The US Department of Energy (DOE) Efficient New Homes Program (ENH) (formerly Zero Energy Ready Home) has released training requirements for new single- and multi-family home programs for homes permitted on or after January 1, 2026. The following training videos and associated quizzes are posted on the RESNET® Training Portal: Efficient New Homes v2 Orientation Training (formerly ZERH) This orientation training is ONLY required for HERS® Raters, RFIs, and HERS Modelers who did not complete the original “DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Certification” training on the RESNET Training Portal in 2024. Efficient New Homes Single Family v2, (Rev 3) Update Training All single-family homes permitted on or after January 1, 2026, and pursuing DOE ENH certification are required to use ENH v2, Revision 3. RESNET HERS Raters, RFIs, and HERS Modelers must complete this training and successfully pass the quiz at the end to submit ENH v2, Revision 3 certified homes to RESNET after February 17, 2026. Efficient New Homes Multifamily v2, (Rev 2) Update Training All multifamily units permitted on or after January 1, 2026, and pursuing ENH certification are required to use ENH Multifamily Version 2, Revision 2. RESNET HERS Raters, RFIs and HERS Modelers certifying homes to ENH Multifamily Version 2, Revision 2 will be required to complete this training and successfully pass the quiz to continue submitting ENH multifamily homes after February 17, 2026. ENERGY STAR® Multifamily New Construction Program Changes Revision 05 of the Energy Star Multifamily New Construction (MFNC) program includes a requirement that townhouses permitted on or after January 1, 2026, are no longer eligible to participate in MFNC. Townhouses must be certified under the Single-Family New Homes (SFNH) Program. HERS Raters should ensure that any townhouse projects pursuing ENERGY STAR certification and receiving a permit on or after January 1, 2026, are in compliance with the SFNH requirements. RESNET will be implementing a Building Registry validation to ensure that townhouses with permit dates in 2026 can’t be submitted with an MFNC version of ENERGY STAR.
