Evaluation plan for the Weatherization Assistance Program

Abstract

The most recent national evaluation of the impacts of the US Department of Energy (DOE)'s Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) was completed in 1984 based on consumption data for households weatherized in 1981. WAP regulations and operations have changed substantially over the last decade, and new opportunities are on the horizon. DOE recognizes the need for a more current national level evaluation of the program and has developed a plan for conducting the evaluation with the support of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The national WAP evaluation as currently proposed has seven major goals: (1) estimate the energy saved by the program -- one, two, and three years after participation; (2) assess nonenergy impacts, such as comfort, safety, and housing affordability; (3) assess program cost effectiveness; (4) analyze factors which influence energy savings, nonenergy impacts, and cost effectiveness; (5) describe the WAP network's capabilities and the innovative weatherization technologies and procedures it has employed; (6) characterize the WAP-eligible population and the federal and non-federal funds that haven been used to meet its weatherization needs; and, (7) identify promising WAP opportunities for the future. The data collection, analyses, and reports are to be completed in phases between 1991 and 1993. Themore » evaluation methodologies vary by fuel type, housing type, and climate zone. The analysis of energy savings and cost effectiveness will be based primarily on weather-normalized, retrospective utility billing records (collected for pre- and postretrofit years). 12 refs., 8 figs.« less