Builders
You know you build outstanding homes, but do the homebuyers in your market know it? When it comes to energy performance, the Builders Challenge is your path to a distinct competitive advantage. At last, you have a clear way to highlight your top performers in energy efficiency—a feature that surveys show is increasingly pivotal in homebuying decisions.
Skyrocketing energy costs and increasing consumer demand for energy performance are driving the development of new energy efficiency and green building programs across the nation. The Builders Challenge helps builders meet and communicate high levels of energy performance that will meet or exceed any existing performance home program.
When you agree to join the Builders Challenge, you commit to constructing homes that rate 70 or lower on the EnergySmart Home Scale (E-Scale) and meet the Builders Challenge Quality Criteria. You can choose among three different pathways for meeting the Builders Challenge, as shown in the chart on the Requirements for Builders page. (To take the Builders Challenge in California, review this additional information.) These processes are based on existing consensus standards and procedures that include verification and quality control.
As a participant in the Builders Challenge, you can take advantage of the use of the EnergySmart Home Scale (E-Scale), as well as marketing and technical resources provided through the initiative. In addition, a design competition will make high-performance home plans more readily available, and annual awards will recognize and reward participation.
The following resources are available for builders who are interested in participating in the Builders Challenge:
Requirements 
Access information on performance, prescriptive, and partner pathways.
Register
Get started! Submit your company's information at our Challenge Participants site to register for the Builders Challenge.
Current Builders
Find out which builders have taken the Builders Challenge.
When surveyed by the National Association of Homebuilder's Research Center (NAHB-RC) in December of 2007, energy improvements topped homeowners choices for how they would spend an extra $5,000 on their new homes.
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26% would pay for energy improvements |