It is time to take stock of what 2023 had in store for the HERS® industry and RESNET. The year brought many challenges, but it also revealed how resilient and adaptable our community is. Despite the anxiety over inflation, the number of homes HERS rated increased in 2023 over the 2022 record-breaking year. 2023 saw our organization and industry in sound health as demonstrated by: • Steady Demand for HERS Ratings – Over 360,000 homes were HERS Rated in 2023 (surpassing the record-breaking homes rated in 2022). • RESNET in Sound Financial Footing – RESNET was able to meet its 2023 budget without government funding. • RESNET Properly Managed – Received clean bill of health from its annual independent financial audit. Notable accomplishments that were achieved in 2023 include: • Exceeded 3.9 million homes HERS rated milestone. • Increased demand for RESNET HERSH20® and Carbon Index ratings. • To guide the organization in its efforts to leverage HERS Index Scores and Carbon Index Scores for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting created a RESNET Executive Director’s ESG Advisory Council composed of representatives of HERS firms and builders. • Increased the number of national production builders using their homes’ HERS Index Scores as part of their ESG reporting, • Began the standard amendment process to amend Its Quality Assurance standard to make It more efficient and cost-effective while enhancing its procedures as the Gold Standard. • Launched a new Quality Assurance App for RESNET Quality Assurance Providers and Quality Assurance Designees (QADs) to enable direct uploads to the RESNET National Registry From field and data tracking for quality assurance and analysis of performance trends across individual HERS Raters, HERS Rating companies, or even regions of the country. • Launched Kibana, a quality assurance data analytics tool with the ability to monitor and analyze HERS data from millions of HERS ratings. • RESNET and the Texas Association of Builders conducted in-person Texas energy code training with all the state’s local home builder associations on HB 3215 which recognized HERS Index ratings as a compliance pathway to the Texas energy code. • RESNET hosted Texas appraiser workshops on valuing HERS Index-rated homes in collaboration with local appraisal associations across the state. • Increased volume of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac green mortgage-backed securities for single-family HERS-rated homes. • HERS Index Scores recognized as a metric in the Structured Finance Association (SFA)™ ESG Disclosures for Structured Products. • RESNET® approved by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as a Home Certification Organization (HCO) for the DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Program. Allows certified RESNET HERS Raters to certify homes for the federal tax credit for energy-efficient homes. • Initiated standard development process for adoption of ANSI candidate standard for calculating embodied carbon in residential building materials. • To recruit diverse new talent to the HERS industry, partnered with the Building Talent Foundation a user-friendly website on carriers in the HERS industry and job openings. • To honor the contribution of women to the HERS industry a RESNET Recognition of Women Pioneers in the HERS Industry was launched. The inaugural class of recipients was highlighted at the 2023 RESNET Conference. • The cohesion of the HERS industry was enhanced with the successful 2023 RESNET Conference. The first in-person RESNET conference in three years. • The HERS industry voice was heard in Washington through visits to U.S. House and Senate offices through the first “RESNET Capitol Hill Day” in which RESNET representatives visited 34 Senate and House Offices from 11 states. These and other accomplishments will be covered in the soon-to-be-released 2023 RESNET Annual Report. We could not achieve these notable gains without the contributions of the HERS Raters and Providers, builders, strategic allies, program sponsors, and the allied RESNET network. Together we achieved much in 2023 to celebrate, but the team at RESNET is not content to rest on its laurels. The RESNET Board of Directors has set the audacious goal of a million homes annually being rated by the end of 2028. To achieve this goal the RESNET Board has launched an ambitious set of initiatives beginning in 2024. They are: The team at RESNET looks forward to working with you in embarking on this journey.
