A building becomes a great building at the intersection of beauty and utility. At Cottage & Castle our experience constructing and renovating high efficiency buildings affords us a wealth of knowledge and a reference point for how your home can perform more efficiently and cost less to operate. As a natural extension of our commitment toward green building and energy efficiency, Cottage & Castle offers Home Energy Audits for existing homes.

Save Money
A Cottage & Castle home energy audit will identify your home’s efficiency shortcomings and will outline how you can remediate energy loss problems and save money on your utility bills. Depending on the dynamics of your home, we will provide estimates on just how much money you can expect to save. In addition to outlining the remediation measures that should be taken, we can provide information on how to secure 0% financing for home improvement loans that save energy. Additionally, rebates from local utilities, as well as state and federal tax credits are available to homeowners who take steps to reduce their home’s energy use.

Building Envelope
Our energy audits target two specific areas: the building envelope and the mechanical systems. The building envelope is the exterior shell of a home. If that envelope isn’t properly sealed and insulated then your home is hemorrhaging valuable energy in the form of heat loss, or cool air loss in the summer. Cottage & Castle’s energy auditors will evaluate the quality of your building envelope and make recommendations on how to improve the performance of your home. Many solutions are simple and inexpensive to implement and can result in an immediate energy savings.

Mechanical Systems
Fifty-eight percent of the energy used in the standard home is consumed by the mechanical systems which heat and cool spaces, as well as hot water. In many homes these systems are inefficient, inappropriately sized, poorly designed and inadequately installed. As a part of your home energy audit we will inspect your existing mechanical systems and make recommendations on how these systems might be made to perform more efficiently. Simple solutions like making sure that ducts are well sealed and insulated can save money without requiring expensive upgrades.
In addition to information on how to boost the performance of your existing system, we can provide information on newer technologies that cost less to operate, consume fewer resources and produce less waste. Many of these systems can be retrofitted into existing homes and buildings. The benefits of replacing an existing system with a high efficiency system can include: lower cost of operation, better performance, reduced energy consumption, and reduced environmental impact. Please contact us in order to learn more about how upgrading your home’s mechanical systems can save you money and improve the performance of your home.