The Ultimate Energy Efficiency Testing: IDEAL Blower Door Testing

Leader in Energy Efficiency

Ideal Homes & Neighborhoods wrote the book on energy-efficient new homes and it’s a claim we back up with our Energy Advantage Certified Homes program - the only in Oklahoma. For the first three years that you own your new Ideal home*, your heating and cooling usage is guaranteed not to exceed a set amount each year. If for some reason it does exceed that amount you can even get reimbursed for the difference.

The HERS® Score

Your energy efficiency rating is called a HERS® (Home Energy Rating System) Score. That score is achieved through specialized testing and expert analysis both during the construction phase and after the home is built.

Quick Facts 

• The HERS® Score was developed and overseen by RESNET (Residential Energy Services Network), a non-profit organization that develops national standards for rating and certifying home energy efficiency.
• The HERS® Score is the nationally recognized system for inspecting and calculating a home’s energy performance according to RESNET.
• The testing to determine your Ideal home’s HERS® Score is conducted by a third party and calculated with a Blower Door Test on the house and ductwork as well as other energy-efficiency factors.
• Think of a HERS® Score like a golf score. In this case, a HERS® Score of 100 is par. The goal is to score well below par!

At Ideal Homes & Neighborhoods, we partner with Home Energy Response Squad, LLC, an Oklahoma-based company led by Jeremiah Bryant. Along with being a leader in residential energy efficiency, Jeremiah also the education to back up his work.

“I always joke that I'm the only insulation contractor that ever got a Ph.D. in Physics,” Jeremiah said. He earned his doctorate at Indiana University while running a commercial insulation company.

In addition, Jeremiah has spent the last 12 years on the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) Committee in Oklahoma where he’s been instrumental in evaluating and writing new building codes for the state.

It’s with a longstanding career in residential construction, building codes and policies, and a theoretical understanding of disciplines like thermodynamics, building science, heat transfer, and energy modeling that Jeremiah approaches every Ideal home.

What is Blower Door Testing?

The Blower Door Test measures inefficient and accidental airflow in and out of a house by measuring air pressure. If the house is drafty then it's sure to be too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. At the other extreme, if the home is too tightly sealed then it's destined to feel humid or keep unhealthy particles trapped inside the home. 

Like Goldilocks and her three bear friends, the goal here is just right.

The Technical Side

• Pascal: the unit of measurement for air pressure
• CFM: cubic feet per minute, or the measurement of airflow
• 50 Pascals: the testing benchmark used throughout North America for measuring air pressure. That’s essentially the air pressure of a home with 20-mph winds pushing on it. (especially appropriate to test in Oklahoma!)

During the Blower Door Test, Jeremiah and his team make sure the house is all closed up, and then the front door is sealed with a large plastic frame that holds a powerful fan. The fan is connected to a manometer, a device that measures air pressure. 

“We use the fan to pull air out of the house until the house’s interior pressure is at 50 pascals. That's when we begin the test. We’re looking at how many cubic feet of air we have to move out of the house to maintain that pressure. Once we have that number, we take into account the geographical elevation and specifics within the house like ceiling height,” Jeremiah explained.

A second, similar test is run on the home’s ductwork. Once again, the test is determining the leakiness of the ductwork. The adjusted Blower Door Test scores on both the door and ductwork play an integral role in assigning the HERS® Score.

If that seems really complicated, think about it like this: Imagine trying to keep a pool floatie with a tiny leak afloat. You’d have to keep blowing air to maintain the right firmness…and floatiness. The bigger the leak, the harder you’d have to work. That’s what the blower door test shows — how much air your “floatie” (your home) is letting slip out.

Checking our work

While these tests will be used to determine the HERS® Score, at Ideal Homes & Neighborhoods, the test is also our last chance to check our work. Unlike many builders, we use the Blower Door Test as a diagnostic test. It’s the real-world example of the proofs our math teachers made us turn in with our homework.

If Jeremiah and his team determine there’s too much airflow, it means our contractors need to go through the house and find the cause. Is a window seal not quite right? Maybe the gap below the back door is a millimeter too large?

On the other hand, Jeremiah might come back and say the house has been built too tight and the future homeowners could struggle with poor air quality. In that case, we need to make sure the house can breathe in enough fresh air.

Once adjustments are made, Jeremiah and his team come out and conduct the test again, and assign the HERS® Score .

This process is one of many internal systems Ideal Homes & Neighborhoods uses to maintain our high standard of excellence. Jeremiah is an independent third party and says, "Even though Ideal pays me, I am licensed and regulated by the mortgage industry, and I work for you – the person buying the home.”

In short, we don’t get a low HERS® Score unless we meet Jeremiah’s recommendations. It’s a roadblock and a safeguard we put in place intentionally. 

Throughout the Build

The day of the Blower Door Test is not the first time Jeremiah and his team set foot in each new Ideal home*. They visit and assess for energy efficiency issues throughout the construction process beginning all the way at the framing stage.

“We’re evaluating things like insulation, framing, and whether the windows were installed correctly. Our goal is to have as few variables to address at the Blower Door Test and to course correct along the way,” Jeremiah said. 

The Blower Door Test is one of many variables that Jeremiah takes into consideration, all feeding into an energy modeling system. Other variables include: the thickness of the slab, window size and orientation, and the length of soffits over each window. 

“What we are doing is understanding every house, that it is healthy, comfortable, and energy efficient, we’re looking at each house individually. That house. Your house,” said Jeremiah.

Our Commitment to Energy Efficiency by the Numbers

Ideal Homes & Neighborhoods is the most nationally recognized local builder in Oklahoma for energy efficiency. In fact, for nearly two decades, we’ve worked with the U.S. Department of Energy to test the latest and most innovative building technologies. We’re also the only Oklahoma builder to guarantee heating and cooling usage through the Energy Advantage program.

Put that together with the processes we’ve put in place around Blower Door Testing and it’s easy to see why Ideal homes’ HERS® Scores average about 40% better than a typical new home and 53% better than a typical used home.

Plot Twist: None of this is required

You may have been reading this and wondering why we’re so proud of a process that is surely routine, required even, by building codes and laws.

No. HERS® Scores and Blower Door Testing are not required. Ideal Homes & Neighborhoods is among a small number of Oklahoma home builders who test every home.

Jeremiah has seen firsthand builders who’ve wanted to work with him in the same capacity as he does with Ideal. Many learn about the cost, commitment, and processes, and choose not to.

“I’ve watched Ideal keep their commitment to this process of energy-efficient design, construction, and securing HERS® Scores through the years. They've maintained it through all types of economic shifts in the home construction market.”

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Interested in finding your own Energy Advantage Certified new home  in Edmond, Norman, Stillwater, and beyond? Learn more about the program at idealhomes.com/ideal-innovation

*Excluding homes in Pine Creek and Dow's Hills communities due to customizations such as taller ceilings and more windows.