🧭 Step 2 • Explore what comes next

From Your Energy Audit to a Green Home Plan

Your Energy Audit shows where the home is today. The Green Home Predictor helps you decide what to do next — and in what order.

📊 Use your audit score as a baseline
🧠 Test smart sequences
🔍 Learn before you spend

Completing a Home Energy assessment is a big step. It gives you a clear snapshot of a home’s current performance — usually a number between 1 and 100.

But most homeowners quickly realize the score alone doesn’t 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 existing audit as a starting point and helps you explore different upgrade paths — safely, quickly, and without spending a dime.


🏠 Energy Status Bands

Think of the score as the ruler and the Status Bands as the map. The Predictor helps you move from one band to the next — deliberately.

Energy Status Band Professional Audit Score Focus Why It Matters
Band 1 – Legacy Home 1–2 Air sealing, attic insulation Stops energy loss and improves comfort
Band 2 – Mixed-Era Home 3–4 Walls, rim joists, ducts Prepares the home for modern systems
Band 3 – Modern Systems Home 5–6 Efficient HVAC, electrical readiness Makes electrification viable
Band 4 – High Performance 7–8 Whole-home heat pumps Locks in low operating costs
Band 5 – Advanced / Net-Ready 9–10 Solar, storage, optimization Future-proofs the home

🧠 Listen Carefully To What Matters Most to Your Client

Before choosing upgrades, pause and reflect. Do they care most about comfort? Lower bills? Indoor air quality? Cutting carbon? Timing upgrades with repairs?

Their priorities should shape your plan. The “best” retrofit path isn’t universal — it’s personal.

🧠 Make a Plan Based on What Matters to Them

Before creating an upgrade package, reflect on what matters most to them. Did they say they want lower bills, better indoor air quality, or a home ready for heat pump? Their goals should guide which improvements to model and when to make them.

🎯 Priority 💬 What It Means 🧩 Upgrades That Support It
🏠 Comfort Even temperatures, no drafts, quieter systems Air sealing, attic insulation, heat pumps, duct sealing
💰 Affordability Lower energy bills, protection from fuel price spikes Efficiency upgrades, smart thermostats, LED lighting
🌱 Climate Cut carbon emissions, go all-electric Heat pumps, induction stove, electric water heating, EV charger
🔋 Resilience Ready for outages or future solar + battery system Panel upgrade, battery-ready wiring, efficient envelope
👃 Health Improved indoor air quality, reduced combustion indoors ERVs/HRVs, heat pumps, ventilation upgrades
🧩 Phased Investment Coordinate upgrades with replacements or renovations Modular planning, priority-by-need approach
✍️ Choose the top 2–3 priorities. Use them to guide which scenarios you explore in the Predictor.

🔁 Of Course, In Many Cases You Will Include a Heat Pump in Your Plan
🌡 Heating + ❄️ Cooling • One system

Heat pumps are the most cost-effective, all-in-one heating and cooling solution for most homes in the United States — even in cold climates. They’re efficient, electric, and future-ready.

  • Super-efficient — move 2–5× more heat than the electricity they consume
  • Cold-climate ready — work down to −10°F or even −20°F
  • Dual-purpose — one system for both heating and cooling
  • Carbon-cutting — reduce emissions even in fossil-heavy grids

🔌 Why electrify — with the Predictor

Electrification is the quickest path to major comfort gains, lower energy bills, and lower carbon emissions. By replacing combustion equipment or simply adding efficient electric systems, you cut wasted energy right away — often 30–60% — and you’re client is ready to run on an increasingly clean grid.

What you’ll get
  • A safety-first sequence (fix urgent issues, verify ventilation)
  • A shell-first plan (air seal & insulate so every upgrade performs better)
  • Right-sized electrification (heat pump water heater, heat pump HVAC, panel readiness)
  • Optional solar once the load is trimmed
  • A short list of assumptions when a detail is missing — so you can review or update it

Same proven order, tailored to your house: seal & insulate → electrical readiness → heat pump water heater → heat pump HVAC → optional PV .


✅ Recap: Upload Your Audit to the Green Home Predictor
  • Imagine exciting changes and rerun your score
  • Test different upgrade scenarios and compare outcomes
  • Estimate cost, energy, and carbon savings before committing
Next: Ready to turn ideas into action? Learn how to work confidently with a team of contractors in Step 3 → Renew the Core.