There are two schools of thought about whom to hire to perform a home-energy audit. One says that a disinterested third party is the most trustworthy opinion, while the other argues for the convenience of hiring someone who can pinpoint the improvements needed and then perform the work.
Brian Smith of Energy Saving Comfort Systems (www. escs1.com) prides himself on the fact that his company isn’t selling anything other than testing services. When he sits down with customers to review what his blower door and infrared camera have detected, they know that "I’m not then going to try to sell them new windows or a furnace." CMC’s Luxton concurs: "We feel strongly that an audit should be performed by an unbiased person."
John Jennings is an energy auditor with Steven Winter Associates, an architecture/ engineering research and consulting firm in Norwalk, Conn. He favors the idea of independent auditors who can provide a list of vetted contractors that can make the recommended improvements.
Mike Rogers, senior vice president of business development for GreenHomes® America, a Syracuse, N. Y., firm that tests homes and then does improvement work, disagrees. "Would you take your car to one guy to tell you what’s wrong with it and then to another to do the repairs?" he asks. Some companies, including GreenHomes, even have a financing program for energy-performance upgrades.
