Which audits may a HERS Rater perform?

A HERS Rater is trained to perform visual, diagnostic, and comprehensive energy audits to assess the energy efficiency of residential buildings. Visual audits involve examining the home's visible energy systems, insulation levels, and overall condition. This type of assessment can help identify obvious issues that affect energy performance.

Diagnostic audits go a step further by using specialized tools and techniques to measure and evaluate the performance of a home's energy systems, such as blower door tests for air leakage detection or duct leakage tests. These diagnostics enable more precise identification of inefficiencies in the home’s energy use.

Comprehensive energy audits combine both visual and diagnostic approaches, providing a thorough evaluation of a home’s energy performance and identifying potential upgrades to enhance energy efficiency. By offering a complete spectrum of auditing services, HERS Ratters can provide homeowners with valuable insights and actionable recommendations for improving energy use.

The other options limit the scope of audits that a HERS Rater can perform. Only visual audits would exclude critical diagnostic assessments that reveal hidden issues. An audit restricted to home sales does not encompass the broader application of energy efficiency evaluations, and limiting assessments to comprehensive energy assessments ignores the valuable findings that can arise from both visual and diagnostic audits. Therefore, the comprehensive skill set of HERS Raters allows them to