The City of Fayetteville, Arkansas has joined the ranks of other local governments that are requiring all new homes to be energy rated and issued a HERS® Index Score as part of the jurisdiction’s building energy code. The Fayetteville City Council enacted and the Mayor signed Ordinance 5512 that adopted the 2009 version of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) with the additional requirement that all new homes be energy rated and issued a RESNET HERS® Index Score. The code requires that all new residential construction have a HERS® Index Score issued by an independent certified RESNET Home Energy Rater. The ordinance also requires that a sticker provided by the City be posted near the front entrance of the new home that indicated the projected monthly energy costs that were projected by the home energy rating. The City of Fayetteville’s action was based upon the analysis and recommendations of the Residential Building Code Task Force of the City’s Sustainability and Strategic Planning Department. The task force was composed of builders, architects, and energy performance consultants. The group undertook a energy savings and cost effectiveness analysis of the following options: 2003 IECC 2009 IECC 2012 IECC Version 3 of ENERGY STAR The task force concluded that in terms of the cost of implementing the new energy code with the energy savings that a homeowner would realize that the code should be based on the 2009 IECC. The HERS® Index requirement was recommended because the “HERS® would provide a common denominator for all homebuyers and contractors to measure performance and will ensure that construction techniques for all these systems are sound.” The RESNET HERS® Index is the industry standard by which a home’s energy efficiency is measured. The HERS® or Home Energy Rating System was developed by RESNET and is the nationally recognized system for inspecting and calculating a home’s energy performance. Certified RESNET Home Energy Raters conduct inspections to verify a home’s energy performance and determine what improvements can be made to increase it. For more information click on RESNET HERS® Index Other local governments that have incorporated the HERS® Index into the building code include: City of Boulder, Colorado County of Boulder, Colorado City of Sante Fe, New Mexico Town of Taos, New Mexico Brookhaven, New York For more information on the City of Fayetteville’s HERS® Index requirement click on Fayetteville Energy Code
