Approach to developing an audit for combined building shell and heating system retrofits. [Individual evaluation and ranking of possible retrofits]

Conference · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1985

OSTI ID:5324441

McCold, L N

With the recent expansion of the Weatherization Assistance Program to include retrofits for space heating equipment, the problem of selecting retrofits for each treated house has become more complicated. This paper shows that the savings from some retrofits are highly variable from one house to another. An audit approach is presented which ranks the retrofits by their benefits-to-cost ratio. While a general audit will give correct savings estimates and rankings for retrofits in a wide range of locations, its use will be more burdensome than necessary in any particular locale. Three steps are outlined which can be used to simplify the audit without significantly reducing its accuracy: ignore interactions between retrofits, incorporate local climate and fuel price information, and eliminate retrofits which seldom or never rank high enough to be used. Installing all retrofits with B/C ratios greater than some locally determined minimum value is suggested as an alternative to spending the same amount of money on each house. A method for selecting the minimum B/C ratio is described. Examples illustrating these points are included.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 5324441
• Report Number(s): CONF-850782-1; ON: DE85016354
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320101* -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Residential Buildings-- (-1987)
AUDITS
BUILDINGS
COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS
ENERGY AUDITS
ENERGY CONSERVATION
HUMAN POPULATIONS
INTERACTIONS
LOW INCOME GROUPS
MINORITY GROUPS
POPULATIONS
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS