Building a Green Maryland : Maryland Green Building Lawyer & Attorney : Megan Reuwer : O’Malley, Miles, Nylen & Gilmore Law Firm : MD Green Building, Sustainability

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The EPA has recently released new guidelines to accompany ENERGY STAR New Homes Version 3.0 (also known as ENERGY STAR 2011), which will soon go into effect (see the implementation section to follow for more details).  According to the EPA, version 3.0 is designed to address several key areas that were overlooked in previous versions of the ENERGY STAR program. Several ways in which Version 3.0 meets these problem areas are by:

• Requiring third-party inspectors to enforce quality control of installation and commissioning;
• Instituting mandatory requirements for efficient hot water delivery;
• Requiring adoption of the Advanced Lighting Package or use of 80% screw-in ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs; and
• Penalizing "wasteful largeness" by requiring larger-than-average homes to achieve a more stringent HERS index threshold for ENERGY STAR qualification.

To qualify a home under Version 3.0, a home must meet the requirements of four checklists:

1. Thermal Enclosure System Rater Checklist
2. HVAC System Quality Installation Contractor Checklist
3. HVAC System Quality Installation Rater Checklist
4. Water Management System Builder Checklist (or Indoor airPLUS Verification Checklist)

Copies of the checklists are available on EPA’s website via this link.

To be eligible for qualification, a home must also meet the other requirements listed in the national program requirements document, including verification of all requirements by a Rater (the person completeing the third-party inspections required for qualification; this person may be a certified Home Energy Rater, BOP Inspector, or an equivalent designation as determined by a Verification Oversight Organization such as RESNET).

Implementation Schedule for Version 3.0:

Condos and Apartments in Multi-family buildings: Multi-family buildings may take advantage of an extended implementation schedule if they have permits issued before January 1, 2011 and are completed by January 1, 2012. This means that they can be qualified under the older version of ENERGY STAR (2.0: 2006 Guidelines).

Single-family homes: Some single family homes can also be qualified under the older version of ENERGY STAR (2.0: 2006 Guidelines), IF they have permits issued BEFORE January 1, 2011 AND  they are completed by July 1, 2011. If they have permits issued before January 1, 2011, but are not completed until the period between July 2, 2011 and January 1, 2012, then they must meet version 2.5 (this is a transitional version which is composed of the version 3.0 ENERGY STAR Reference Design coupled with the Air Barriers and Air Sealing sections of the Thermal Enclosure Checklist. Under version 2.5, the other inspection checklists shall be completed, but not enforced). If a single family home is not completed before January 1, 2012, then is must adhere to version 3.0.

All homes: If permits are issued AFTER January 1, 2011, and building is completed prior to January 1, 2012, then they must meet version 2.5

All homes: If permits are issued AFTER January 1, 2012, all buildings must adhere to version 3.0.

For more information, be sure to check out the EPA's website on the ENERGY STAR program via this link.