How EnergyLogic is raising the bar on home efficiency testing
Many paths are available to those seeking to make their home as energy efficient as possible. Berthoud, Colorado-based company EnergyLogic is starting the process at the beginning, going deeper than a standard HERS (Home Energy Rating System) test. The company’s field testers are trained and leading the way in Energy Star ratings, the EPA’s standard for home energy efficiency. The company is also implementing some groundbreaking ways that help not only their field raters collect and analyze data, but that provide the tools for raters around the country to quickly and more resourcefully do the same.
“EnergyLogic was originally founded as a rating company doing HERS ratings,” EnergyStar Marketing Coordinator Theron LaFountain said. “As we have found different pieces of the industry that need help or as we have found a need for ourselves to grow, we have created those elements.” With a focus on new construction, field raters ensure that single and multi-family home structures obtain proper HERS ratings, and EnergyStar certification when applicable. Raters work with builders from construction through final inspection. “We’re out there about three times per home, looking at each different level and each different process,” Theron said.
Here are the ways EnergyLogic is raising the bar on energy efficiency and education:
DASH: To maximize the efficiency with which the company can use the data it collects at each home, EnergyLogic developed an enterprise management system called DASH. DASH tracks and stores all of the data collected by their field raters during HERS ratings. This allows the company to quickly access and analyze the data their raters collect and use the information in communication with clients. “We had found that we were working amongst several different operating systems like QuickBooks, Excel, Google Maps, and more so we thought we need to create something that allows us to schedule our raters, give them a nice flow of work during the day, and allows us to scrape and keep all of the data they are collecting in the field into one place on the cloud,” Theron said.
DASH is also available to subscribers outside EnergyLogic. The program processed close to 10% of all HERS ratings around the country in 2013 and is growing year by year.
EnergyLogic Academy- EnergyLogic Academy trains field testers in and outside of their company in efficient home energy ratings. “We wanted to really train people in the best practices of this field,” said Theron. They train workers around the country in HERS ratings, LEED for Homes, EnergyStar certification, and a multitude of other field-related topics that help homes run on less energy. “Everything that we have created comes out of our true need, so we solve our problems but what we end up finding is that they solve everyone’s problems.”
Game of Homes- A recently launched virtual training game that anyone can play, Game of Homes is centered on HERS ratings and home energy efficiency. “It is game-ifying the day-to-day issues that we find in homes,” Theron said. The game provides a background on home energy testing and can even provide continuing education credits for those who qualify.
Canary Analytics-In partnership with IBM Watson, Energy Logic is launching a project called Canary Analytics. The concept will analyze over 15 different data sets to make an educated analytical model of what the future of growth will look like in a specified area. “Basically, it takes the sentiment of a specific area along with data sets of how many permits are pulled, what’s being written in the newspaper, what people are predicting for the future, and boils it all down to a beautiful piece of analytics.” The system then prints out what it predicts to be the future growth for that area. It has been accurate enough for the company that IBM Watson will be backing the project going forward.
QA Genie- This tool has the ability to take 100 different data sets on HERS ratings and analyze them to find out if raters are either cheating the system or not properly trained for the job, based on the ratings they make. “The computer can find anomalies better that we can as humans,” Theron said. “If someone makes an anomaly over and over again it will flag that file and notify the company that their might be an issue.”
More information on the company and their services is available here.
