Service Overview

EnergyStar® Home Certification

Are you building a new home? *The IRS is offering tax credits from $2,000 - $5,000 if you employ some straightforward energy-saving building practices. You can receive the tax credit, own a home which saves money year after year, increase the market value of your home, and gain bragging rights with your friends when you proudly display the Energy Star® Certificate. We are certified third party verifiers for Energy Star®, and will accompany you through the process from start to finish. Its best to contact us early in the design stage so that we can offer guidance to and work with your architect.

* This federal incentive program is currently suspended and awaiting reinstatement.

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Energy Efficiency Mortgages

Are you purchasing a new home or refinancing your existing home? The FHA, VA, Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae all have programs for Energy Efficiency Mortgages and Energy Improvement Mortgages, and these programs have been recently expanded. By definition, you will only qualify if it saves you money.

Contact Home Energy Raters of Illinois to see if you will benefit before your final loan documents are prepared. We will prepare all of the necessary HUD documents for you. Don't miss out on this opportunity, it's an amazingly smooth process and we will help you through the paperwork.

Quick look at Steps to an EEM »

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Home Energy Ratings

The Home Energy Rating System (HERS) has been developed by the National Association of State Energy Officials in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy through EnergyStar®, the National Association of Mortgage Bankers, and a host of other contributors. The system itself is administered by the Residential Energy Services Network, which is responsible for the technical integrity of the system, as well as the training and certification of the technicians that produce the Ratings.

A Home Energy Rating Index is similar to a Miles per Gallon rating of a car or to the Relative Efficiency Rating of an appliance. (Think of the yellow stickers showing how much energy the particular model uses.) When a home is rated, all pertinent aspects, such as size of the home, location, solar orientation, windows and doors, external air leakage, heating and cooling systems, etc. are identified, classified, and recorded. Through a nationally standardized computer analysis of the data, an "Index" is assigned. An Index of 100 is a benchmark which indicates that your home is as energy efficient as a home built to the standards of the 2004 International Energy Efficiency Code. An Index of less than 100 indicates that your home uses less energy than the benchmark. For instance, a home which receives an Index of 80 would use 20% less energy than the benchmark home, while an older less efficient home might have an Index of 130 (signifying that it uses 30% more energy than the benchmark home).

The Rating Report that the client receives states the Index, the anticipated energy costs associated with the home, a cost/benefit improvement analysis which ranks suggested repairs and improvements in the order of their economic benefits, and the anticipated effect of these on the Index of the home. The Report itself is used as necessary documentation when applying for certain energy tax credits, energy efficiency mortgages, energy improvement mortgages, and the like. Home Energy Raters of Illinois, LLC will act as a facilitator for you should you choose to seek the benefits of any of these programs.

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Home Energy Audits

Home Energy Raters of Illinois, LLC also offers an array of home energy audit services.

The Online Energy Audit is a simple low-cost way for you to identify energy wasting conditions that may exist in your home. For the self-starter type who is willing to spend an hour or so compiling information about your home and its historical energy usage, this can be an excellent choice.

A Walk-Through Audit is a more rigorous audit option. A RESNET certified technician will visit your home, and conduct various tests to evaluate your home’s energy efficiency. Diagnostics will include blower door testing and thermal image testing. The walk through audit will take about two hours on-site to complete and will yield a report of suggested repairs or improvements.

A Comprehensive Energy Evaluation is the most extensive and informational energy audit available. This includes a full evaluation of your home, and includes a HERS Index report, as well as appliance safety testing and individual appliance performance testing. If you are serious about improving the energy efficiency of your home using a cost-effective approach, this audit will provide a necessary and scientific blueprint for success. A Comprehensive Energy Evaluation will require approximately four to six hours of on-site inspection time, and approximately 48 hours more for the collected data to be analyzed and the reports to be issued.

About our Comprehensive Energy Evaluation services »

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Energy Star® Home Certification • Energy Efficiency Mortgages • HERS Ratings • Home Energy Audits • Comprehensive Home Energy Audits • HERI Services and Fees