In 2013, about 75% of agencies in the Weatherization Assistance Program, which provides support for low-income families to weatherize their homes and reduce their energy costs, indicated that they deferred 1-20% of homes. Deferrals usually occur because of problems that are beyond the scope of WAP, such as excessive mold, deteriorated roofs, pest infestations, and unsanitary conditions, which would compromise the effectiveness of retrofits implemented by WAP. Often, these problems also result in conditions that are unhealthy, leaving clients who do not have the resources to remedy the problem with homes that are both inefficient and unhealthy.
Many weatherization assistance program (WAP)-eligible homes are deferred due to reasons related to health, such as leaky roofs, pest infestations, and substantial mold growth. The goals of this project are to establish a systematic approach to reduce weatherization deferrals by integrating healthy home (HH) evaluations with traditional WAP energy audits to address deficiencies that are related to health in homes that would otherwise be deferred, all in a manner that fits within the framework of WAP with requisite cost-effectiveness calculations.
This research is a collaboration between the Indoor Climate Research and Training Division of the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission, led by the Principal Investigator Paul Francisco, and the HELE Lab, led by Sheena Martenies. The ICRT team is leading the home remediation efforts in collaboration with community partners and measuring the change in indoor air contaminants as a result of home improvements. The HELE lab is conducting a health benefits and economic assessment based on the changes in indoor contaminant levels.
Reducing Deferrals by Integrating Healthy Homes with Weatherziation is a study funded by the US Department of Energy (PI: Francisco).
The Study Team
Principal Investigator: Paul Francisco (CCRPC)
Co-Investigator: Dr. Sheena Martenies
Graduate Student Assistant: Vinh Vo
Publications
Coming soon!