spending more on energy than is necessary?

Your energy audit will include a recommendations section that lists, by priority, the actions that have the most significant impact for the least amount of expenditure: your low-hanging fruit. Given your present starting conditions, the audit will specify the timeline for making your domicile energy efficient. Among other things, the audit report will enumerate rebates, incentives, and payback periods for the work that has been prescribed. Your utility will also list approved service providers that fulfill the work while ensuring your eligibility for rebates or incentives.

Your audit will help you anticipate service failures (heat, cooling, hot water, cooking, washing, drying, and refrigeration) to avoid knee-jerk emergency replacements of rushed decisions.

Now What

“One thing is abundantly clear: We can’t sit around waiting for someone else to fix this. So, as you read on, think about what (or what more) you can do. To get it right on climate change, we need dreamers. Lean into your imagination. Don’t look only at the list of problems—look also, right next to them, for the possibilities.” – Ayana Elizabeth Johnson

We have 25 years to get ourselves to carbon-free living.  During the next 25 years, everything you own that burns carbon will face failure and replacement. Your energy audit shows you the way to achieve this. The audit clarifies the priorities for the work it prescribes. With the utility rebate for the energy audit, this may be the best $100 you will ever spend.

This stage is the bridge to action. Based on the findings, people decide on the sequence of steps to improve their home’s energy efficiency. This step encourages practical, implementable actions. Now, what can you do about it? Start by prioritizing the recommendations that are easiest or most affordable to tackle. Whether sealing air leaks or upgrading to a programmable thermostat, every small action moves you toward a lighter footprint.

Your budget will appreciate avoiding unpleasant surprise failures that tend to occur the night before a four-day weekend.

David’s Summary Bookend

“ If we get it right. The world is a lot more green, more full of life. If we get it right, the combustion phase of humanity is over. If we get it right, we have relocalized and we eat well. If we get it right, our homes are comfortable. The future is not drafty. If we get it right, there is no traffic in cities because there are so few cars in cities. If we get it right, coastlines are greener too. Mangroves and wetlands and seagrasses and dune grasses have been replanted. If we get it right, the tyranny of the minority is over. The climate concerned majority rules. If we get it right, there are fewer desk jobs and electricians do very well on dating apps. If we get it right, the pace of life is more humane. We are unrushed, chill even. If we get it right, culture has caught up with our climate reality. Hollywood and celebrities are all in. Climate is the context. Spring is not silent. It’s cacophonous. We are putting the pieces back together, adapting to the climate changed world with eyes and hearts wide open. We embrace possibility, continually moving away from the brink and toward answers to the grand question, what if we get it right?” – Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, What If We Get it Right?

This year, I have become an Electrification Energy Coach. The first step in any consultation with the public is to recommend an energy audit. My coaching work helps you navigate the question ‘So What?’ into the actions of ‘Now What?’ I can offer my consultation services to any Touching the Earth Collective member with a reasonably recent Energy Audit Report, helping you decode and actualize the work ahead of you.

We plant the precious seeds of a world best described as Sab sel song tsen küntu gyal. We are fiercely relentless in its nurturing. Onward, collective!

And, remember:

“Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.” ~ Teddy Roosevelt