- Building Components – In a high-performance home, all the building components work together as an integrated system to maximize comfort, efficiency, and durability. The insulation, air sealing, ventilation, heating and cooling equipment, and even windows and doors must be properly balanced, when one part changes, it affects the others. This whole-home approach ensures consistent temperatures, good indoor air quality, and long-term energy savings.
What is Home Performance?
- Building Science Principles – Building science is the foundation of high-performance homes, it focuses on how heat, air, and moisture move through a building and interact with its materials and systems. By applying these principles, professionals design homes that maintain consistent temperatures, manage humidity, and ensure healthy indoor air. The result is a more comfortable, durable, and energy-efficient home that performs as a cohesive system.
- Laws of Thermodynamics – High-performance homes are designed with the laws of thermodynamics in mind, especially how heat naturally moves from warm areas to cool ones. By adding insulation, sealing air leaks, and using efficient equipment, these homes control that heat flow, keeping warmth in during winter and out during summer. This smart design reduces energy waste and keeps your home consistently comfortable.
Home Performance Process
Understanding the order in which you do a home performance retrofit is very important to keep the upgrades cost-effective and to maximize comfort, energy bill savings, and resiliency of the home. Your Home Performance Contractor will identify the best path forward using technical data gathered at your home assessment.
What to expect from our HPG professionals:
- Start with a whole home assessment and/or home energy audit.
- Get a fair estimate or bid for the recommended upgrades.
- Schedule and perform the upgrades within an agreed upon timeframe and budget.
- Enjoy a healthier, more comfortable, and more energy-efficient home.
- Make sure to submit your upgrades for federal and/or state tax credits.
Financial Assistance for Home Performance Retrofits
Incentives & Rebates – Upgrading your home’s energy efficiency doesn’t just save energy—it can also save you money upfront. In Oregon, homeowners can take advantage of a variety of incentives and rebates for improvements like insulation, heat pumps, air sealing, and solar energy systems. Programs through Energy Trust of Oregon, local utilities, and state and federal initiatives help offset project costs, making it easier and more affordable to create a comfortable, healthy, and energy-efficient home. HPG members can help you identify which rebates you qualify for and guide you through the process from start to finish.
Income-qualified Programs – In Oregon, some programs help low‑income homeowners make energy efficiency upgrades to their homes.
These initiatives can provide financial assistance, covering part or all of the cost for improvements like insulation, air sealing, and efficient heating or cooling systems.
By taking advantage of these programs, income‑qualified homeowners can reduce energy bills, increase comfort, and make their homes healthier and more efficient.