Home energy ratings date back to 1981, when a group of mortgage industry leaders set up the National Shelter Industry Energy Advisory Council. The Council’s goal was to establish a way to measure the monetary savings attributable to the energy efficient features of a home with the goal of crediting the energy efficiency of a home in the mortgage loan. The result was the establishment of Energy Rated Homes of America, a national non-profit organization. Energy mortgages also date back to the early 1980s when Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Affairs, Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Veterans Administration (VA) all adopted energy mortgage programs. These programs were not widely used for a variety of reasons: a lack of consumer and lender awareness, no uniform method of efficiency evaluation (except in a few states with home energy rating systems) and complicated program procedures. In April 1995, representatives of the national mortgage industry, the National Association of State Energy Officials, and Energy Rated Homes of America founded the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) to develop national standards for home energy ratings and to create a market for home energy rating systems and energy mortgages. RESNET’s activities were initially guided by a mortgage industry steering committee, composed of the leading national mortgage executives. In 2002 RESNET became incorporated as a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization and Energy Rated Homes of America merged into the organization. RESNET is governed by a Board of Directors. After more than a decade of development, the infrastructure needed to make energy efficiency a standard feature in the nation’s housing market is in place. Across the nation, rating programs, in partnership with the housing industry, are forging the public/private partnerships required for successful home energy rating systems. RESNET is providing the technical, program and marketing assistance required for this effort.
