Addressing Multifamily Buildings with a Consistent and Successful Methodology: The DOE WAP Multifamily Suite of Technical Resources

摘要

There are currently over 31 million units of multifamily housing across the United States.rnThis represents a huge untapped potential in the residential energy efficiency market. Upgradingrnthese properties presents unique challenges both technologically and logistically. ThernDepartment of Energy’s Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) has developed a suite ofrnmultifamily resources to help users approach this unique housing stock consistently andrnsuccessfully. The WAP benefits from the vast technical resource that is contained in the WAPrnnetwork of people. Trainers, program managers, and technical and field staff provide a constantrnfeedback loop on what’s working well in the program and what needs to be improved. Therninsights provided through this feedback loop have led to the comprehensive multifamily energyrnupgrade process being implemented by the program. The consistency of the WAP multifamilyrnprocess helps to address many investor and owner issues related to work quality and savingsrnoutcomes. Additionally, the WAP’s development of data gathering guidelines, a new multifamilyrnenergy audit tool, standard work specifications and multifamily job task analyses is creating arnsturdy foundation upon which to build the multifamily retrofit market. These innovativernresources, coupled with a consistent approach to completing projects allow the WAP network tornprovide insight and innovation that can assist the entire retrofit marketplace. This paper willrnoutline the WAP multifamily process, the technical tools and resources that have been developedrnto support the process and how the WAP model can be adapted to multifamily projectsrnthroughout the industry.