Just over a year ago, Tay River Homesmiths (that’s us) became one of the participating contractors with the New Jersey Home Performance with Energy Star (NJHPwES) program. There’s a program rebate page link on the right. A lot of people haven’t heard of the program, so the purpose of this post is to review the program and our role in it.
The primary objective of NJHPwES is to reduce energy usage in existing homes across the state. To that end, almost all homes in NJ qualify to receive rebates for certain energy reducing measures, including air-sealing, insulation, air conditioners, furnaces, boilers, and water heaters. Contracting companies must be accredited and individuals within the company certified by the Building Performance Institute (BPI), which develops ” technical standards for home performance and weatherization retrofit work.”
For more information on current rebates, click the “NJ Home Performance Rebates” link on the upper right corner of this blog. As of this writing the maximum rebate is $5000 plus a $10,000/0% interest loan, which probably makes NJHPwES the most generous state rebate program in the country.
Overall our experience in the program has been very positive. We’re very interested in ‘systems-based’ evaluations of buildings, and good building science. Consequently, we’re probably a fairly good match for the program. However, people who view the program as a furnace and air conditioning rebate program will probably be disappointed. The program has strict quality control standards, and will enforce work standards that may appear unrelated to energy. For instance, NJHPwES insists (as do most building codes) that existing bathroom fans must be vented to the outdoors, and may not be vented into an attic. Now you may wonder
