ENERGY STAR® certified homes out-perform the current residential energy codes. That means you can...

• Save money on utility bills,
• Enjoy a more comfortable living environment with better indoor air quality
• Help protect the environment

ENERGY STAR homes can include a variety of energy efficient features -- such as effective insulation, high-performance windows, tight construction and ductwork, efficient heating and cooling equipment and ENERGY STAR qualified lighting and appliances.

How do I get an ENERGY STAR® rating?

The best way to know that your new house is built to the current ENERGY STAR standards and receive an ENERGY STAR certificate is through independent verification. An accredited independent Home Energy Ratings System (HERS) Rating Provider is required to verify this certification.

A HERS Rater will work with your builder from the design phase all the way through final construction, acting in a consultative manner to help ensure that your new home meets the required Program guidelines.

• Design Phase: The Rater will review your home’s construction plans to calculate the home’s energy performance as compared to the local residential code. During this step, the HERS Rater analyzes the planned home’s energy performance by using energy modeling software. The Rater takes into account information such as orientation, shading area, proposed HVAC (heating and cooling) efficiency ratings, insulation levels and water heating equipment efficiencies. This analysis yields a projected, pre-construction HERS Index score. The score indicates how much better the home will perform than a simulated reference home. The HERS Rater uses the results from the analysis to identify the most cost-effective energy efficiency upgrades that will achieve an ENERGY STAR certification.
  
  Note: The Michigan Building Energy Code changed in late 2008 and the ENERGY STAR standards will change in 2011. Codes and standards continue to ‘raise the bar’ on what is considered best practice. With each change, there comes a new challenge and opportunity to improve the energy efficiency of newly constructed houses. We encourage builders of new homes to consider energy efficiency in every step of the process; it is far easier and cheaper to build with maximum efficiency now, than to retrofit later.
  
  
• Construction Phase: During construction, the HERS Rater will perform onsite home inspections and testing to verify that the home is built to the agreed specifications and will earn the ENERGY STAR label. You will be responsible for contacting your assigned rater to schedule testing for your home.
  
  
• Final Certification: The final mandatory inspection consists of a blower door test (to test the leakiness of the house) and a duct blaster test (to test the leakiness of any ductwork). Using data from these tests, your HERS Rater will determine the final HERS Index score for your new home. If your home meets all of the requirements of the Program it then becomes certified as an ENERGY STAR Rated home. The HERS Rater is responsible for providing you with an ENERGY STAR certificate and label.

Get an ENERGY STAR® rating, and get some cash

There is an added cost to have a new home certified as ENERGY STAR rated. To assist with this cost, DTE Energy's Your Energy Savings® Program offers rebates to off-set part of that certification cost. The rebate is based on the square footage of the house*:

MichCon Natural Gas Customers = $100 rebate per 1,000 square feet of house size to a maximum of $350

Detroit Edison Electric Customers = $100 rebate per 1,000 square feet of house size to a maximum of $350

Combination customers of BOTH MichCon and Detroit Edison = $200 rebate per 1,000 square feet of house size, to a maximum rebate of $700 per house.

* House size is above grade finish square footage and does not include the basement or garage areas, even if the basement is a walkout or finished living area.

Reserve your rebate

Rebates are limited to the first 5 houses per builder per program calendar year, subject to Program funding. New construction must have substantially begun after January 1, 2010 and have finished with a HERS Rating in 2010.

Rebates can be reserved in advance and are paid upon completion of the final HERS Rating.

To reserve your rebate, complete this form*.

For more information about the New Construction Rebate Program, please contact our Program Administrator at 866.796.0512.

For more about the ENERGY STAR standards see www.energystar.gov

For more about the HERS Raters and their process, see www.natresnet.org

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