BUILDING HOMES IN accordance with RESNET standards is all in a day’s work for David Weekley Homes, whose corporate offices are in Houston. The company joined the green building revolution by connecting with Environments for Living (EFL), which uses concepts of building science (in partnership with the company of the same name) to build green homes.

MERITAGE HOMES CORPORATION is a Top Ten national homebuilder based in Scottsdale, Arizona. The company was the first to certify 100 percent of their homes with the Energy Star Program, so it’s not surprising that Meritage also became the first large production company to partner with RESNET to perform energy modeling and certification.

THE RESIDENTIAL ENERGY SERVICE NETWORK, or RESNET, was established in 1995 as a nonprofit organization to help builders construct the most energy-efficient homes possible, with the primary objective of keeping utility bills to a minimum. RESNET trains and certifies professionals, who can then audit homes and rate their energy efficiency by using the HERS Index. The lower the score, the more efficient the home.

Consumers looking for new appliances or cars have the advantage of the EnergyGuide label or miles-per-gallon (MPG) sticker to comparison-shop for models based on energy efficiency. Now homebuyers can do the same with Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Index scores. A home’s HERS Index Score tells prospective buyers how energy efficient that home is in comparison to similar ones, enabling them to make better-informed buying decisions.

In 2013 the International Codes Council (ICC) adopted an Energy Rating Index performance option to the 2015 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC).  The 2015 IECC Energy Rating Index scores are very stringent.

Chicago-based Elevate Energy’s The Value for High Performance Homes Campaign is removing barriers toward the fair value of energy-efficient homes through a variety of programs. Their motto is “To do more with less energy.”

Who wouldn’t want a number that told them how their home would perform and how it compared to others? The HERS Index is often compared to appliance labels that help consumers decide the energy/value ratio of home appliances. The lower the number, the better the home.

In 2013, the 218,864 HERS rated homes had an average index of 64. Check out all the details by state.

2014 will mark the debut of an easy-to-use green appraisal addendum. RESNET and the Appraisal Institute have agreed to use the RESNET Accredited Home Energy Rating Software program to generate the Appraisal Institute Green Addendum and auto-populate it from the data collected in the home energy rating.

Insulation increases a home's comfort, lowers a home's energy bills, and plays a key role in creating more financial stability in the residential mortgage market.

IT'S A WELL-KNOWN FACT THAT ENERGY EFFICIENT HOMES SAVE THEIR OWNERS MONEY but now a 2013 study shows that they’re also better mortgage investments. The report, titled, “Home Energy Efficiency and Mortgage Risks” found that homes with lower HERS Index Scores were deemed as low mortgage default risks, and that on average, mortgage default risks were 32 percent lower on ENERGY STAR labeled homes that were rated by a certified RESNET Home Energy Rater.

The Residential Energy Services Network Home Energy Rating System (HERS) is becoming the standard to gauge a home’s predicted energy performance. While HERS ratings have been used by energy-efficient builders for years, Kennecott Land raised the bar in mid-2011, becoming the first land developer to ask builders to get a third-party HERS score for all homes built in its Salt Lake City development: Daybreak. This TND is projected to include 20,000-units, and is about 15% complete.

According to Cameron Jackson, marketing manager for Daybreak, the company move was a success. “The topline result for why we did it at the time and why a year later we see it as a success is that it gives builders in our community a key differentiator between their new homes and existing homes.”

Envision Homes, a Helena, Montana based homebuilder has entered into an agreement with the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) to provide new home buyers an important measurement of long-term energy performance of each new home the company builds. The intent of the agreement is to raise consumers’ knowledge of new home energy performance by using RESNET’s HERS Index. Use of the HERS Index will differentiate homes built by Envision Homes from other homes for sale in Montana.

Salt Lake City developer requires HERS rating on all homes in community.

As the HERS rating becomes more understood and accepted as a benchmark for energy efficiency, it will no doubt be more widely used to inform homeowners about the quality and performance of their homes.