Weatherization 

Weatherization programs can reduce energy cost burdens, facilitate the transition to clean and efficient energy, reduce peak demand on the electric grid, and improve the health and safety of residents.

Table Of Contents
  1. Why This Matters
  2. Policy Solution
  3. Model Policy Features
  4. Potential Limitations & Pitfalls
  5. Complementary Policies
  6. Examples
COMMUNITY BENEFITAffordability,  Decarbonization, Housing, Resilience, Safety, Public health, Workforce
KEYWORDSDecarbonization, Disaster preparedness, Efficiency, Housing, Workforce
REGIONFederal, State, Local
AFFORDABILITY STRATEGYResidential Decarbonization
OVERSIGHTState Social Service Agencies, Energy Agencies, Utility Commissions
POLICY MECHANISMLegislation, Executive

Why This Matters

The U.S. housing stock has a median age of 44 years, higher than at any other time in U.S. history.1 Over half of homes pre-date 1980,2 when residential energy efficiency standards were less prevalent.3 Not only is older housing stock typically less energy efficient, but it can also be expected to have a greater degree of repair needs. According to 2017 American Housing Survey data, 33.6% of owner-occupied and 39.5% of renter-occupied homes had at least one repair need. Of these homes, 85.5% were built before 1970. The estimated repair needs averaged nearly $3,000. The most common repair needs were structural (e.g., roof) or involving leaks and mold.4 Such repair needs not only decrease energy efficiency but also pose considerable health and safety risks. While wealthier households are more likely to have the financial resources to invest in needed repairs and weatherization to improve energy efficiency and address structural deficiencies posing health and safety risks, these costs can pose significant barriers to low- and middle-income households. Meanwhile, assistance offered through the federal Weatherization Assistance Program falls far short of the need.5

Policy Solution

Weatherization programs can reduce energy cost burdens by about 25% through increased home energy efficiency,6 facilitate the transition to clean energy, reduce peak demand on the electric grid, and improve the health and safety of residents. Weatherization improvements can include insulation installation, air sealing, window replacement, mold and moisture remediation, and the installation of energy-efficient appliances.7

Model Policy Features

Key policy components that make weatherization programs effective include:

  • Grants (including health-related funding, such as asthma remediation grants for improved indoor air quality and mold treatment) and/or forgivable loans to low- and moderate-income households (e.g., with incomes at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level) and landlords serving low-income tenants for weatherization measures to improve energy efficiency.
  • Maximum assistance eligibility amounts sufficient to cover the local costs of weatherizing homes with multiple weatherization needs. 
  • Incentives for multifamily affordable homes designed to provide benefits to both landlords and tenants.
  • No-cost home energy assessments to estimate potential savings—or costs—of weatherization and qualification for additional bill assistance or low-income rates.
  • Open to manufactured home owners.
  • Combined with pre-weatherization funding—or includes carve-outs for pre-weatherization funding—to address major structural deficiencies impeding full weatherization benefits. 
  • Stacking capability (i.e. assistance can be used with other funding mechanisms), paired with system navigation assistance for applicants, to take advantage of other federal, state, or local incentive programs.
  • Reduces participation barriers, such as language access, consolidation of existing programs and/or no-wrong-door approaches, categorical eligibility (whereby participation in other government assistance programs qualifies a household for eligibility in offered programs), plain language contracts, simplified applications, robust outreach, and bans on application/exit fees and credit score review.
  • Includes tenant protections, such as prohibitions on landlord cost recovery through rent increases, eviction protections, displacement protections and/or assistance during renovations (e.g., alternative living spaces, assistance with moving or storage expenses), right to return without rescreening, grievance procedures, and anti-harassment provisions.
  • Includes high road jobs and training or apprenticeship opportunities, including strategies to reach underemployed communities.
  • Provisions to allow for deed restrictions that strike a balance between the needs and interests of low- and moderate-income households and the protection of public investments (i.e. preventing property flipping), such as agency discretion in application of deed restrictions, deed restriction duration, and other measures to maintain low-income housing stock. 
  • Includes provisions for regular data reporting including but not limited to identified home repair needs, cost of repairs, and age of home and public transparency (e.g., public-facing data dashboards, program evaluation, audits to ensure meaningful benefits reach intended populations).

Potential Limitations & Pitfalls

  • May be inaccessible to households that need significant upgrades first, which can be difficult to fund.
  • Possible increase in identification of homes that neither meet housing quality standards for health and safety nor are salvageable through retrofit efforts.
  • Large funding requirements may require new funding sources and models or layering with other home-repair funds (e.g. mold remediation to address asthma triggers). 
  • Possible temporary displacement of residents in homes requiring significant retrofits.

Complementary Policies

Complementary policies that can enhance the effectiveness and functionality of weatherization include:

  • Electrification readiness and pre-weatherization programs to maximize the feasibility of implementing energy efficiency upgrades within the home.
  • Efficient residential electrification to facilitate the shift to clean, efficient appliances.
  • Comprehensive distributed energy resource valuation to enable electrification to be paid for, in part, through compensation of any broader benefits provided to the grid, such as deferral of distribution upgrades or peak demand reduction. 
  • Rental efficiency standards to ensure renter households also benefit from weatherization measures.

Examples

1. Washington Weatherization Plus Health Program – WA Weatherization Plus Health ProgramHB 1720: An Act relating to healthy housing. (2015).

Details:8

  • Provides weatherization assistance that includes both energy efficiency (e.g., insulation, air sealing) and healthy home improvements (e.g., carpet removal, floor replacement, pest mitigation).
  • Households with incomes at or below 150% of the Federal Poverty Level and that include members who are living with disabilities, older adults, children under the age of six, and living with asthma or other respiratory illnesses are prioritized.
  • Funded through the state capital budget and Washington’s Climate Commitment Act ($35 million in 2023; $30 million in 2025–27 biennium).
  • Requires that weatherization agencies employ individuals trained from workforce training and apprentice programs whenever possible, pay prevailing wages, and develop job opportunities for veterans and members of low-income and disadvantaged communities.

LIMITATIONS:

  • Requires a match from “sponsors,” or organizations that undertake weatherization work through the program, which include community action agencies, utilities, and Tribal governments.
  • Although 2023 investments have enabled the program to serve an additional 500 homes, compared to 2021-2023,9 the need for weatherization services continues to outstrip available resources. A 2021 study found that there are approximately 750,000 households in Washington who qualify for weatherization assistance annually.10

Written: October 2025

  1. Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. (2025). 2025 Improving America’s Housing. ↩︎
  2. Moon, J. (2024). State and Federal Whole Home Repair Programs: Can They Solve the Weatherization Assistance Program Deferrals Problem? Just Solutions. ↩︎
  3. Sustainable Energy Action Committee. (2023). Energy Codes Then and Now, 1983-2021. ↩︎
  4.  Divringi, E., Wallace, E., Wardrip, K., and Nash, E. (2019). Measuring and Understanding Home Repair Costs: A National Typology of Households. Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. ↩︎
  5.  Moon, J. (2024). State and Federal Whole Home Repair Programs: Can They Solve the Weatherization Assistance Program Deferrals Problem? Just Solutions. ↩︎
  6.  Drehobl, A., Ross, L., and Ayala, R. (2020). How High are Household Energy Burdens?: An Assessment of National and Metropolitan Energy Burden Across the United States. American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. ↩︎
  7. U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Weatherization Works! Accessed: October 7, 2025. ↩︎
  8. Washington State Department of Commerce. Weatherization Plus Health. Accessed: October 7, 2025. ↩︎
  9. Washington State Department of Commerce. Weatherization Plus Health. Accessed: October 7, 2025. ↩︎
  10. Washington State Department of Commerce. (2022). Weatherization Plus Health 2022 Report. ↩︎