HERS® Raters—do you want to know why builders, big and small, choose to build HERS-rated homes? Since July 2019, RESNET has featured a HERS® builder in its Builder of the Month profile series on its consumer website, hersindex.com. Each profile highlights a builder’s perspective on HERS® Rated homes, along with stunning pictures of some homes’ exteriors and interiors. A look at the class of 2020 reveals many commonalities among the builders, including pride in selling HERS® Rated homes, the value of third-party verification of their work, and the benefits of marketing HERS® ratings. Builders of various sizes use the HERS® Index Score on their homes, including the 7th largest bulder in the country, Meritage Homes, and Habitat for Humanty International, with its over 1,200 affilitates nationwide, is the 17th largest homebuilder in U.S. Many builders use the HERS® score to educate their customers on the importance of high performance building methods, such as Missouri builder Hibbs Homes on its Art of Custom podcast. As host Danni Eickenhorst, Director of Sales and Marketing explains “Consumers need to know that they can have a better-built home and that there’s no reason to settle for anything less.” Large production builder Drees Homes, along with custom builders Legacy Homes in Alabama and ICON Custom Builders of Texas agree that with advances in product technology and improvements in homebuilding practices, consumers should expect energy efficient homes as a given. As Alabama’s Legacy Homes President Jeff Korotky puts it, “just as someone going to dinner would expect a restaurant to be clean and serve food that tastes good; homebuyers expect a new home to be energy-efficient and built well.” S&A Homes of Pennsylvania, and Ball Homes serving Kentucky and Tennessee each build hundreds of homes annually and are proud to offer HERS® ratings as third party verification of their homes’ energy efficiency. “We are proud to have each of our homes HERS® scored by an independent 3rd party since it supports our commitment and provides peace of mind to our homeowners,” says S&A HomesOnline Sales & Marketing Manager Janice Glessner. Southern Creek Homes serves the Bryan/College Station, Texas market and proudly displays a 3×3 board inside each home’s entryway showing the HERS® score. Envy Homes, Inc, a custom homebuilder in SE Michigan, participates in a Parade of Homes event with the local county economic development authority to invite potential buyers to see their HERS® rated homes. Owner Dave Nash is also a HERS® Rater, so he understands the marketing advantage of a HERS® rated home. “Building to this standard helps me set Envy apart from other builders in offering my clients with added information about their new home. I think it is very important, if we can as HERS® Raters, provide accurate costing prior to digging a hole for the foundation.” We ended the year with November Builder of the Month Prairieland Homes in Iowa reminding us all that the most important thing a builder can do is make people feel at home. “Not only are our homes beautiful, but we insure they are built with energy efficiency. We are with our customers every step of the way and because we live in the same community as our customers, we continue to be with them after the building process is over,” says Prairieland Homes partner Jake Hanson. “Knowing we’ve done everything we can for our clients is what we do, and that includes HERS® testing. Going green is not just a trend – it is the right thing to do” Here at RESNET, we couldn’t agree more. Click here to read more. And stay tuned for more builder profiles in 2021.
