Sustainability House Receives Energy Audit

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The blower door in action.

The Office for Sustainability has some work to do to bring the newly restored Sustainability House, located at 238 Harmon Avenue, up to 21^st century energy-efficiency standards. As part of the office’s ongoing partnership with U.S. Energy Corps, Viridian recently conducted an energy audit at the Sustainability House.

Viridian is an energy consulting firm with locations in Little Rock and Fayetteville. The purpose of the energy audit was to assess the energy efficiency of the house and what could be changed to make the office more energy efficient, a process called weatherization. Weatherization, also known as weatherproofing, is protecting a building from the elements with low-cost improvements such as weather stripping, caulking, etc. to save energy. It also includes assessment of occupant safety through gas ventilation assessment.

As would be expected for a house many decades old, the opportunities for increasing efficiency are dramatic. Viridian assessed the conditions of the house and set to work gathering building information.

The two Viridian energy technicians, William Beaver and Gary Kahanak, depressurized the building using a blower door in order to find leaks in doors, walls, windows, and other general areas. They tested the water heater for back drafting by creating worst-case conditions, measuring air changes per hour and using a tool to “sniff” for combustible gases. The water heater passed all of the tests, but needs to be reevaluated once the weatherization takes place and there is less combustion air coming into the building through leaks. For more pictures, please visit this link.

Energy Corps arranged for the audit of the Sustainability House and took on the task of weatherizing. The final recommendations were to air seal the windows and doors on the main floor and basement and acquire a carbon monoxide detector. Student interns and volunteers will implement the recommendations on a Saturday in February. If you would like to participate please contact Carlos Ochoa at sustain@uark.edu.