What does efficiency look like?

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Energy efficiency is fairly easy to define. But what does energy efficiency look like? And if you can’t see it, how can you engage with it?

That’s what Geoffrey Hay, an Associate Professor of Geo-Information Science at the University of Calgary asked the TEDx Calgary audience last summer. He’s the force behind Heat Energy Assessment Technologies, or HEAT, a free GeoWeb service that shows homeowners where their homes are wasting heat and how much it’s costing them.

“We believe that if people could see the waste heat they generate and if they knew how much it cost (financially and to the environment), that they would want to take action,” says Hay.

HEAT maps look a lot like Google Maps – except in addition to street view images, they show waste heat leaving homes. The data, which is captured by an infrared camera during nighttime fly-overs, is used to generate a Residential HEAT Score map (left).

Users can navigate through the map to zoom in on an individual home, view a ranked HEAT score (below, left), and compare an infrared image with a Google Street View image (below, right) in order to identify the top six areas of heat loss.

Of course, just because you can see those problem spots doesn’t mean you know what to do about it. That’s where a certified energy advisor and contractor like Evergreen Home Performance comes in. Whether motivated by cold floors, high energy bills, or a less-than-stellar HEAT score, homeowners turn to Evergreen for a free energy consult that helps them understand their homes and plan comprehensive improvements, including insulation, air sealing, and wet basement remediation.

Hay hopes that by making energy efficiency visible, the HEAT app will inspire that kind of action on a large scale. MIT Climate CoLab certainly sees the potential: Hay and his team earned top honors at the annual Crowds & Climate Conference last week. The award will help HEAT scale up from the pilot project of almost 38,000 homes in NW Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

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The Evergreen Team did a fabulous job and was very tuned and responsive to the particular needs we had. The job was done right on budget and we are thrilled with the improved warmth and energy efficiency.

Ira M.

Rockland

The Evergreen team was amazing from initial assessment and planning to the crew that came to complete the work. Our basement encapsulation is the best money we've spent on our house by far. The work was thorough and high quality. And what a wonderful group of people to work with. I highly recommend Evergreen!

Martha Bracy

I never leave reviews, but had a great experience with Evergreen and wanted to spread the word! In short, we worked with them to insulate our roof this winter and have noticed surprising immediate results. The constant ice dams I have wrestled with are completely gone, and the home is noticeably more comfortable. It's a little too early to tell if our oil bill is going to reduce, but I imagine we will see an impact there as well.

Joel W.

Portland

A thorough inspection of our (older) house and its energy needs. Competent and personable work crew.

Jacob Watson

The Evergreen crew who installed insulation in my attic were fantastic! They were very professional, worked exceedingly hard, and they did an excellent job. They were very pleasant and friendly to be around. They cleaned up beautifully after each work day, and left my home in great shape on when they walked out the door for the last time. I can't believe they were able to accomplish all that they did with heat soaring into the 80s and 90s. It was pretty unbearable up there! They have my highest praise and my gratitude.

Cynthia F.

South Portland

"Working with Evergreen from start to finish was a great experience." See what our customers have to say about their experience with Evergreen Home Performance. 

Jeff L.

I was extremely pleased with the professionalism and quality of service that I received from the Evergreen team. I met Richard to discuss options for insulation. I knew immediately that I wanted to do business with them because he did not try to over-sell extra services that I did not need. Dave was the project manager. He was not only kind, but very respectful of my home. I would highly recommend this company.

Darlyann M

Bath

Our house still the most efficient home we’ve ever lived in. And we have you folks to thank for that! A special howdy to Brian Robinson please!

Bruce O’Donal and Eva Butler

Bryan, Dave and the entire Evergreen team are wonderfully professional, prompt and thorough. I enjoyed working with them and look forward to continued work as we upgrade our home! Thank you so much for your professionalism, fairness, time and diligence.

Cait

Yarmouth

We had a fantastic experience working with Evergreen to insulate our roof this winter. Everyone was extremely friendly throughout the process - the crew at our home worked hard, were approachable with questions, and the team leader even showed me around the project to point out specific areas they were working to improve.

Joel Wentz

We initially contacted Evergreen through Efficiency Maine for an energy audit, which was conducted promptly and professionally by Justin McEdward, one of their Energy Advisors who is BPI-certified. After a thorough inspection of our newly purchased home, Justin explained in great detail what we needed and did not need. It was agreed that Evergreen would remove all of the existing attic insulation, which was not adequate, and replace it with blown in cellulose, to a rating of R-60.

Thomas W.

Scarborough

I made the mistake of NOT hiring this company last year when I bought and renovated my home. I have brought them in now and what a difference. This group knows what they are doing. They take a complete look at everything and believe they can make your home more energy efficient. They are very professional in the way they approach problems and solutions. And they find ways to save me money. Don't bother with anyone else. Bring Evergreen in before you do anything. Let them assess your issues and give you the right solutions.

Shaw

Owls Head

We had Evergreen redo the insulation in our roof. The team handling our project did a great job. They left the house spotless. We've already noticed the difference in how much better our house is retaining heat. I would definitely recommend and will use them for future projects.

Ffej C.

South Portland

Very easy process, start to finish.  Friendly, professional, and really know their stuff.  They made some improvements to our condo and we were very happy with how it played out.  Would definitely recommend them.

Clayton Eames

The crew members from Evergreen Home Performance each made sure to greet us every day, while maintaining their distance in this time of the pandemic. Their work took a total of nine days, spread over three weeks. Even though they were working in multiple rooms of our house, as well as the basement and attic, they were unobtrusive and always cleaned up after themselves every day. The on-sight manager kept us informed of their daily schedule so we'd know which parts of the house they'd be working on.

Bob & Sue

Whitefield

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