In April 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) tasked Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) with conducting an evaluation of DOE's low-income Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP). This directive came at the same time that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) was passed. The Recovery Act boosted WAP's funding from approximately $230M per year to $5B over a three-year period. The national weatherization community was expected to be 'shovel ready' to ramp up its production and dramatically increase employment in the field. Also, during this period of time weatherization funding was provided for the first time to five U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico. Because WAP during the Recovery Act period was expected to be so unlike WAP in previous years, the decision was made to evaluate WAP as it was administered both before and during the Recovery Act period. The former is known as the 'retrospective' evaluation of WAP and focuses on Program Year (PY) 2008. 1 The latter is known as the 'ARRA period or Recovery Act' evaluation and focuses on PY 2010. This report summarizes findings from the thirteen individual studies that comprise the ARRA period evaluation. The ARRA period evaluation estimated program impacts (e.g., energy savings), assessed program administration, and conducted several special studies. To accomplish these tasks, the ARRA period evaluation collected a great deal of data, including:

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This report presents in-depth analyses of survey data collected from recipients of services funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP). WAP was created by Congress in 1976 under Title IV of the Energy Conservation and Production Act. Through WAP, DOE provides grants to states, territories, and Washington, DC (i.e. Grantees) to fund the weatherization of low-income homes. The Grantees provide grants to local weatherization agencies (also known as Subgrantees) to deliver weatherization services. Grantees and Subgrantees also leverage their DOE funds to acquire additional funds for low-income weatherization. Subgrantees accept applications for weatherization, confirm households' income eligibility for the program, conduct energy audits of the homes, install weatherization measures, and inspect each home post-weatherization. Common weatherization measures include: air sealing, wall and attic insulation, duct sealing, and furnace repair and replacement. The program operates across all climate zones in the United States, and weatherizes all manner of homes, from single-family detached units to mobile homes to large multifamily buildings.

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