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1 eere.energy.gov
National Energy Rating Program
for Homes:
Request for Information (RFI)
Webinar
June 21, 2010
$ SAVINGS JOBS JOBS
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Today’s Webinar
I. Background Information on National
Program
II. RFI Overview
III. Next Steps & Questions
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Market Barriers
Consumer Information
Consumers do not have access
to straightforward and reliable
information.
Financing
Homeowners need access to
financing to pursue investments in
energy efficiency.
National Energy
Rating
Program for
Homes
The Recovery thru Retrofit effort identified the following three major market barriers:
Worker Certification & Training
Consumers and industry want
access to consistent workforce
standards and a national
certification.
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National Program for Homes: Major Objectives
• Encourage scale-up of home energy retrofit market
• Provide reliable, clear information about a home’s energy
performance at a reasonable cost
– Develop credible method for consistently evaluating home energy
performance so that consumers can compare homes
– Make preliminary recommendations on how to improve a home’s energy
performance
• Provide information that lenders can use to finance energy
improvements
• Develop consistent worker and training requirements to ensure high-
quality, reliable energy retrofit workforce
• Complement home energy efficiency retrofit programs, other rating
programs, as well as utility disclosure requirements in some areas
– e.g., Home Performance with ENERGY STAR, weatherization, State &
local programs
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National Program for Homes
National Program: Providing Consistency for
the Home Retrofit Market
National
Label
Assessment
Tools &
Other
Resources
Technical
Standards &
Standard
Work
Protocols
National
Building
Performance
Registry
Worker
Certification
& Training
Standards
Quality
Assurance
Standards
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RFI Scope
• Structure
– Guiding principles for the program
– Options and approaches for key elements of the program
– Pros and cons of various approaches
– Initial proposed approach where DOE has developed one
– Additional work that DOE is considering
• Elements
– Basic Metric
– Rating
– Scales and Reference Points
– Recommendations for Improvements
– Presenting Information to the Consumer
– National Home Energy Registry
– Quality Assurance
– Potential for Additional Supported Options
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Basic Metric
Source or Site Energy Use Metric
• Consumers do not generally understand either term
• Source provides greater fuel neutrality
• Source must be determined on a regional or national basis
– With a national conversion factor, consumers can compare energy performance
for homes across the nation without considering whether the electricity is
generated from hydropower, coal or other sources.
– A regional conversion factor more accurately depicts the energy used by a
specific home
Cost Metric
• Energy costs vary considerably in different parts of the country and change
over time
• Difficult to maintain accurate pricing information, particularly given shift to
time of use pricing
Greenhouse Gas Metric
• Provide tools for states and others to offer this information if they want to
customize the rating/label.
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Basic Metric
Initial Approach
• Use source energy with national conversion factor
• Control for climate in calculating energy use number
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Rating
• Asset
– Provides an assessment of a home’s energy performance based on the physical
characteristics built into the home given a standardized set of operating
characteristics.
– Homebuyers can compare homes irrespective of occupant behavior.
• Operational
– Describes how a home performs given a homeowner’s actual usage patterns
and is usually based on modeling as well as utility bills.
– Based on actual energy use of a home and reflects the specific ways in which
occupants use the home.
• Consumption/Efficiency
– An efficiency metric (e.g., energy use per square foot; energy use per home with
X number of bedrooms, etc.) can motivate a homeowner to make changes
regardless of the home’s overall energy use
– A consumption metric allows a consumer to understand how much energy the
home actually uses.
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Rating
Initial Approach
• Use an asset rating
• Control for climate
• Potentially control for size (efficiency rating)
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Scales and Reference Points
• Numeric Scale Reflecting Physical Units
– e.g., BTUs, BTUs/s.f.
– Imprecision could result in different placement on a scale but not put a
home into a distinct category that has a particularly good or bad
connotation.
• Numeric Scale Converting Physical Units into Score System
– e.g., HERS scale (100 points = 2006 IECC Home)
• Non-numeric Systems Using Bins and/or Reinforcing Symbols
– e.g., grades, stars
– Imprecision could result in a home being rated a “B or C” rather than an
“A” or vice versa.
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Scales and Reference Points
Initial Approach
• Use an absolute scale rather than converting a metric into bins (e.g.,
grades)
• Include the following types of reference points
– The home’s energy performance with improvements
– A national average home of similar size
– A new home in the state or locality
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Recommendations for Energy Improvements
Initial Approach
• Include list of recommendations, either on the actual label or in
complementary backup information.
• Recommend improvements based on preliminary estimates of
savings, most likely using a national average price of energy.
• Direct consumers to consider a more extensive audit to get more
detailed information about energy improvements and potential
savings.
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Options for Presenting Information to Consumers
Initial Approach
• Information to be presented in both paper and
electronic form
• Label will likely include a URL where consumers can
find additional information about the home’s energy
performance
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Label Examples
Efficiency Rating Consumption Rating
• Focus groups planned for
July to better understand
what information and
presentation can best
motivate consumers to
undertake energy
improvements.
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National Home Energy Registry
Initial Approach
• Establish a national home energy registry with both individual (private) and
public interfaces.
– Homes that receive the national label will be required to provide a minimal amount of
information.
– Will be searchable by public
• For the purposes of analysis, including the establishment of benchmarks, data
beyond that what is included in the rating/label will be shared only on an
aggregated basis, to ensure confidentiality of information.
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Quality Assurance
Initial Approach
• Develop protocols to ensure that information provided through rating
and label is accurate and consistently generated across homes.
• Establish certification standards for those generating ratings and
labels under this program.
• Release a software tool to certified professionals for the purpose of
assessing a home’s energy performance and generating a national
rating and label.
• Establish minimum requirements for 3rd party verification of the
ratings.
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DOE’s Next Steps
• Further analysis of options for measuring home energy performance
– Looking for additional home data that includes information on utility bills,
building characteristics, and possibly behavioral characteristics
• 2 Requests for Information (RFI)
– RFI #1 on Performance Metric, Consumer Information
– RFI #2 on Workforce Standards
• Develop and Initiate Pilots
– Seattle pilot: underway
– HUD/FHA pilot under design
• Stakeholder Engagement
– Additional webinars
– Stakeholder discussions planned for June/July
– Particular focus on questions raised in RFI #1
– States, utilities, contractors, environmental groups, building rating groups
• Implementation in Partnership with States, Utilities, Others
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Complete report
comparing existing
energy audit software
April 2010 May 2010 June 2010 July 2010 August 2010 September 2010
Debug HES Pro beta
version
Audit and Rating Tools
Timeline
Design HES PRO
evaluation tests
Release
preliminary
asset
version of
HES Pro
and updated
operational
version of
HES Pro
Conduct sensitivity analyses using actual data
from Seattle pilot and other sources in various
climates; conduct parametric analysis
Fall 2010
Pilots
Release HES Pro beta
version May 6, 2010
Begin
DOE/HUD
pilot
Evaluate initial data
from Seattle pilot
Continue
Seattle and
HUD pilots
through
2011
Begin Seattle pilot, audits
of 5000 homes
Worker Skills and Protocols
Compile existing technical standards.
Convene technical experts to review and draft standard work protocols.
Complete draft report with technical standards, standard work protocols, and skill standards.
Finalize Standard
Work Protocols &
Skill Standards
Issue draft standards for public and industry review
Conduct interagency and
stakeholder outreach;
solicit comments
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April 2010 May 2010 June 2010 July 2010 August 2010 September 2010
Consumer Behavior
Conduct
focus groups Review behavioral research
Launch
National
Building
Performance
Assessment
& Rating
Program
Present draft
program design
Issue RFI; Post
in Federal
Register & DOE
website; email to
comprehensive
stakeholder list
Program Design
Review,
categorize, and
analyze
comments
Finalize
Performance
Metric & Label
Fall 2010
Begin
Implementation
of National
Program with
Partners
Study of rating programs
Use
feedback to
inform label
design
Timeline
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Questions and Comments
Thank you for your participation.
Please send your responses by July 10, 2010 to
To view the full RFI, please visit
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/home_rating_rfi.html
