ABSTRACT
Deferral of services means that conditions exist where the readers may have to either deny or postpone weatherization services to an otherwise qualified client/homeowner. While this is a weatherization program definition, any of the same principles could be applied in the private arena. To install retrofit measures to help the home become more energy efficient, the retrofit measure must pass a financial test. It must have a savings to investment ratio, or SIR of greater than or equal to one, also known as the benefit/cost ratio. Determining cost-effectiveness in the private arena involves using one of several possible ratios. Divide the total initial cost of a retrofit by the annual savings the retrofit will produce to obtain the “payback” in years. Repairs that are necessary for the effective performance or preservation of weatherization materials, often referred to as “incidental repairs,” are not exempted from being included in the overall SIR calculation for the entire project.
