Evaluation of Missed Energy Saving Opportunity Based on Illinois Home Performance Program Field Data: Homeowner Selected Upgrades Versus Cost-Optimized Solutions.
This report builds and expands off of previous research by collecting and evaluating data from 800 Illinois Home Performance (IHP) retrofits. This study investigates homeowner measure package choices in the Illinois Home Performance with ENERGY STAR (IHP) program compared to cost-optimal choices determined through Building Energy Optimization (BEopt) modeling software. This research was based on evaluating actual retrofit measure selection in 800 homes, grouping the homes into one of the 12 Chicago and single-family housing archetypes, determining the most cost-optimal measure mix for each housing archetype using BEopt. The cost-optimal measures were then compared with actual measure installations for each housing archetype using BEopt. The main objectives of this study are to: Model overall gas and electricity savings from the common measures installed in IHP for 12 of the 15 housing archetypes in Chicago's building stock. Compare savings and optimal measure packages between actual measures installed and recommended measure packages as modeled through BEopt. The study also made general observations about houses that received retrofits through IHP compared to the average housing stock in Chicago.