Alternative Streams of Revenue & DOE’s Home Score Inspections

One of our key goals this year is to develop new alternative streams of inspection revenue for ASHI inspectors. This will include new types of inspections, as well as how to better use resources available to you.

This month, we will talk about the following two opportunities:

1. The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) new Home Energy Score energy efficiency inspection, and

2. www.savebigbread.com 

Joan Glickman, from the Department of Energy (DOE), gave the keynote address at ASHI InspectionWorld 2012. It was there at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix, Arizona, that she introduced ASHI members at our annual conference to the new Home Energy Score inspection program. She explained, “The Home Energy Score allows homeowners to compare their home’s energy consumption to that of other homes, similar to a vehicle’s mile-per-gallon rating. A home energy assessor will collect energy information during a brief home walk-through; then score that home on a scale of 1 to 10. A 10 represents a home with excellent energy performance, whereas a 1 indicates the home needs extensive energy improvements or energy upgrades. In addition to the Home Energy Score (HES), the home energy assessor will provide the homeowner with a list of recommended energy improvements with the associated cost saving estimates.”

This idea was so well received that your Board of Directors voted to enter into a partnership agreement with DOE to offer this Homescore inspection program through qualified ASHI inspectors. As this is written, no other national professional home inspection organization is a DOE-approved Homescore partner.

Get started with Home Energy Score

Here’s what you need to do to get listed as a Home Energy (Rating) Score inspector on ASHI’s Find an Inspector:

1. Become BPI-certified or RESNET HERS-certified.

2. Send proof of certification to Mike (miker@ashi.org) at ASHI headquarters. He will send you an ASHI agreement for your approval and signature.

3. Fill out and return the ASHI agreement.

4. Take the free (from DOE) online training program and exam that will be made available after completing step 3.

You’re there: After taking the free online course, signing the ASHI contract and passing the DOE exam, you will be listed on ASHI’s Find an Inspector as a DOE-certified Home Energy Score Assessor.

You can offer this service, at a fee of your choosing, to the consumers who find you there and to all your homebuying clients, as well as homeowners who want to know how their houses score for energy efficiency compared to their neighbors and how they can cost-effectively make their home more energy efficient. It’s a win-win for everyone.

Savebigbread.com
If you aren’t BPI- or RESNET HERS-certified, there is another new program you can start using today. It’s free and can be found at www.savebigbread.com. (This program also can be used by homeowners after they receive their DOE Home Energy Score.)

Savebigbread.com enables you to differentiate yourself from your home inspector competitors by providing a service homebuyers, sellers and realty agents will like.
How does it work? If you find condition or age-related problems with a water heater, furnace, boiler, heat pump, air conditioning compressor or other energy-consuming appliances in the home you are inspecting, you mark down the make, model and serial number and go to www.savebigbread.com to get money-saving information.

You’ll find information to share with your clients regarding the federal, state and local tax incentives currently offered in the properties’ zip code, as well as utility company incentives and manufacturer discounts and rebates. Your clients will welcome this useful information. You’ll look like a hero. It will be information not provided by your competitors, and clients will have good reason to recommend you to others because of the ‘big bread’ you helped them save.

Next month: more new money-making ideas!