Evaluating the Weatherization Assistance Program in Your State: A Manager's Guide

Abstract

Evaluations of the Weatherization Assistance Program (the Program) serve three major purposes: (1) to document the energy savings and cost effectiveness of the Program, (2) to attract and maintain funding, and (3) to identify opportunities for improving the Program's performance. State managers need detailed and specific information about the performance of their own Program if they are to conduct and market it as effectively as possible. In this evaluation guide, we focus almost entirely on the issues related to the measurement of energy savings. Because the Program's main goal is to reduce the energy use and energy burden of low-income households, the minimum output of an evaluation study should be an estimate of energy savings. If resources are limited, the first priority is to obtain this estimate of savings. Some states may be interested in other issues such as determining Program cost effectiveness, testing the value of various audit types, or identifying the best opportunities for increasing energy savings. Because of limited resources, most will focus only on measuring energy savings.