Many Austin homes fail energy audit

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Austin Energy finds 86 percent of homes failed their mandatory energy audits.

The new city ordinance requires residents with homes 10 years or older and want to sell their house to get a clean energy audit.

Energy auditors inspected 310 homes recently. Inspectors discovered 86 percent of the homes had flawed duct systems. The current rule requires ducts to not leak more than 10 percent of the cooling or heating air flow into the attics.

Mary Claire Gerwels is selling her mother's home. The house is almost 50 years old.

"Just one more thing that we needed to deal with," said Gerwels. "We were worried when they were going to do the audit, so many things would come up, that it would scare off buyers."

David Malone with 1st Choice Energy inspected the windows, insulation, air filtration and duct work. In the end, he recommended a checklist of green improvements.

"Those homes are built under a different set of codes than built today," said David Malone, 1st Choice Energy Owner. "It's only going to be expected that virtually all the houses are not going to meet the recommendations that are currently in place."

Cindy Walsh is a real estate agent who supports energy audits. But she thinks mandatory audits for homes 10 years or older should have been postponed in this tough housing market.

"What about the poor person that doesn't have the thousand, two thousand, three thousand to go in and have the repairs done?" said Walsh.

As for Gerwels' mother's home, Gerwels quickly made the improvements.

"They were going to rework things, put up some more vents, because it wasn't safe," said Gerwels. "I was thinking 'Oh gosh! Tell me how much that's going to be.'"

But after city rebates, the cost turned out to be only $300.

"The overall bill was very small," said Gerwels.

The house went on the market in late May and sold in just five days.

Gerwels actually used the new improvements to her advantage.

"It turned out to be not something to worry about," said Gerwels.

Austin City Council passed the The Energy Conservation Audit and Disclosure Ordinance requiring clean energy audits November 2008. The goal was part of the Austin Climate Protection Plan to reduce carbon emissions and to improve the energy efficiency of homes and buildings.

The ordinance also required energy audits for apartment complexes and requires commercial buildings 10 years old or older to determine an energy rating. The clean energy ordinance took effect June 1, 2009.

A clean energy audit costs around $300 and lasts 10 years. Homeowners could face criminal charges if they do not get an audit.

Homeowners are not required to make any improvements once they get an energy audit.

Visit Austin Energy Web site for additional information on energy-efficiency programs and details on the ECAD ordinance.

Watch the home energy audit: