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“How many miles per gallon does this home get?” The Home Energy Rating (HERS) Test.

One of my clients was in the market for older homes last year, but she was concerned about how these homes would stack up in terms of their home energy rating. As part of her investigation, she made it a point to discover if a home she might be interested in had a home energy rating. (HERS)
Knowing that the home energy rating evaluates and measures the home’s energy characteristics, she could then easily compare the energy costs for the three or four homes she was considering.

A local Asheville company, Home Energy Partners had told my client, “The HERS rating is so accurate that the mortgage industry will actually loan you more money if it is used to make cost-effective improvements to your home. "

"Up to 15% of a home’s appraised value is available for every home that is bought or refinanced,” he explained. She checked THIS out, so she knew what was involved. The home energy rater inspects the home and measures its energy characteristics, such as insulation levels, window efficiency, wall-to-window ratios, the heating and cooling system efficiency, the solar orientation of the home, and the water heating system. The rater gathers data and uses software to calculate the results and then convert those results into “points”—the higher the points, the more favorable the rating.

As we narrowed down the homes my client found interesting, a bright “painted lady”, a Victorian on a shady Asheville street became a contender. However, we discovered that this home had only 57 points. That meant that this home was “below average” in its home energy rating. Even though there had been quite a lot of remodeling done on this property, my buyer opted for another Victorian home that had received a rating of 85, or “efficient”.

Points	Rating
92-100	Extremely Efficient
86-91	Very Efficient
83-85	Efficient
80-82	Good
70-79	Above Average

There are so many things to consider when you are in the market for a home, whether it is an older home or a brand new one. In terms of energy efficiency, REALTORS® can be a “resource to the resources”, experts, such as HERS raters who can make recommendations . A home is a big investment. We are here to help make it a positive one for you.

Posted by janeAnne, Asheville's "Green-o-Lina" NAR GREEN Real Estate Consultant on 10/23/2006 08:10 PM

Comments (16)

energy efficiency, 100 of my featured posts, greenolina, asheville green real estate, advice for buyers sellers and investors

Originally posted at: Asheville ECO-GREEN Real Estate: “How many miles per gallon does this home get?” The Home Energy Rating (HERS) Test.

This post has been included in North Carolina Information

16 Comments on “How many miles per gallon does this home get?” The Home Energy Rating (HERS) Test.

OCT

2006

I hope this one makes up for some of the ones that got lost...

FYI - The Gemstar House in Pueblo West that I represent got a 91 and 5 energy stars, and it's under $200,000! Everyone needs to be asking about energy ratings. And energy efficient mortgages as well!

janeAnne,

It truely is amazing how they continue to make our homes more effieient for us to live in. I guess I never thought about it this way. I always looked at the R factor.

Thanks for sharing.

Hey you've got two here now.

OCT

2006

Great added comparison for homes. I'll have to look into whether or not such a system is available here.

Very good info for home buyers. I personally have not had anyone request refinancing for energy efficient purposes, so I have not heard about going beyond the appraised value for it.

If you it is not 15% beyond the appraised value, how else does it help the borrower compared to normal loan programs?

I will look into it.

Thanks for your comments (and that amazing Star) Maureen, Dena,Susan, Sharon and Robert who wrote, " how else does it help the borrower compared to normal loan programs?

I'm learning more every day as a newly Certified EcoBroker(r) - thanks for the excellent post!

How cool! Thanks for that information that is USEFUL!! =)

We do EEM's all the time here in Texas, they are a great product especially with energy prices where they currently are.

I've smoenlimited experience with purchaser who have some experience with energy aware clients. Here that information is provided by the electric company and generally covers all openings, type of insultation and equipment in the house. I've had purchases changed due to low ratings. SO it is not uncommon.

This is some GREAT info. Thank you!

OCT

2006

Thanks to all who commented on this. I'd like to hear more about "affordable housing" Dena, you may be interested in the ECO consultant certification in North Carolina, Susan, and thanks again for the gold star, Maureen :-)

DEC

2007

Michael~

You commented, " I've had purchases changed due to low ratings. " I know what you mean. One of our team members at our Firm jsut told me that a new construction project he's involved in didn't get the rating they had hoped for...and now he is hoping that changes will be made to remedy the problem(s) so that his clients can move forward with their purchase.

Wow JaneAnne! Your original post was back in Oct 06 - look how forward thinking you were! We have 3 HERS raters in our area. I know 2 of them and am meeting for the first time with the third next week. These guys really know their stuff and I understand it is not an easy test to pass. What they can do for homeowners, especially of existing homes, is fantastic. Great post! I'm glad you resurrected it!

SEP

2008

Having these numbers for comparison can be really, really helpful.

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