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The Builders Challenge

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has posed a challenge to the homebuilding industry - to build 220,000 high performance homes by 2012. The initiative is called the Builders Challenge, and homes that qualify must meet a 70 or better on the EnergySmart Home Scale (E-Scale). The E-Scale is a scale that allows homebuyers to understand - at a glance - how the performance of a particular home compares to that of others.

The Builders Challenge Web site provides education and resources for:

A couple of homebuyers stand observing something in a partially constructed home.

Homebuyers

How can you benefit from the E-Scale in choosing your new home? Which builders have joined the Builders Challenge in your area? You'll find the answers here, along with resources for learning more about home energy efficiency.

Two builders stand in shadow, one holding a level above head.

Builders

You'll find information on Joining the Builders Challenge, technical and marketing resources needed to achieve the Builders Challenge levels of home performance, and information on additional incentives provided by the Builders Challenge.

Two guys sit at a table writing.

Partners

Many organizations share DOE's goal of improving home energy efficiency. Find out more about joining the Builders Challenge, and about ways to help partner constituents achieve the Builders Challenge levels of home performance.

Two arrows appear, going from left to right. The first arrow is green and shows that 86% of homebuyers would choose a more efficient home. The second is blue and shows that 78% of homebuyers felt uneducated about the buying process.

"In its 2006 Energy Pulse survey, the Shelton Group found that 86% of Americans would choose one home over another based on its energy efficiency, said Susanne Shelton, president of the research and marketing company. Yet 78% of the home owners who were polled reported that nobody talked to them about energy efficiency during the buying process."

NBN Online, Week of April 9, 2007