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Weatherization Assistance Program

Steady Advance in Weatherization Technologies

Illustration of Energy Use in a Typical Low-Income Household | 4% Cooking, 6% Lighting, 9% Refrigerator, 9% Space Cooling, 15% Water Heating, 30% Spacing Heating, 27% Other applicance and receptable loads including TV, dryers, washers, and small appliances.

Since 1999, DOE has been encouraging the network of weatherization providers to adopt the whole-house approach whereby they attack residential energy efficiency as a system rather than as a collection of unrelated pieces of equipment.
Credit: Economic Opportunity Research Institute 1993) [click on the image to see a larger version.]

Weatherization technologies include a wide range of energy efficiency measures for retrofitting homes and apartment buildings. Weatherization service providers choose the best package of efficiency measures for each home based on an energy audit of the home.

In the 32 years experience of the Weatherization Assistance Program, these technologies have grown from measures like caulking and weatherstripping to addressing the whole spectrum of energy-consuming systems in low-income homes.

Energy Efficiency Fact Sheets for Homeowner and Weatherization Recipients

EERE's Buildings Technology Program publishes the following brochure on energy-saving strategies for homeowners:

For Weatherization Service Providers and Energy Professionals

Over the past few years, many weatherization providers have promoted the concept of "whole house weatherization." Under this concept, providers tackle the house as a single energy-consuming system, rather than a loose collection of unrelated systems. Using this approach, these providers can find the best combination of measures for reducing total energy consumption in low-income housing.

You can find a wealth of information about this whole-house approach and about putting the components together to make it happen from DOE publications and Web sites:

  • Single-Family Residential Building Weatherization (PDF 136 KB) Download Adobe Reader.
    DOE's Federal Energy Management Program has outlined its approach to whole-house weatherization; 4-pp., September 1998.

Another good source of information is found in the 1993 - 2000 archives of Home Energy Magazine.