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Why Become a Certified HERS Rater

Whether you have an established business in the building performance industry, or are transitioning into a new career field, adding RESNET Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Rater certification to your list of skills and services will create opportunities to succeed in the energy efficiency industry.

 

Qualifications of a Certified HERS Rater

The RESNET HERS Rater certification is the premier designation for residential energy professionals. RESNET Raters are trained to assess every aspect of a residential structure for its relevant energy efficiency, such as insulated building assemblies and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Additionally, Raters are trained to test the building shell for air infiltration and duct systems for leakage using specialty diagnostic testing equipment like blower doors and duct blasters.

HERS Rater performing duct leakage testing on a home.

HERS Rater performing duct leakage testing with a duct tester fan and manometer (pressure gauge).

 

Most importantly, RESNET Raters are qualified to rate a home by entering home energy efficiency data into energy modeling software like Ekotrope and REM/Rate. This allows them to generate a variety of reports on the home. Selected reports can show anticipated energy costs and consumption, which particular components of the home are using the most energy, and what improvements would be most beneficial and cost effective.

Working as a Certified HERS Rater

Using these skills, HERS Raters are able to help new construction home builders and existing home clients make decisions on how to improve the energy efficiency of homes in an intelligent and affordable manner.

Certified HERS Raters are able to:

  • Produce a RESNET HERS Index for a home, which gives home builders, owners and buyers easy to understand information about how their home performs relative to others
  • Verify compliance with the ENERGY STAR ® Qualified New Homes program, as well as other energy efficiency programs such as LEED for Homes ®, NAHB Green, and more…
  • Earn builders the 2005 EPAct $2000 Builder Home Energy Efficiency Tax Credit and the updated 45L Tax Credit from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
  • Prove energy code compliance for new construction projects by performing the diagnostic testing and performance energy modeling requirements of the 2009 IECC, 2012 IECC and others
  • Earn homeowners, builders and other clients valuable State and utility rebate incentives, which in certain areas can add up to thousands of dollars
  • Qualify a home for an Energy Efficiency Mortgage (EEM) or Energy Improvement Mortgage (EIM), which allows homeowners to easily finance energy improvements, saving them considerable money in total mortgage and utility costs over the term of the mortgage

 

In addition to these attractive skills and services that a Rater can provide, RESNET HERS Raters are the only energy efficiency professionals that are required to join a Provider organization, such as BER. A QA Provider performs Quality Assurance (QA) reviews of the Raters’ work to ensure that they are performing their ratings in accordance with the RESNET Mortgage Industry National Home Energy Rating System Standards. This additional layer of QA helps Raters sell their services as being truly 3rd-party, giving their clients confidence in the accuracy of the work.