With home energy costs jumping almost 31 percent over the past year in the Washington-Baltimore area, homeowners are trying to figure out how to reduce energy usage. One company launched in Sterling this week, Ardently Green, is not only providing answers, but helping put them into action.
People think that to really live green, you have to be “living in a hole,” said Bob Weatherwax, chief executive officer of Ardent Home Services and Ardently Green. But the real way to be green is to use less energy, he said.
His new company offers energy audit services and follow-up work. Employees certified by the Building Performance Institute collect a homeowner’s energy bills, then set up a giant blower simulating 20 mph winds, looking for air leaks in the house with an infrared camera that detects temperature changes. The efficiency of heating and cooling, plumbing, and ventilation systems, as well as the air quality, are also examined.
The audit itself costs between $400 for a 3,000-square-foot single-family home to $600 for a 7,000- or 8,000-square-foot home, said Weatherwax. The auditors make recommendations with cost-benefit analyses. Typical recommendations include air-sealing an attic with spray foam, which can cost $3000 to $3500, and insulating around heating and cooling ducts, said Weatherwax. Ardently Green deducts the cost of the audit from the bill if follow-up work is done, and will come back and test for air leaks after the work. Weatherwax is considering a guarantee that energy costs will be 20 percent lower with the air sealing.
A handful of other companies in the area provide energy audits, but some just recommend contractors to do the work.
The company hopes to service at least 200 homes this year, and is well under way, according to Weatherwax.
But with gasoline and food prices rising as well, some might not be willing to shell out this much for savings in the future.
People are interested in services like this, because they don’t know where to begin with energy conservation, said Suzanne Shelton, president and chief executive officer of the Shelton Group, based in Knoxville, Tenn., which conducts market research and runs ad campaigns for utilities and renewable energy companies. Ardently Green has an “excellent business model,” she said.
