Initiative Goals
How Much Energy will be saved by the Builders Challenge?
- By constructing 220,000 homes to 70 on the E-Scale by 2012, participating builders will take the equivalent of 50,000 passenger cars off the road for an entire year and will save homeowners $143 million on their energy bills.
- Over time, the initiative will target increasingly challenging performance levels. Cumulatively, by constructing 1.3 million high performance homes by 2030, participating builders will save their customers $1.7 billion and take the equivalent of 606,000 cars off the road for one year. By making cost-effective NZEH available anywhere in the U.S, builders provide an invaluable service.
| Initiative Goals | 2012 | 2030 |
| Builders Challenge E-Scale Threshold | 70 | 0 |
| Cumulative # of Homes from 2008 | 219K | 1.3M |
| Cumulative Energy Savings (Quads, Primary) | 0.015 | 0.178 |
| Cumulative Energy Cost Savings | $143M | $1.7B |
| Cumulative Carbon Savings (Million Metric Tons) | 0.231 | 2.799 |
These numbers are best estimates based on currently available data.
How will the Builders Challenge achieve Net-Zero Energy Homes?
The Builders Challenge will follow behind the Building America program, which is expected to achieve cost-neutral Net-Zero Energy Homes by 2020. "Cost-neutral" means that the added first costs of system enhancements (when amortized over a 30 year period) are equal to the monthly energy cost savings that result from these enhancements. While the Building America program develops and field-tests the technologies needed to cost-effectively move to higher levels of efficiency, the Builders Challenge will promote the implementation of proven strategies that builders can implement in any climate region.
The Builders Challenge threshold begins at 70 on the E-Scale and will stay at this level until 2012. As Building America strategies that achieve greater efficiency levels become available, the Challenge threshold will move steadily closer to NZEH. By 2030, builders will have the methods and technologies to cost-effectively construct Net-Zero Energy Homes anywhere in the United States.