When people ask for your elevator pitch about your business, you tell them you’re an insulation or plumbing or HVAC contractor.
But now, you have another option—home-performance professional.
Home performance is an umbrella term for whole-house energy solutions, and it’s a key aspect of the federal Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Two IRA programs—Home Efficiency Rebates (HER, formerly HOMES) and Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates (HEAR)—offer single-family or multifamily homeowners $8.8 billion in rebates for home energy projects and purchases of ENERGY STAR® equipment and appliances.
HER in particular rewards whole-house energy retrofits, with rebates only available for projects that reduce a home’s energy use by at least 20%. And that’s where home-performance specialists can have a big impact.
The idea behind home performance is that a home is a system in which all parts work together to improve energy efficiency. For example, replacing an old HVAC unit with a high-efficiency heat pump won’t be as effective if the building also needs more insulation.
That’s why home performance professionals not only include contractors who specialize in energy auditing, but also HVAC, insulation and plumbing contractors. Plumbers can install energy-efficient tankless or heat-pump water heaters. Insulation contractors can weatherize an entire building. And HVAC contractors can install air-source heat pumps for the most efficient home heating and cooling.
While there are certifications available for home-performance contractors, there’s also an easier and highly effective way to expand your business into the home-performance realm—through energy-efficiency auditing software like SnuggPro.
A multifaceted approach
Snugg Pro can help contractors become a one-stop shop for home-performance services—from energy assessments to energy-efficient equipment sales and installation. Here’s how.
- Snugg Pro energy auditing features allow you to generate reports that clearly detail how the products you’re recommending will save energy and cut costs. For example, an HVAC contractor could show a homeowner the cost-benefit analysis of installing different systems—including providing actual numbers illustrating how a more expensive system might be the best option because it lowers utility bills the most. Snugg Pro is calibrated to the home’s utility bill, so the savings projections it delivers are more accurate than some other types of energy-auditing software.
- Snugg Pro’s comfort, health and safety features help you educate clients about key building improvements that go beyond energy efficiency and financial motivations, adding another reason to work with you on system upgrades.
- Snugg Pro’s integrated programming management helps you simplify jobs and increase performance and efficiency as you expand your business. For example, Snugg Pro’s real-time and multi-user collaboration function allows you to view all colleagues’ jobs in one place at one time. The live tracking function shows stage changes and other important milestones in a job’s progress. You can also instant in-job message and exchange files with program admins.
Along with contractors, Snugg Pro also benefits Community Action Agencies. By adding energy auditing to your toolkit, you can participate in IRA-funded programs.
The IRA is increasing awareness of whole-home energy performance, and this offers unprecedented possibilities for a variety of contractors. Snugg Pro can help you capitalize on this opportunity and grow your business now and for years into the future. Learn more about Snugg Pro to start the next chapter of your business’ growth.