The Task Exposure Indexv2026.Q3
Occupation · SOC 47-4011.01 · Job Zone 3

AI exposure: Energy Auditors

Conduct energy audits of buildings, building systems, or process systems. May also conduct investment grade audits of buildings or systems.

Reading this score

computed

56.2% of this occupation's weighted task load is exposed, which puts Energy Auditors at the 93th percentile of 923 occupations. The capability is largely there. Its average task scores 3.1 out of 4 on what a current system can produce, and the frictions that hold other jobs in place are comparatively weak here.

What holds the line here is context. Across this occupation's 21 tasks it averages 1.71 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work depends on knowledge the model cannot hold. Much of this job runs on things that were never written down: what this particular organisation does, what happened last week, what the person across the table actually meant. That context is the barrier, and it erodes as systems are given more access.

The most exposed thing this job does is Calculate potential for energy savings, at 86.7%. The least is Examine commercial sites to determine the feasibility of installing equipment that allows..., at 6.7%. A gap of 80.0% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.

Within construction and extraction occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 61 roles in the group is 5.0%, and only 0 of them score higher than this. Occupational families are not uniform, and the spread inside them is often wider than the gap between them.

What would move this score. Of 21 tasks, 17 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 4 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take cheaper ways to verify output, since the cost of checking is currently doing more to hold this work in place than the cost of producing it. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.

Task by task

21 tasks, O*NET 31.0
TaskExposedAssistedUntouchedImportanceBand
Calculate potential for energy savings.86.7%13.3%0.0%4.38exposed
Measure energy usage with devices such as data loggers, universal data recorders, light meters, sling psychrometers, psychrometric charts, flue gas analyzers, amp probes, watt meters, volt meters, thermometers, or utility meters.86.7%13.3%0.0%4.04exposed
Analyze energy bills, including utility rates or tariffs, to gather historical energy usage data.86.7%13.3%0.0%3.71exposed
Quantify energy consumption to establish baselines for energy use or need.86.7%13.3%0.0%3.67exposed
Determine patterns of building use to show annual or monthly needs for heating, cooling, lighting, or other energy needs.86.7%13.3%0.0%3.59exposed
Compare existing energy consumption levels to normative data.86.7%13.3%0.0%3.54exposed
Collect and analyze field data related to energy usage.83.3%16.7%0.0%4.07exposed
Analyze technical feasibility of energy-saving measures, using knowledge of engineering, energy production, energy use, construction, maintenance, system operation, or process systems.73.3%26.7%0.0%4.21exposed
Educate customers on energy efficiency or answer questions on topics such as the costs of running household appliances or the selection of energy-efficient appliances.73.3%26.7%0.0%3.89exposed
Prepare audit reports containing energy analysis results or recommendations for energy cost savings.60.0%40.0%0.0%4.41exposed
Prepare job specification sheets for home energy improvements, such as attic insulation, window retrofits, or heating system upgrades.50.0%25.0%25.0%3.88exposed
Oversee installation of equipment such as water heater wraps, pipe insulation, weatherstripping, door sweeps, or low-flow showerheads to improve energy efficiency.50.0%25.0%25.0%3.29exposed
Identify and prioritize energy-saving measures.45.0%30.0%25.0%4.48exposed
Identify any health or safety issues related to planned weatherization projects.45.0%30.0%25.0%4.40exposed
Identify opportunities to improve the operation, maintenance, or energy efficiency of building or process systems.45.0%30.0%25.0%4.39exposed
Recommend energy-efficient technologies or alternate energy sources.45.0%30.0%25.0%4.10exposed
Verify income eligibility of participants in publicly financed weatherization programs.45.0%30.0%25.0%2.94exposed
Perform tests such as blower-door tests to locate air leaks.10.0%15.0%75.0%3.89untouched
Inspect or evaluate building envelopes, mechanical systems, electrical systems, or process systems to determine the energy consumption of each system.8.3%16.7%75.0%4.34untouched
Inspect newly installed energy-efficient equipment to ensure that it was installed properly and is performing according to specifications.8.3%16.7%75.0%3.85untouched
Examine commercial sites to determine the feasibility of installing equipment that allows building management systems to reduce electricity consumption during peak demand periods.6.7%18.3%75.0%4.20untouched

Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.

Where the score comes from

judged

Every task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.

DimensionMeanScale
Capability3.100-4
Embodiment0.570-3
Presence0.330-3
Accountability1.020-3
Context1.710-3
Verification cost1.520-3

What this means in practice

Where most of a role's weighted task load is exposed, the work that survives is usually the part of the job nobody wrote into the job description: deciding what should be produced rather than producing it, and being answerable for the result. The tasks lowest on this page are a better guide to where to spend your time than any general advice about the future of work.

Occupations either side of this one

The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.

Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.