Weatherization & Intergovernmental

Our activities include Weatherization Evaluation and State Energy Programs Evaluation, technical support for the National Energy Audit and Manufactured Home Energy Audit (NEAT and MHEA), Utility Restructuring and Resource Leveraging. We work with state and local partners to promote the adoption of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies and practices -- working toward the Department of Energy's (DOE) mission to ... "help the nation realize a stronger economy, a cleaner environment, and a more secure future."

NEAT was developed at ORNL for DOE's Weatherization & Intergovernmental Program. This computer program is designed to be used by state agencies and utilities to determine the most cost-effective retrofit measures for single-family homes to increase the comfort of occupants and reduce monthly utility costs. After the user inputs data on building characteristics, including the types of heating and cooling systems, NEAT produces a prioritized list of cost-effective measures customized for each dwelling. The output also includes an estimated dollar value for the projected energy savings, savings-to-investment ratios, and a list of the quantities of materials necessary to perform the recommended retrofit.

ORNL's NEAT is currently being used to weatherize low-income homes in 35 states.

The State Energy Program (SEP) funds a wide variety of energy-efficiency activities, such as providing technical assistance, performing energy audits, and implementing retrofits.

SEP Metrics Initiative
The purpose of this initiative is to develop easy-to-use metrics (quantifiable indicators) to measure SEP accomplishments. For this purpose, two different types of metrics were developed. Enumeration Indicators elicit information from states on project "outputs" (e.g., number of audits performed; number of training sessions presented), while Handbook Pages provide guidelines and resources for measuring project "outcomes" (e.g., energy saved by adoption of residential building codes or through commercial retrofit programs). The resulting products are designed to raise the consistency and comprehensiveness of results reporting for SEP. View a PDF of the National Association of State Energy Officials report highlighting annual energy and cost savings.