With the higher cost of home energy, homeowners have become conscious of their home energy efficiency. As a consequence they are looking for ways to reduce their homes energy consumption and save on their utility bills. Seeking out a professional energy audit is a choice a growing number of people are making when deciding to lower their homes energy usage. Unfortunately finding a professional to do such audits is often very difficult to find.

The original energy auditing program dating back to some time in the 1970s is the Home Energy Rating System now revised and referred to as the HERS index. This system is strictly for homes that are currencly in the construction phase, not existing homes. The system works off a standard or Reference Home based on the 2006 International Energy Conservation Code. A home is "rated" on a 0 -100 scale. 100 being the Reference Home score, the lower the score the more efficient the home.

The HERS index is an integral part of the DOE, EPA Energy Star program. New homes that score either 80 or 85 depending on climate zone are considered Energy Star homes. This is a great tool for home buyers seeking energy efficient new homes (not necessarily "green" however).

The problem is the HERS index is not designed for existing homes. With approximately over 80 million homes in this country built prior to 1980 this represents a large home demographic that can not effectively benefit from this home energy auditing efficiency system. Older homes would obviously score low on the HERS index. With this current rating system, what advantage is there for the average home owner?