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City expands HEERD home‑energy assessments into wraparound services and enforcement push
Summary
Jarell Wiley, Ann Arbor community energy official, said the city is adding 'wraparound' services to HEERD home‑energy assessments to connect homeowners with advisers, rebates and contractors; staff also aim for high benchmarking compliance and new commercial support to turn data into upgrades.
Jarell Wiley, community energy official with the Office of Sustainability and Innovations, said the city is expanding its home‑energy assessment and disclosure program (HEERD) with new wraparound services that connect homeowners to advisers, contractors, rebates and financing so assessments lead to actual upgrades.
"Wraparound services for HEERD is just building on the foundation of what the HEERD assessment already provides," Wiley said. He described a home energy adviser program that walks homeowners through next steps — from an assessment to choosing contractors and funding options — and said staff have identified more than 500 homeowners who could benefit from those services.
Wiley said the HEERD requirement applies to properties listed for sale and produces a report with a score and details (mechanicals, insulation, windows and estimated energy use). He said the wraparound services will also allow staff to measure whether HEERD assessments lead to upgrades and to close the gap between awareness and implementation.
On benchmarking and commercial buildings, Wiley said the city recently reached about a 90% compliance rate and has hired a commercial sustainability analyst to translate benchmarking data into actionable incentives, technical guidance and program connections for building owners.
Wiley highlighted a large multifamily demonstration, Colonial Square, where the city and partners aim to capture incentives and tax credits to reduce costs and make larger retrofits more feasible for residents. He said the city partners with DTE on some pilot projects and that project financing commonly leverages federal and state tax incentives.
During audience Q&A Wiley said individual HEERD reports are available on the city’s HEERD map and recommended residents contact the energy team for help accessing the report. On heat‑pump options, he said the city expects mostly conventional (air‑source) heat pumps for residential retrofits rather than neighborhood geothermal for most homes, reserving geothermal for larger neighborhood projects.
Wiley said outreach to retail channels, training for sales staff, targeted mailers to new homeowners and partnerships with distributors are among the tactics to increase rebate uptake and program participation.
