The Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET; www.resnet.us), a national standards-making body for building energy efficiency rating systems, has partnered with the independent non-profit Architecture 2030 (www.architecture2030.org) to align RESNET’s Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Index with 2030 Challenge energy-reduction targets.
Architecture 2030’s goal is to achieve dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through building design and construction. The 2030 Challenge, the brainchild of sustainable architect Edward Mazria, asks the architecture and building communities to voluntarily reduce the energy use of renovated and new buildings and homes by 50 percent and to work toward fossil fuel-free, carbon-neutral building by 2030.
The 2030 Challenge has established fossil fuel and energy reduction targets of 60 percent by 2010, 70 percent by 2015, 80 percent by 2020, 90 percent by 2025, and 100 percent carbon-neutral by 2030.
The HERS Index is widely used throughout the home building industry and is recognized by the federal government, the Energy Star program, and the U.S. mortgage industry as the accepted standard for evaluating the energy efficiency of homes. In 2007, more than 165,000 homes were rated using the HERS Index. The Index ranges from zero (a net-zero energy home) to 150; the average American home rates 100.
The 2030 Challenge baseline of 50 percent now correlates to a HERS of 65 while the 100 percent carbon-neutral goal correlates to a HERS of zero. “It puts the 2030 Challenge in a measurable metric that is used for labeling homes according to their energy efficiency,” says Steve Baden, executive director for RESNET. Builders working toward meeting the 2030 Challenge can use a home’s HERS inspection to indicate their progress.
Visit Architecture 2030’sweb site for more information about the 2030 Challenge, to commit yourself to its energy reduction goals, and to see who in your community has joined the challenge.
