Home Energy Upgrade Roadmap
From an Energy Score to a Green Home Plan
Your energy assessment shows where the home is today. The Green Home Predictor helps you explore what to do next—and in what order.
Quick Start: Review, Update, Then Explore
- Bring in your home facts. Upload a supported energy audit PDF, or import a saved Green Home Predictor Home Facts / Step 1 data file.
- Review the imported information. Correct missing or inaccurate entries. Keep genuinely unknown conditions marked unknown.
- Select Update Home Score after making changes. Confirm the result reflects the latest home facts before exploring electrification, contractor scope, or budgeting in the chat.
Completing a home energy assessment is a big step. Whether you begin with a professional audit or the home facts collected in Step 1, you now have a starting point for discussing the home’s current condition.
But a score alone does not answer the hardest questions: What should I do first? What can wait? How do upgrades work together over time?
That’s where the Green Home Predictor comes in. It uses your home facts as a starting point and helps you explore different upgrade paths before committing to work.
Understanding Green Home Predictor Status Bands
Think of the score as the ruler and the Home Condition Bands as the map. GHP uses its own 0–100 planning score and five bands to help you interpret the home facts and consider improvement opportunities.
Keep scoring systems separate: The DOE Home Energy Score uses a 1–10 scale. It does not convert directly into a GHP band. GHP’s score and bands are planning indicators—not an official DOE Home Energy Score, HERS Index, certification, or percentage of energy saved.
Use the table to begin a discussion, not to assign a band manually. The planning examples are not scoring rules or required upgrade packages. Actual findings, safety needs, and client goals determine what comes next.
Scroll horizontally to read all table columns.
| Home Condition Band | Planning Focus to Consider | Why Review It? |
|---|---|---|
| Band 1Significant Improvement Opportunity | Air sealing and attic insulation, where needed | Identify major opportunities to reduce energy loss and improve comfort. |
| Band 2Foundational Improvements Recommended | Walls, rim joists, and ducts | Review remaining enclosure and distribution issues before choosing equipment upgrades. |
| Band 3Modernizing / Mostly Ready | Efficient HVAC options and electrical readiness | Check equipment sizing and electrical requirements; the band alone does not establish readiness. |
| Band 4Strong Home Condition | Whole-home heat-pump options, where appropriate | Compare system fit and operating-cost assumptions rather than assuming replacement is necessary. |
| Band 5Advanced Home Condition | Optional solar, storage, and system optimization | Consider further goals and verify performance; solar and storage are not implied requirements. |
Prioritize Home Upgrades Around Goals
Before choosing upgrades, listen for what matters. Is it comfort, lower bills, indoor air quality, cutting carbon, or timing improvements with repairs? Priorities should shape which scenarios you explore and when to act. The best retrofit path is not universal.
Scroll horizontally to read all table columns.
| Priority | What It Means | Upgrades to Evaluate |
|---|---|---|
| Comfort | More even temperatures, fewer drafts, quieter systems | Air sealing, attic insulation, heat pumps, duct sealing |
| Affordability | Lower bills and more manageable operating costs | Efficiency upgrades, suitable thermostat controls, LED lighting |
| Climate | Reduce emissions and explore an all-electric home | Heat pumps, induction cooking, electric water heating, EV charging |
| Resilience | Plan for outages or a future solar-and-battery system | Electrical readiness, battery-ready wiring, an efficient envelope, and a suitable backup-power plan |
| Health | Improve indoor air quality and reduce indoor combustion sources | ERVs/HRVs, heat pumps, and ventilation upgrades appropriate to the home |
| Phased Investment | Coordinate upgrades with replacements or renovations | A phased plan that prioritizes need and avoids unnecessary rework |
Choose the top 2–3 priorities. Use them to guide which scenarios you explore in the Predictor.
Integrating Heat Pumps into a Home Electrification Plan
Heat pumps are an important option for efficient electric heating and cooling, including in cold climates when the equipment is selected and sized for the home. Compare installation proposals and local operating-cost assumptions before deciding what fits best.
- Efficient heating: Heat pumps move heat rather than generating it through electric resistance or fuel combustion.
- Cold-climate options: Have the contractor verify low-temperature capacity, the home’s heating load, and any backup-heat needs.
- Dual-purpose: A heat pump can provide both heating and cooling, with ducted or ductless options.
- Reduced onsite combustion: The heat pump itself does not burn fuel. Evaluate overall emissions separately from energy bills rather than promising a universal reduction.
Equipment-selection reference: ENERGY STAR’s air-source heat-pump guidance.
Plan the Order of Home Electrification Upgrades
When ready to electrify heating and cooling, use the Predictor to explore how the enclosure, ventilation, electrical system, and how new equipment fit together. Compare an all-at-once project with a phased plan rather than assuming every home needs the same package or will achieve the same savings.
What to Include in the Plan
- Safety first: Flag urgent issues for qualified review and address moisture, ventilation, and combustion-safety needs.
- A coordinated enclosure plan: Consider air sealing and insulation alongside the home’s ventilation needs and planned equipment.
- Right-sized electrification: Plan electrical readiness, water heating, and HVAC together, with sizing and capacity verified by qualified contractors.
- Optional solar: Consider solar after reviewing efficiency improvements and the home’s expected future electricity use.
- Reviewable assumptions: Keep missing information and preliminary estimates visible so they can be verified or updated.
An example planning sequence—not a mandatory order:
Seal & insulate → electrical readiness → heat-pump water heater → heat-pump HVAC → optional solar PV
Safety and moisture issues come first. Adjust the sequence for urgent replacements, existing equipment, budget, and project timing. Electrical planning may start early, and water heating does not always precede HVAC.
Explore Upgrade Scenarios with the Green Home Predictor
- Imagine changes and compare proposed scenarios without confusing them with the home’s existing condition.
- Test different upgrade paths against the priorities, timing, and known constraints.
- Prepare for contractor conversations with a preliminary scope, budget questions, and a list of facts to verify.
Treat any budget or savings figures as preliminary estimates, not quotes or verified outcomes. A higher GHP score is not a quantified energy or carbon saving. Confirm prices, equipment sizing, program requirements, and any needed savings analysis before committing to work.
Next: Turn ideas into action. Learn how to build the right team of contractors in Step 3: Renew the Core — Working with Contractors.