"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
— Gro Harlem Brundtland
Vermont Foam Insulation is partnered with an independent energy auditor who can help you assess your home or building in southern Vermont or southwestern New Hampshire. We can also help you qualify for rebates that are available through the Home Performance with Energy Star (HPwES) program, which is administered by Efficiency Vermont.
What Is an Energy Audit?
An energy audit is an in-depth assessment of how a home or building is functioning — with the goal of uncovering areas that are wasting energy. It includes diagnostic testing to measure air leakage, locate missing insulation, ensure heating system safety, and more. Typically, an audit takes about three hours to complete; however, this can vary depending on the size and complexity of the home or building.
Benefits of an Energy Audit
Improve health & safety
The primary benefit of an energy audit is greater health and safety. An audit includes important testing of combustion equipment to ensure proper function, both before and after any subsequent insulation work. This testing gives you critical information about home performance, such as whether your heating system is backdrafting carbon monoxide.
Uncover inefficiencies
In addition, the blower door test portion of an energy audit evaluates how airtight your home or building is. Your energy auditor will highlight areas of the building envelope that are leaking air to determine where improvements should be made. After the audit, your auditor may recommend attic insulation, attic air sealing with spray foam, or another energy saving upgrade.
Why Choose VFI to Conduct Your Energy Audit?
Maximize value with rebates
At Vermont Foam Insulation, our goal is to provide our customers with the greatest possible value for their investment. By having our independent energy auditor conduct your energy audit, you become eligible for cash rebates on any needed energy efficiency upgrades through the Home Performance with Energy Star program. These rebates can equal as much as $2,500.
Over the history of our company, we have completed over 600 of home performance jobs — giving our customers over $550,000 in cash rebates!
Minimize upfront costs
We also help our customers minimize any upfront costs. That is why we prefer to schedule a free site evaluation first and then schedule an energy audit only after the site visit validates the need for an audit. In the event that an audit does make sense and you decide to move forward with our service, we find that energy efficiency rebates often equal about 10% of total installation costs.
Receive better service
At VFI, we treat every home we assess with the utmost respect and leave it as clean as we found it. We value collaboration with our customers and typically have a sit-down discussion before any diagnostic testing occurs. We may also have a brief discussion about the auditor's findings once the audit is complete. If needed, however, we can complete the audit without you present.
Commercial Build Energy Audits
Through the Building Performance with Energy Star (BPwES) program, small business and rental owners as well as managers of municipal and commercial buildings can qualify for rebates on energy efficiency upgrades. You may be eligible for up to $5,000 in cash rebates for air sealing and insulating. Vermont Foam has completed several commercial style projects for its customers over the years.
Home Performance with Energy Star Rebates
All VFI auditors are Building Performance Institute (BPI) certified home energy auditors. Additionally, VFI is a partner in the HPwES program through Efficiency Vermont. This means that any home performance work you complete following the audit may be eligible for rebates.
Our process
We make the process of receiving rebates from Efficiency Vermont simple. Simply contact us to get started. We'll schedule your audit test-in and provide a proposal for recommended insulation work. (We can also provide a written report within 10 business days for an additional fee.)
After you've decided to move forward with the efficiency upgrades and all work is completed, we'll schedule a subsequent test-out to verify the impact that your efficiency upgrades made. Then, we will submit all of this information on your behalf to Efficiency Vermont. Efficiency Vermont will then send a document that you must print, sign, and return in order to receive your rebate.
About four weeks after the test-out, you can expect to receive a check in the mail.
Qualifying for higher rebates
Rebates are broken into two categories: 1) Air Infiltration and 2) Square Footage. The tighter we make your home or building, the more money you will receive. A 35% or greater reduction in air infiltration earns the highest rebate, for example, while a 20% or 10% reduction earns a lower rebate. Similarly, the larger the area we upgrade, the more money you will get back.