Text-Alternative Version: The E-Scale
Following is a text version of the E-Scale video.
Narrator: The EnergySmart Home ScaleSM provides homebuyers and homeowners with an easy-to-understand tool for making smart energy decisions when purchasing, renting, or updating a home.
Nevada Developer: One of the things that we like about Builders Challenge is kind of this scorecard. And it's almost like an MPG for a house. Instead of miles per gallon, here's where my house ranks in this overall scale, and I think that's probably a little bit more digestible for your average consumer, and it's really starting to resonate.
Narrator: The EnergySmart Home Scale is based on the well-established Home Energy Rating System, or HERS Index, developed by RESNET, the Residential Energy Services Network.
Nevada Residential Sales Associate: The Home Energy Rating System is really important for us to be able to demonstrate to homeowners what they actually are purchasing. There is a scale from 0 to 100—
Nevada Developer: 100 means you meet the minimum building requirement of the International Energy Code. The lower the better, contrary to most scales, the higher the better.
Energy Official: The EnergySmart scale is quite helpful for consumers, in that it provides them a frame of reference in comparing new homes.
Nevada Homeowner 1: Each of the models that we looked at had a plaque inside that said what their average energy usage would be for the year, and we compared that in different models and houses that we looked at.
Nevada Developer: It has to be a HERS-certified rater that gives each house the HERS rating.
Energy Inspector: We inspect the home at the frame stage, and before it moves to insulation, we want to ensure that everything's put in right, sealed off right.
Narrator: RESNET-certified energy raters compile the EnergySmart Home Scale or HERS rating for a new home using an established system for quality assurance. Features of a high-performance home that meets or exceeds the Builders Challenge include high levels of exterior wall insulation and attic insulation, ENERGY STAR® rated windows or better, a high-performance HVAC system, a high-performance tankless hot water system, mechanical ventilation for good indoor air quality, high-performance CFL or fluorescent lighting, and a sealed duct system in conditioned space. Performance testing such as a blower door test for air and duct leakage is usually part of the rating.
Nevada Developer: It's the same used nationwide. There's one way to come up with a number. It's an apples to an apples, unlike any other energy-efficient program that I know of to date.
Narrator: Information collected by the rater is entered into a RESNET-accredited computer program, which generates a rating score. A basic rating of 100 means that a home has been built to existing codes. A rating of 85 meets ENERGY STAR criteria, while a rating of 70 meets the Builders Challenge. A home that achieves a 0 rating produces as much energy as it consumes over the course of a year. In fact, homes with ratings below 0 may even produce more energy than the homeowner uses—and in some areas, the excess may be sold back to the utility.
Nevada Developer: It's the only thing that says if it's a 46, it's 46. No disputing for me to say, "Hey, the house you're standing in is a little bit more energy efficient than the neighbors'." Anyone can say that. There's only one thing that's tried and true and inspected into and certified. That's your HERS rating.
Nevada Homeowner 2: My townhome has an energy rating of 69, which meets the Builders Challenge, and it's actually quite a bit more efficient even than ENERGY STAR.
Florida Developer: 56 is our low score house and 62 is our high score right now, so we're well within the realm of what was anticipated. Without any effort, we're gonna continue to build at least at that level.
Nevada Developer: These homes here at Villa Trieste are anywhere from mid to low 40s on the HERS scale. So we're already in the bottom 50 percent of reaching that net zero, and really, without going a whole lot of different stuff that we've been doing here locally for almost a decade. So we're pretty happy with that, and we're continuing to push the envelope.
Narrator: The EnergySmart Home Scale and Builders Challenge will help to provide Americans with the opportunity to one day live in a high-quality, comfortable, energy-efficient home with low monthly operating costs. To take the Builders Challenge, visit www.BuildingAmerica.gov/challenge.