Purpose, Goal, Audience

Like a miles-per-gallon rating for a car, the Home Energy Score is an easy-to-produce rating designed to help homeowners and homebuyers gain useful information about a home’s energy performance. Based on an in-home assessment that can be completed in less than an hour, Home Energy Score not only lets a homeowner understand how efficient the home is and how it compares to others, but also provides recommendations on how to cost-effectively improve the home’s energy efficiency. Home Energy Score uses a simple 1-to-10 scale where a 10 represents the most energy efficient homes (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Home Energy Score Label Example

The mission of the Home Energy Score program is to build market value for home energy efficiency among single-family and townhomes. Home Energy Score accomplishes this by valuing, understanding, and allowing for financing of home energy efficiency with nationwide household recognition.

The Scoring Tool is designed to support the existing marketplace for energy analysis tools and services by providing a substantially lower-cost entry-level assessment, which can help the qualified Assessor establish the potential for energy savings, as well as the value of pursuing a more comprehensive assessment and retrofit recommendation report (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Home Energy Audit Granularity