Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) completed the rollout of version 3 of its Energy Star for New Homes program, and more HVAC contractors became involved in this process to certify efficient homes.
A newly built Energy Star-certified home provides a homeowner with a residence that is more efficient than a house built to code. Now that the third version of Energy Star for New Homes has been fully implemented for more than a year, the agency is pleased with the continued success of the program, according to Brian Ng, communications director, Energy Star Homes.
"The Energy Star Certified Homes program averaged about 180 new partners a month in 2012, and most of the top production builders in the country are committed to building Energy Star-certified homes," he said. "Energy Star continues to see great success of the V3 requirements through the number of Energy Star-certified homes that are built and the number of partners committed to building, verifying, and sponsoring Energy Star-certified homes. As of the end of the third quarter of 2012, there have been more than 72,000 Energy Star-certified homes built nationwide in every state and the District of Columbia, and it's estimated that a total of 96,000 homes will earn the Energy Star label in 2012."
HVAC contractors are required to have specific credentials to work on Energy Star homes, and approximately 900 HVAC contractors nationwide are now credentialed.
