Oklahoma Natural Gas ONE In Energy New Home Program
New Home Focuses
- Bends and turns in ductwork
- Register locations
- Duct length
- Connections
- Air Flows
Results- Energy cost savings and more consistent temperatures from room to room.
- Properly installed insulation
- Sealing cracks in the home's "envelope" and in heating and cooling duct systems helps reduce drafts, moisture, dust, pollen, and noise
Results- A tightly sealed home with properly installed insulation lowers heating and cooling costs, reduces drafts, improves comfort and indoor air quality while reducing utility and maintenance and providing better air distribution.
- Each plan has a strict guidelines to follow when it comes to load calculations for HVAC, Low E windows and sizing
- ONG will perform seal inspections as well as thermal inspections
- With the help of Independent Home Energy Raters, energy efficient certified builders' partners choose the most appropriate energy-saving features for their homes
- Raters conduct onsite testing and inspections to verify the energy efficiency measures, as well as insulation, air tightness, and duct sealing
Results- ENERGY EFFICIENT CERTIFIED HOME = HAPPY HOME OWNERS
About HERS
A home energy rating involves an analysis of a home's construction plans and onsite inspections. Based on the home's plans, the Home Energy Rater uses an energy efficiency software package to perform an energy analysis of the home's design. This analysis yields a projected, pre-construction HERS Index.
Upon Completion of the plan review, the rater will work with the builder to identify the energy efficiency improvements needed to ensure the house will meet energy efficient performance guidelines. The rater then conducts onsite inspections, typically including a blower door test (to test the leakiness of the house) and a duct test (to test the leakiness of the ducts). Results of these tests, along with inputs derived from the plan review, are used to generate the HERS Index score for the home.
The HERS Index is a scoring system established by the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) in which a home built to the specifications of the HERS Reference Home (based on the 2006 International Energy Conservation Code or current state code) scores a HERS Index, the more energy efficient it is in comparison to the HERS Reference Home.
Each 1-point decrease in the HERS Index corresponds to a 1% reduction in energy consumption compared to the HERS Reference Home. Thus a home with a HERS Index of 85 is 15% more energy efficient than the HERS Reference Home and a home with a HERS Index of 70 is 30% more energy efficient.