Utilities & Other Program Sponsors
Homes and apartments built to ENERGY STAR program requirements are designed to be at least 10% more energy efficient than those built to code and achieve a 20% improvement on average. Sponsoring an ENERGY STAR Residential New Construction program is an opportunity to promote energy efficiency in the residential market and to capture long-term peak and energy demand savings that can stand-alone or complement other residential energy efficiency initiatives.
View Program Requirements for Single-Family, Multifamily, and Manufactured homes.
By implementing an ENERGY STAR Residential New Construction program, utility sponsors can leverage a powerful brand advantage, along with fully-developed technical specifications and associated training and technical support available from EPA at no cost. Specific benefits to utilities of using this program platform include:
More detailed verification of efficiency measures: The inspection checklists allow for a high level of verification that provide sponsors with greater assurance that efficiency measures are being properly installed and that ENERGY STAR certified homes and apartments meet performance and quality expectations.
- The Thermal Enclosure checklist helps ensure that there are no thermal defects.
- The HVAC Quality Installation checklists helps ensure that HVAC systems are installed using industry best practices and perform at rated efficiencies.
- The Water Management builder checklist helps ensure roofs, walls, and foundations are fully protected from water intrusion.
Greater savings per home: ENERGY STAR certified homes are approximately 20% more efficient than homes built to the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). Further, the size adjustment factor ensures that larger homes include additional energy efficiency measures to account for their added size.
More definitive savings: Demand and peak savings will be much more reliable with every certified home due to greater rigor of the Reference Design and mandatory checklists. As a result, there will be less opportunity for builders to omit important energy efficiency improvements, and utilities can more confidently quantify the specific savings associated with ENERGY STAR certified homes and apartments.
Leverage nationally recognized ENERGY STAR name: ENERGY STAR makes it easy for homebuyers to select energy-efficient homes and apartments with its high consumer brand recognition. Efficiency programs based on ENERGY STAR benefit from this level of awareness and builder/developers partners also benefit from being able to leverage ENERGY STAR for effective differentiation from the resale market.
ENERGY STAR, a government-backed symbol for energy efficiency recognized by more than 90% of American households, provides a powerful platform for utilities implementing demand side management programs.
Residential buildings consume approximately 22% of the energy used in the United States each year. Working with the residential new construction market to ensure that homes and apartments are built to rigorous energy efficiency standards is an important opportunity to maximize end-use efficiency and avoid or postpone the construction of costly new power generation facilities.
Most residential construction types, including all sizes of multifamily buildings, can earn an ENERGY STAR label.
Utilities and Other Program Sponsors Benefits
ENERGY STAR provides utility partners with a variety of marketing, technical, and programmatic resources and support:
- Resources to distribute to potential program partners, including builders, developers, and verification professionals, to help educate them about the benefits of participation and increase awareness of energy efficient homes in the market.
- Technical one-on-one support as well as online trainings and webinars for utilities and partners.
- Best practices for program design and implementation.
- Networking opportunities, including an annual Stakeholder Meeting for top-performing ENERGY STAR utility, builder, and verifier partners.
View the list of Nationwide Incentives currently offered by ENERGY STAR program sponsors and visit the Partner Locator to find active ENERGY STAR partners near you.
Utilities & Other Program Sponsors Partnership Types
Utilities – Utility organizations involved in coordinating and/or administering an energy-efficiency program or environmental education campaign that promotes or intends to promote ENERGY STAR certified homes and apartments.
Government Entities – Government entities involved in coordinating and/or administering an energy-efficiency program or environmental education campaign that promotes or intends to promote ENERGY STAR certified homes and apartments. National, regional, and local government entities are all eligible to partner with ENERGY STAR.
Becoming an ENERGY STAR partner is easy. Simply fill out an ENERGY STAR Partnership Agreement. There is no cost to partner with ENERGY STAR or use ENERGY STAR promotional materials.