How the program works

FirstEnergy’s Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® - offered by Ohio Edison Company, The Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company, and The Toledo Edison Company - has created a network of independent home improvement contractors who are certified by the Building Performance Institute (BPI). BPI is a national resource for building science technology that sets standards for assessing and improving the energy performance, as well as the health and safety of homes. Each participating contractor has been trained in taking a whole-house approach when testing your home and identifying energy efficiency improvements. You can view a printable version (pdf) of this content.

You must be a current residential customer of Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company, or Toledo Edison to participate in the FirstEnergy Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® Program. The Program is administered through ICF International, a third-party vendor.

The Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® process is explained below, from the initial visit to your home, to installation of energy efficiency improvements, through to project completion. You will also learn what you can expect from your contractor, your responsibilities as a customer, and how to get additional information about moving forward.

Finding a BPI Certified Contractor
The Home Performance Assessment
The Customer Contract
Signing the Contract
Change Orders
Installation of Your Energy Efficiency Improvements
Final Tests and Closing Out the Job
Paying for the Work
Certificate of Completion
Follow-Up Work and Return Business
Ensuring Quality of Work
Quality Assurance Inspection

Finding a BPI Certified Contractor
To qualify for incentives through Home Performance with ENERGY STAR®, you must use a participating BPI Certified Contractor. BPI Certified Contractors have been trained to use the most advanced, state-of-the-art equipment to test your home and identify energy efficiency improvements.

The Home Performance Assessment
Your participating contractor will conduct a Home Performance Assessment, which can last up to three hours. The assessment provides you with valuable information regarding the existing condition of your home, and identifies areas where energy efficiency, comfort and safety improvements can and should be made.

The participating contractor will generally charge a fee for the Home Performance Assessment. This assessment fee can vary by contractor and location. In order to help reduce the cost of the assessment, Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company or Toledo Edison will provide the contractors with $125 to reduce the cost. When calling a contractor to schedule an assessment, ask what their net assessment fee is and whether they have deducted the $125 co-payment. If you choose to have another participating contractor perform the work, you may have to pay for the new contractor to perform a second assessment.

The Home Performance Assessment involves the following steps:

First, a Consultation - The Home Performance Assessment begins with a personal consultation. This may begin before the contractor even arrives at your home. When setting the appointment for the assessment, the contractor may request that you collect your home’s recent energy consumption – at least one year of consumption history will go a long way to help the contractor analyze your energy usage and the potential energy savings that you will enjoy from proposed energy efficiency measures.

Your certified contractor will sit down with you, gather additional information about your home’s day-to-day operation and discuss any areas of concern that you have (high energy bills, drafts, uneven temperatures, moisture damage, strange smells, etc.). This consultation will help your contractor focus the evaluation on addressing the concerns that you have discussed.

In addition, the contractor will provide you with a Customer Participation Form. This form asks you to verify your information (such as utility account number) and that you are using a participating BPI Certified Contractor for your home assessment. Your contractor must submit a copy of the Customer Participation Form to the Program Administrator. The assessment cannot begin until both you and your contractor have signed this document.
Next, the Inspection - This stage represents the bulk of the Home Performance Assessment. The contractor completes a visual inspection of the living space, attic, basement (or crawl spaces), and the exterior of the house. This is done to determine the amount and condition of your home’s insulation, as well as the age and condition of your windows, doors, heating and cooling equipment, water heater, and major appliances.

The contractor will also perform a number of instrumented tests using special diagnostic equipment. This equipment includes a blower door and an infrared camera, which help the contractor measure how much air is leaking from your home and where it’s leaking, as well as where your home needs additional insulation. Most importantly, your contractor will perform essential health and safety tests to determine whether the major combustion appliances (furnace or boiler, hot water tank and oven) in your home are operating safely. According to BPI health and safety standards, if these tests identify any potential threats in the home, the recommended health and safety repairs must be included in any work scope you choose.

You are encouraged to accompany the contractor as they perform the assessment so that they can keep you apprised of their findings, discuss how they relate to your concerns, and begin the process of helping you formulate a home performance improvement plan. During this stage, stay involved. Don't be afraid to ask questions.
Presentation of Recommendations - Using results from the Home Performance Assessment, your home performance contractor will explain what improvements can be made and will develop a proposal detailing the recommended improvements and the associated costs. Based on your discussions during the assessment, the contractor is very likely to develop and present a contract proposal during the initial assessment visit. You may, if you like, proceed directly to signing the contract proposal and filling out the participation form at this time (see The Customer Contract).
Finally, the Home Performance Assessment Report - About two weeks after completing the assessment, discussing recommendations, and helping you develop a home performance plan, the contractor will produce a report using home performance assessment software that has been specially designed for this purpose. The report will lay out a comprehensive set of recommendations, their cost (actual, proposed, or approximate) and the projected energy savings. The report will provide you with a good sense of the return on your home performance investment by calculating an estimated simple payback (in years) or a Savings-to-Investment Ratio. You will be able to see how the energy savings can help pay for the increased comfort, health and safety, and peace of mind your home performance project will deliver.

The estimated savings are based on the computer software’s simulation of your home’s performance in an average heating and cooling season for your area. Actual results will likely vary based on the severity of the weather, changes in your lifestyle or in the products you use in your home, fluctuations in energy prices, and other factors. This Comprehensive Home Assessment Report is yours to keep and share with friends, neighbors, and family members.

The Customer Contract
When you have decided on the improvements you want to implement, you will be presented with a written contract to review and sign. Check this contract carefully:

Make sure that all the work you want done is detailed, that everything you want to have installed is in the contract, and that there is nothing that you do not want, or do not understand, in the contract.
In general, the price offered should be a fixed price that cannot be changed without your written permission (see section Change Orders). Be sure the contract clearly states whether it is a fixed-price contract or an estimate.
The contract should cover payment terms, such as a down payment, installment payments, and when the final payment is due.
In order to deliver all of the recommended measures, your contractor may need to subcontract work to other companies. The Program only recognizes installation contracts between a customer and a participating BPI Certified Contractor for core measures such as insulation, air sealing, duct sealing, heating and cooling systems, and lighting. To meet the Program criteria, other contractors must either be subcontractors to your BPI Certified Contractor or participating BPI Certified Contractors, too. To verify their credentials, click here or call 1-866-SAVE-KWH.
Some of the contractor’s recommended measures may include purchasing one or more ENERGY STAR® appliances including refrigerators, freezers, clothes washers,
dishwashers, and dehumidifiers. You may purchase these appliances directly; however, to qualify for the Program rebate you must make the purchase within three months of your home assessment and receive documentation that they are eligible ENERGY STAR® appliances from the store where you purchased them. Rebates are only issued to customers who have had home performance assessments completed by a certified contractor of the Program.
If your contractor is performing other home performance measures on your behalf, you can ask them to forward your appliance purchase information to the program administrator, along with information about the work they are performing. If you aren't having work done by a participating contractor, you must fax your appliance purchase documentation to (330)865-3713 or mail to: Program Administrator, ICF International, 1650 West Market Street, Suite 30A, Akron, Ohio 44313.

IMPORTANT! Do not sign a contract with a contractor who does not perform a Home Performance Assessment. AND, never sign a contract before the contractor has presented you with a work scope that includes details of the work to be performed including the cost of the proposed work.

Signing the Contract
Read the contract thoroughly and ask questions. Make sure you understand all the terms and conditions of the contract and consider consulting with a professional (attorney, CPA, etc.) if necessary.

Only sign the contract after you have reviewed it thoroughly and are satisfied with the arrangement. Be sure your contractor provides you with a copy of the contract. Your contractor must submit a copy of the contract to the program administrator. No work can begin until both you and your contractor have signed this document and the job scope has been reviewed. At this time, you should also discuss with your contractor the expected start and completion dates of the project.

Change Orders
The work scope may change during the course of the job. Some causes of these changes include the following:

The customer decides to add or remove something from the work scope.
The contractor discovers a problem.
An opportunity for additional improvements presents itself during construction or installation.

For example, your insulation contractor may discover potential fire hazards or an open chimney chase while insulating and air sealing an attic. Or, the heating contractor may find a pipe leak while replacing a boiler. A change in the work scope is called a Change Order. The contractor will give you a signed copy of the change order and provide the program administrator with a copy. Be sure you fully understand the impact before you agree to the change. The program requires that, unless warranted by special circumstances such as health and safety or lack of heat during the winter, change orders should be signed, dated, and submitted before the new measures are installed – and before any financing or incentives are released.

Installation of Your Energy Efficiency Improvements
At the time you sign your contract, you and your contractor should arrange a time for work to begin and estimate the date it will be completed. It is strongly recommended that, at a minimum, you arrange to meet with the contractor at the beginning of each day before work begins, and at the end of the day to review work progress to ensure that all terms of the contract are being fulfilled. These meetings will allow you to follow the work progress and help you better understand the impact the work will have on your home. Being involved is particularly important if a heating or cooling system is being installed. This will give you the opportunity to see how the system operates and to learn what type of maintenance is recommended. Be aware that as the work is being performed, the normal routine of your household may be disrupted. Also, it is recommended that cleanup of work areas be included in the contract.

Final Tests and Closing Out the Job
The energy efficiency work performed on your home will often result in your home being more airtight. To ensure that the increased air tightness does not cause air quality or combustion health and safety problems, your home performance contractor is required to repeat the tests performed during the Home Performance Assessment. This process is referred to as Pre- and Post-Testing or Test-In/Test-Out. It is a requirement of the program that these tests be completed and recommended that you be present during the tests. On rare occasions, the Test-Out process will reveal conditions that do not meet the program's health, safety, and technical requirements. Should this be the case, your home performance contractor will recommend modifications to bring your home into compliance with program standards. These modifications are usually performed before a Job Completion Form is signed.

By signing the Job Completion Form, you are agreeing that the work on your project has been completed to your satisfaction. DO NOT sign the Job Completion Form until the work (original work scope and change orders) is completed to your satisfaction.

Paying for the Work
Once you sign the Job Completion Form, your final payment becomes due under the terms and conditions of most contracts. Please pay your contractor promptly.

Certificate of Completion
After you sign the Job Completion Form, the contractor will send it in to the program administrator, who will review the Test-Out results and verify their acceptability under BPI and program standards. If the program administrator approves the job as complete, a Certificate of Completion will be issued to you to officially document that you participated in the program and that the installation is complete. At the same time, the program will request that your customer incentive check be issued. The incentive check will arrive about six weeks after you have received the Certificate of Completion.

Follow-Up Work and Return Business
Remember, in the long run, a comprehensive plan for energy improvements including insulation, sealing air leaks, and an efficient heating or cooling system, is usually the best approach to making your home energy efficient, comfortable, safe, and durable. The Home Performance Assessment Report is likely to have recommendations that you are not able to follow right away. Don’t worry! As long as the program is active and you haven’t exhausted your program lifetime rebate cap of $1,250, you will be able to participate. For instance, if you do work now and receive $650 in rebates, you can do additional work on your home and earn up to an additional $600 in rebates in a second phase.

Ensuring Quality of Work
Participating contractors will provide you with a written warranty on labor and materials for a minimum of one (1) year from the date the service is performed. Equipment installed will carry the manufacturer's warranty and any optional extended-warranty coverage that you select.

Neither FirstEnergy (including its operating companies and affiliates), nor the Program administrator warrants the products and/or services of participating contractors, nor are they responsible or liable for any work performed by participating contractors, their subcontractors, or their suppliers. Participating contractors are independent home improvement contractors. Customers are responsible for dealing directly with participating contractors about quality and workmanship concerns, and not FirstEnergy or its operating companies and affiliates.

Quality Assurance Inspection
An important aspect of the program is that approximately 15% of all jobs are inspected by an independent third party retained by the program. This provides a very strong measure of oversight, feedback and consumer protection by helping the program ascertain whether the contractor is following BPI and program standards, fulfilling contracts, and performing work satisfactorily. The inspection is, of course, free to the customer. If you would like to receive this free Quality Assurance Inspection, please call 1-866-SAVE-KWH to make this request.

Participating contractors, click here to access ICF's secured contractor Web site.

(02/20/08)