What is Home Performance?
Home performance is a term used to describe how all aspects of a home work together as one comprehensive system.
How Does Home Performance Work?
Home performance work is done by home performance contractors and weatherization professionals. These are people who have undergone specialized training so that they can diagnose a home's problems (drafty, moldy, expensive to heat or cool, uncomfortable) and find ways to fix them.
Each home is a distinctive system involving the building itself, its occupants, and all devices in the home that use energy, including lighting, appliances, fans, HVAC equipment. A home performance professional understands and addresses the subtle interactions of the components of the house as a system and considers, at every step, that a change to one part of the system can (and almost certainly will) have an effect on the other parts.
Weatherization professionals perform a variety of activities to weatherize homes and make them more energy efficient. Duties include repairing windows, air sealing, adding insulation, and more. The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) takes the "whole-house weatherization” approach that analyzes all of the building systems—the building envelope, heating and cooling systems, electrical system, and electric baseload appliances—through the completion of an energy audit.
Segments of Home Performance
Interactive relationships between contractors in the industry are key to delivering whole-house solutions for clients. Some of the different segments and specializations in home performance include:
Energy Auditors
HVAC
Weatherization
Plumbing
Electrical
Solar
Snapshot of Roles & Career Paths
Auditor, Advisor, Consultant
In this role, you’ll assess homes, measure energy efficiency, and evaluate the effectiveness of systems. Tasks include using data, addressing health and safety concerns, and educating homeowners about energy efficiency.
$22-$53 per hour
Insulation/Building Envelope
In this role, you’ll do essential repairs, installations, and modifications of homes to enhance their energy efficiency. Tasks include adding insulation, sealing air gaps, installing windows and doors, and conducting health and safety inspections.
$12-$25 per hour
HVAC/Mechanical
In this role, you’ll do maintenance, repairs, and installations of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems in homes. Tasks include assessing air pressure, refrigerant levels, and temperatures, customer service, and ensuring that systems are correctly commissioned.
$20-$42 per hour
Earnings Source: Green Buildings Career Map, Indeed.com
Skills & Training You’ll Need
Important to Have
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Experience, education or a general understanding of the building trades, building science, and/or housing construction
- Experience with hand and power tools
Helpful to Have
- Two-year degree, vocational or technical school training
- BPI-Building Science Principles (BSP) Certificate of Knowledge
- RESNET HERS Rater certification
Careers in Home Performance
The home performance industry is filled with viable career paths and opportunities. Visit our Career Center to explore resources and current positions open in the industry.
Connect with Jobs in Weatherization
The Green Workforce Connect platform includes detailed information on various real weatherization roles, real career stories, a career-fit quiz, blog posts, and a way for job seekers to connect directly to local organizations that are hiring.
The Green Buildings Career Map
The Green Buildings Career Map is a highly interactive tool that explores an industry exploding with job opportunities, charting possible progression between those occupations, and identifying the types of credentials necessary to do them well.
Get Started as an Apprentice
BPA has developed the Energy Specialist Registered Apprentice Program to help individuals develop the skills and knowledge needed for a job in the skilled trade of residential energy efficiency.