The State of Colorado has undertaken an aggressive effort to promote the construction of high performance homes through the HERS® Index Score. These efforts include: Promoting the inclusion of the HERS® Index Score in Multiple Listing Service (MLS) listings in Colorado. The Colorado Energy Office’s Green MLS Initiative covers 97% of the residential homes in Colorado. This provides an option to add the HERS® Index Score as a searchable feature. Highlighting the HERS® Index Score in the Colorado Energy Saving Mortgage Incentive, which provides greater benefits as home buyers move towards next zero Developing consumer information and outreach around the HERS® Index and builders that offer a net-zero or near net-zero energy package. To promote and track the market trends of new homes labeled in Colorado with a HERS® Index Score RESNET and the Colorado Energy Office has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Under the agreement it is the intent of the Colorado Energy Office, under this agreement, to provide quarterly and yearly reporting to the real estate professional community and the public on the new homes market using the HERS® Index Score. The intent of this agreement is to raise consumers’ knowledge of new home performance using the HERS® Index. Through the agreement RESNET will provide a quarterly and yearly review of all new homes in Colorado that have received a RESNET HERS® Index Score. This information would include on a statewide basis: The number of new and existing homes that received a HERS® rating The average HERS® Index Score of the new homes The numbers of new homes built with a HERS® Index Score of 50-26, 25-1, and 0 or net-zero. It is expected that this agreement will serve as a model to other States that would like to better understand the value of energy efficiency information in their new home industry.
