On average Air Ducts were leaking 22% of their air when 10% is the maximum recommended amount and some homes went as high we leaking 73% of their air ! This means they are paying to heat or cool air which is not then delivered to the room it should be, but mostly wasted behind the walls.

The effort is to require energy conservation and allow Austin, TX to delay when they have to build new power plants. Of course, if everyone just had a Green Home Makeover from their local Green Irene Eco-Consultant they could all have a positive impact by reducing energy use.

See information on our Green Home Makeover (which is NOT an energy audit) at http://www.greenirene.com/green-home-makeover.aspx.

PJ Stafford

Eco-Consultant

Co-Founder

Green Irene LLC

Here are parts of the article from the Wall Street Journal:

Very interesting article in Wall Street Journal about how the city of Austin, Texas, has begun requiring homeowners to conduct energy-efficiency audits before they can sell their house, a move the city says provides a model for cities and states seeking ways to push energy conservation.

With its new law effective last week, Austin joined at least two other U.S. cities — San Francisco and Berkeley, Calif. — that require the audits, which can include a review of a home’s air-conditioning and heating systems, insulation and air-tightness, and generally cost owners from $200 to $300.

Municipalities across the country are forging policies to encourage more energy-efficient buildings, particularly in new construction.

The Austin ordinance requires residents selling single-family homes more than 10 years old to obtain an audit and provide the information to potential buyers. While San Francisco and Berkeley, where audits became mandatory in the 1980s, require owners to make recommended upgrades, Austin doesn’t. The Austin Board of Realtors agreed to support the audits after that provision was removed.

Sellers who refuse the audit are subject to being charged with a misdemeanor, a penalty some home sellers and real-estate agents call excessive.

Angela Whitaker-Williams, a designer for an architecture firm, plans to list her 2,400-square-foot, 47-year-old home for $319,000 later this month. Her audit recommended doubling the amount of attic insulation, recaulking around plumbing pipes and fixtures and resealing the duct system to reduce a 19% air leakage — improvements that could cost as much as $1,800 before rebates, experts said.

Ms. Whitaker-Williams is dismayed by the thought that a buyer might use the audit to try to negotiate a lower price, especially because the new law doesn’t require buyers to follow through with improvements.

The National Association of Realtors said it opposes government-mandated energy efficiency for homeowners and supports an incentive-based approach. Austin Energy, the city-owned utility, offers rebates and low-interest loans to homeowners who make energy-efficient upgrades.

City leaders say the required audits would help keep Austin from having to build a 700-megawatt power plant by 2020 by alerting residents to energy- and money-saving options.

In more than 300 audits already completed, Austin Energy found that, on average, homes had duct systems that leaked more than double what was recommended and attic insulation that was six inches thinner than ideal, said spokesman Ed Clark.