Eligibility Requirements

• Homes can be individually or master metered, electric and/or gas customers of the Sponsors and may be eligible for additional Program incentives based on heat type requirements. Multi-family units sharing a master meter are eligible for participation, under the ENERGY STAR® multi-family guidelines.
• Single-family units are defined as either detached or up to and including four attached units. Five or more attached units are classified as multi-family. A multi-family project must be five stories or below and residentially permitted to qualify.
• Mixed-use (Residential/C&I) Buildings may participate if they are permitted in the commercial use group as long as they fall within the EPA's policy on qualifying units in multi-family buildings.
• AHRI equipment numbers must be reported for all heating and cooling systems. Program participants should ask their contractors for AHRI certification numbers on the systems they install and provide that information to their HERS Rater.
• Must have a bath fan rated for continuous use < 1.5 sones and controlled by a 24-hour programmable timer or equivalent mechanical ventilation system. (Comply with ASHRAE 62.2)
• Homes with HVAC ducted systems have a leakage rate at or below 6 CFM to outdoors per 100 sq. ft. of conditioned floor area.
• Proof of utilization of Manual J as outlined in ENERGY STAR® performance path guidelines for proper system design conditions and sizing of equipment must be provided to the HERS Rater.
• Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) must be installed in at least 80% of all hard-wired, screw-based fixtures in the home and verified by a HERS Rater during final inspection.

All homes participating the 2011 Massachusetts New Homes with ENERGY STAR® Program must comply with the following:

• Compliance with EPA’s ENERGY STAR® for Homes Thermal Bypass Checklist or sections 3 and 5 of the V3 Thermal Enclosure System Rater Checklist.
• ENERGY STAR® qualified appliances (refrigerator and dishwasher,) if installed by builder prior to inspection.
• Installed heating and domestic hot water systems must generate positive energy savings.
• A Thermal Expansion Valve (TXV) or Electronic Expansion Valve (EXV) is required on all cooling systems.
• Envelope leakage must be determined by a RESNET certified HERS Rater using a RESNET approved testing protocol.