What surprises me most about ECAD audits is how many homeowners call us worried that their house is going to “fail.”
That is not what an ECAD Energy Audit is.
A residential ECAD audit is primarily a disclosure. It gives a potential buyer a snapshot of several energy-efficiency characteristics of an Austin home as it exists today. It is not a pass-or-fail inspection, and the ECAD ordinance does not require a homeowner to make energy-efficiency improvements because of what the audit finds.
I have been performing ECAD audits in Austin since the ordinance began in 2009. I started Green Austin Energy Audits specifically to provide this service, and since then we have completed well over 3,000 ECAD audits.
After doing that many, one thing has become very clear: you usually cannot tell how energy efficient a house is just by looking at its age, appearance, or what the homeowner believes has been done to it.
What Does ECAD Stand For?
ECAD stands for Energy Conservation Audit and Disclosure.
For residential properties, the City of Austin’s ECAD ordinance requires certain home sellers to have an energy audit performed and disclose the results to prospective buyers during the real estate transaction. Austin Energy administers the program.
The important word there is disclosure.
The purpose is to give the buyer information about the home’s existing energy-efficiency characteristics. It is similar to taking an energy-efficiency snapshot of the house at the time of the audit.
It does not mean the house passes or fails.
Does an ECAD Audit Require You to Make Repairs?
No.
This is probably the biggest misconception I hear from homeowners.
People sometimes call expecting us to identify thousands of dollars of mandatory repairs before they can sell their house. That is not how residential ECAD works.
The report may recommend improvements such as duct sealing, additional insulation, solar shading, or replacing older HVAC equipment. Those recommendations become part of the information disclosed to the buyer, but the residential ECAD ordinance does not require the seller to complete those improvements.
I tell homeowners to think of the report as information rather than a punch list.
Who Needs an ECAD Energy Audit in Austin?
Generally, a residential ECAD audit may be required when a home is being sold and all three of the following apply:
- The home is at least 10 years old.
- The property is located inside the Austin city limits.
- The property receives electricity from Austin Energy.
Austin Energy confirms those three basic requirements and also treats residential properties as buildings with four or fewer dwelling units.
Being an Austin Energy customer alone does not automatically mean you need an ECAD audit. Austin Energy serves some homes outside the Austin city limits, and those properties are not subject to the residential ECAD requirement.
There are also several exemptions, including certain qualifying Austin Energy efficiency improvements, manufactured homes, and specific types of property transfers. Because exemptions can change, I recommend checking Austin Energy’s current exemption information rather than relying on an old checklist.
Before You Pay for an ECAD Audit, Make Sure You Actually Need One
This is something I feel strongly about.
Before we schedule an ECAD audit, I personally check the property through Austin Energy’s ECAD Residential Status Portal to make sure the home actually needs an audit. Austin Energy provides the portal specifically for homeowners and real estate professionals to check a property’s current ECAD compliance status.
We never want someone paying us $175 for a service they do not need.
After doing this for years, I would estimate that about 25% of the properties we check are either exempt or already have a valid ECAD audit on file.
That is a surprisingly large number.
An ECAD audit remains valid for 10 years, so if the house was audited during a previous sale within that period, you generally do not need to pay for another one. Austin Energy confirms that residential ECAD audits satisfy the audit requirement for 10 years.
That is why checking the status should be one of the first steps.
What Does an ECAD Energy Audit Actually Inspect?
An ECAD audit contains a combination of visual inspection, documentation, measurements, and duct performance testing.
During a typical residential ECAD audit, we look at things such as window shading, attic insulation, ductwork, exterior door seals, plumbing penetrations, attic access points, HVAC equipment, water heating equipment, water-saving devices, and other required information.
One of the most useful parts of the audit is the duct leakage test. We connect testing equipment to the HVAC system and measure how much conditioned air is escaping through leaks in the duct system.
Austin Energy’s current description of the residential audit specifically includes measuring attic insulation, pressure-testing the duct system, examining HVAC equipment, checking weatherstripping and air-sealing locations, and evaluating windows receiving significant direct sunlight.
What Can Trigger Recommendations?
There are specific conditions in the ECAD reporting process that can result in recommendations.
For example, we have to recommend duct sealing when the duct system tests above 10% leakage. Insulation is recommended when the attic insulation level is below R-22.
Window conditions and solar exposure are also evaluated. If qualifying windows do not have low-E protection and receive more than an hour of direct sunlight per day, solar shading may be recommended.
Older HVAC equipment is also identified. Systems more than 10 years old can generate an HVAC upgrade recommendation.
Again, these are recommendations, not required repairs.
A Real ECAD Audit Example
A recent audit we completed is a good example of why the report can provide useful information without necessarily telling you everything about the house.
This was a 1993 Austin home of approximately 2,794 square feet with two HVAC systems. The attic averaged about R-22 insulation, and the two duct systems tested at 14% and 12% leakage.
Because the duct leakage exceeded 10%, duct sealing was recommended.
The home also had one air conditioner dating back to 1994 and another from 2022.
The resulting report recommended duct improvements and an HVAC efficiency upgrade while showing no recommendation for additional attic insulation or window shading.
That is a pretty typical example of what ECAD is supposed to do: document what is there and give the buyer useful data.
Homeowners Are Often Wrong About How Their House Will Perform
This works both ways.
I regularly audit homes where the owner tells me everything has been upgraded and the house should perform great. Then we test the ducts and find substantial leakage or discover much less attic insulation than expected.
I also see the opposite.
Owners of older Austin homes sometimes apologize before we even start and tell me their house is probably going to look terrible on the report.
Then I get into the attic, inspect everything, perform the duct test, and find that the house is actually in pretty good shape.
Age alone does not tell you everything.
That is one reason I like having actual measurements rather than assumptions.
What Happens During the ECAD Appointment?
For most of the homes we audit, we are onsite for about an hour. I usually ask customers to budget approximately an hour and 15 minutes just in case.
Larger or more complicated homes can take longer. Austin Energy’s general guidance estimates approximately one hour per 1,000 square feet, although our actual field time on many typical homes is shorter.
The homeowner does not need to be there.
In fact, a lot of the homes we audit are vacant.
We simply need a way to get inside. That could be a door code, lockbox, key arrangement, or Supra lockbox access.
We need access to the HVAC equipment, furnace or air-handler closet, water heater, attic, and any room containing a supply-air register because of the duct leakage testing.
What Happens After the Audit?
Once we finish the onsite portion, we complete the ECAD report, review the information for accuracy, send the report to whoever requested the audit, and submit the required information to Austin Energy.
We typically turn our residential ECAD reports around the same day.
The seller should then provide the report to their real estate agent so it can be properly disclosed to the buyer.
Current Austin Energy guidance says the results must be provided at least three days before the end of the option period. If there is no option period, the disclosure is made at the time of contract signing.
I always recommend getting the audit scheduled early enough that nobody is scrambling against a real estate deadline.
How Much Does an ECAD Audit Cost?
Green Austin Energy Audits currently charges $175 for a residential ECAD audit on a home with one central HVAC system.
The price increases when the home has more than one HVAC system because each additional system adds inspection and testing work.
ECAD auditors set their own prices. Austin Energy currently estimates about $200 to $300 for a typical home of 1,800 square feet or less with one air-conditioning system, so pricing varies by auditor.
Why Reviewing the Report Matters
I have occasionally seen ECAD reports from other companies with data that obviously does not make sense.
I have seen insulation entries showing absurdly high depths—thousands of inches—or zero insulation in homes where that would be extremely unlikely.
I do not automatically assume someone is doing bad work when I see that.
Everyone makes mistakes.
Auditors are entering a lot of information into tablets while moving around a house, attic, and mechanical equipment. It is easy to click the wrong field or enter the wrong number. Sometimes a field can simply be misunderstood.
The important part is reviewing your work before submitting it.
If a report says an attic has 6,000 inches of insulation, something should trigger you to go back and check that number.
Errors can also be corrected.
The bigger service complaints I hear from homeowners are often more basic: they scheduled another company that never showed up, or the company completed the appointment and the homeowner never received the report.
During a real estate transaction, reliability matters.
Is an ECAD Audit the Same as a Comprehensive Home Energy Audit?
No, and this is another distinction I want homeowners to understand.
An ECAD audit provides some very useful data.
Knowing that your ducts leak 20%, your attic has R-15 insulation, or your air conditioner is 20 years old tells us something important about the house.
But ECAD stops well short of a comprehensive home-performance evaluation.
If someone calls me because their upstairs is always hot, one bedroom never cools, the house is humid, the AC runs constantly, or their electric bills seem unusually high, I want to go much deeper.
A comprehensive evaluation may include blower-door testing for whole-house air infiltration, airflow measurements at individual registers, static-pressure testing, infrared imaging, more detailed attic inspection, duct design evaluation, and looking for problems with the relationship between the HVAC system and the building envelope.
ECAD is not designed to diagnose all of that.
ECAD Is Primarily a Disclosure Audit
After performing more than 3,000 ECAD audits since 2009, this is probably the simplest way I can explain it:
An ECAD audit is a useful energy-efficiency snapshot of the home, but its primary purpose is compliance with Austin’s ECAD disclosure ordinance.
It can absolutely uncover duct leakage, inadequate insulation, old equipment, poor solar shading, and other opportunities for improvement.
But if your house is uncomfortable right now, do not wait until you are selling it to find out why.
And do not expect an ECAD audit to provide the same level of diagnosis as a comprehensive home-performance evaluation.
If you are selling a home and are not sure whether you need a residential ECAD audit in Austin, the first step should be checking the property’s ECAD status. If an audit is required, we can verify that before you spend any money, complete the onsite inspection, and typically provide the finished report the same day.
