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Tucson, Ariz. — Disease, diagnosis, treatment. This traditional medical procedure is being applied to structures in the Tucson area, and this prescription can’t be picked up from Walgreen’s. The prescription is signed by House Energy Doctor .

No it’s not some sort of voodoo doctor sucking the energy from humble Tucson homes, it’s a twenty year old program on the University of Arizona campus, making it one of a kind in the nation.

The program has been making its mark on Tucson since 1986 when, Dr. Nader Chalfoun with the help of the UA School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture , decided to launch it.

Chalfoun is an architect engineer who specialized in energy conservation and passive solar architecture that leads to sustainable architecture.

He speaks passionately about House Energy Doctor over his glasses; in the new architecture building he doesn’t yet have his name on the door. But there is a sticker with the House Energy Doctor logo. It’s easy to see how proud he is of the program; and he should be. Like a new father holding out baby pictures he has pamphlets ready to answer any question about the program.


The program, according to Chalfoun has three functions: education, research and outreach.

In the education sector, students learn first hand how to assess the energy efficiency of buildings. Students also learn the fundamentals and principles, instrumentation and tools of state of the art computer energy software and simulation, according to Chalfoun.

The program gives undergraduates and graduate students alike the opportunity to focus on their respective research area in order to earn upper division credit or to write their thesis.

David Vaughan, a graduate student focusing on design and energy conservation said the program is one of the main reasons he decided to come to the University of Arizona.

"I think it's a really good program, it's good to get out in the community and be able to use what we have learned," Vaughan said.

Vaughan, a Tennessee native, said in Tucson he feels a lot of people are involved with sustainability. He said he thinks this is why the program is one of a kind.


Chalfoun said utility companies like Tucson Electric Power and Southwest Gas approach the House Energy Doctor project for research and in turn financially support the program.

“We also have builders and developers, architects and designers approach us to develop education workshops,” Chalfoun said.

Chalfoun speaks very fluidly and liberally, House Energy Doctor is his baby. The man loves energy efficiency. There is a plaque in his office he received from the Metropolitan Energy Commission. Chalfoun said he is very close to getting the new architecture building LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified. For a building to be LEED certified it must meet environmentally sustainability standards set forth by United States Green Building Council .

Yet, nothing gets him talking more than the third sector of House Energy Doctor : out reach.

“We have a very important outreach program that has good communication with the community,” Chalfoun said.

The outreach program is the gem of the House Energy Doctor . The undergraduate and graduate students get to perform a home audit where they get to apply all of the things they have learned over the semester to an actual structure.

The Doctor invades the chosen homes and other buildings at the end of each semester with 18 to 20 students and follows a rigorous inspection conduct.

The students assess the types of walls, windows, insulation, landscape and mechanical system the home has. After only spending a maximum of two hours, the students go back to UA and process the information through computer simulation, according to Chalfoun.

“Essentially we get to play doctor on the house,” Chalfoun said, “If it’s sick we write the prescription for the home.”

One such homeowner that had her home inspected is Tucson resident and homeowner Karen Young. She participated in the program about 10 years ago but has since made almost every change the House Energy Doctor recommended.

She heard about the program while she worked on the UA campus. At the time, she had just purchased a house built in the mid-80s which “wasn’t in anyway energy efficient.”

She wanted to do some upgrading to the home and decided to do it in a way that would most benefit she and her husband's bottom line.

“We didn’t want to be at the mercy of the energy.” Young said, “I would rather make it (my home) more efficient than to be more attractive,” she said.

Young speaks fondly of the experience as she recalls the students coming through her home.

After the students from House Energy Doctor came through, they said the biggest energy waster in the home was an atrium in the middle of the home generating a lot of extra heat during both winter and the scorching Tucson summer.

“At one point we tried to have my daughter’s iguana live in it,” Young said.

Having no use for the atrium the Young’s completely got rid of it by enclosing it and installing a skylight.

The Young’s even discovered that their supposedly energy efficient solar panels and solar hot water heater were not working properly after the diagnosis.

The most significant change Young said they have made to their home is replacing many sliding glass doors and skylights that were throughout the home.

“I was shocked at how much energy was lost,” Young said.

Over the past ten years both Karen and her husband have spent about $10,000 to $15,000 dollars renovating their space.

“Now our home is more attractive and more efficient.” Young said, “My goal is to replace eight remaining windows in the home.”

Young said her husband just rolls his eyes when she says this because he’s an accountant always concerned with the finances.

Not all homeowners go as energy efficient after getting their House Energy Doctor diagnosis, Chalfoun said. Young is an exception.

Larry Medlin, professor and Director at the School of Architecture, has had his home audited in the past as well. He said after the audit he became more conscious of his heating and cooling costs.

Every semester homeowners get the shot to have a house call from the House Energy Doctor .The service is free, take advantage of a unique Tucson opportunity.

House Energy Doctor brochure