A Look at the Most Common Home Energy Rating Systems
Last Updated: Mar 10, 2025We spend a lot of time in our homes—it’s where we play, eat, rest, connect with family, and more. It makes sense that we want our homes to be comfortable and beautiful, and even better if the utility costs to power our homes are low. An energy-efficient home achieves all of these benefits.
While the benefits of living in a more energy-efficient home are clear, figuring out what that means in real life can be difficult. Green home rating systems and standards or certification programs can help. These programs are tools for homeowners (and those looking to build, buy, or sell homes) to understand and achieve a healthier, more efficient, and more comfortable home. But understanding what these systems and certifications mean can be another challenge. Here are some of the top home energy rating systems and certifications.
Table of Contents
- Home Energy Rating System (HERS)
- ENERGY STAR Certified Homes
- R-2000 Homes
- Leadership in Energy and Environmental (LEED) Homes
- Passive House Homes
- Net-Zero Energy Homes
- Living Building Challenge Homes
- Bottom Line
Home Energy Rating System (HERS)
The Residential Energy Services network developed the Home Energy Rating System (HERS) to rate the energy efficiency of any home. HERS ranks homes with a single score, from 0 to 150, with lower number ratings indicating more energy-efficient homes. The “Reference Home,” meaning a standard home built to code, has a score of 100. The average resale home in the United States has a rating of about 130. A home that is considered very efficient comes in with a rating of 60 or below. A house that produces all the energy that it consumes—called a net-zero energy home— would receive a score of zero.
If you’re looking to build, sell, or buy a home, the HERS system is a great way to understand a home’s energy use. Lower numbers on the HERS system can contribute to higher resale value because the buyer knows about the energy efficiency value they are gaining. There are currently over 2.6 million homes in the United States with a HERS rating. Given that there are over 70 million single-family homes, though, that’s less than four percent—but the trend is growing.
ENERGY STAR Certified Homes
The ENERGY STAR program is run by the U.S. government to help consumers understand and gain access to more energy-efficient appliances, homes, and other buildings. ENERGY STAR certified homes are at least 10 percent more energy-efficient than homes built to code, with average energy efficiency being 20 percent better than standard built homes. These efficiencies can help homeowners save $250 a year on average.
While ENERGY STAR certified homes are better than standard homes built to code, several certifications go further than Energy Star certified homes. These standards and certifications can help homeowners achieve maximum home comfort with very low, or even no, heating and electricity costs for operation.
R-2000 Homes
R-2000 is an energy efficiency standard and certification program developed by Natural Resources Canada. While R-2000 was developed over 35 years ago, its most recent update happened in 2012. Homes built to the most current R-2000 standard are typically 50 percent more efficient than homes built to code. R-2000 homes result in significant improvement over ENERGY STAR certified homes in terms of efficiency and energy savings.
Living Building Challenge Homes
The Living Building Challenge (LBC) is founded on the idea that buildings and construction can make the world better through regenerative design. Like LEED, the LBC system uses standards that measure several aspects of sustainability. In the LBC system, these measures are called “petals,” with the analogy that “the ideal built environment should function as cleanly and efficiently as a flower.” The Energy petal is required, and it goes the furthest in terms of energy savings: buildings must supply 105 percent of their energy use through on-site renewable energy. In addition, certified projects must store excess energy on-site for resiliency.
Unlike LEED, which awards points during the design and building processes, the Living Building Challenge is a standard based on building performance—and the thresholds are considerably more rigorous than LEED’s. An LBC building can only achieve certification after it has been documented to meeting operation standards for at least one year. LBC standards are applied across a range of commercial and residential buildings (see this Zero-Energy certified Birch House).
Bottom Line
Energy-efficient homes offer comfort, cost-savings, and higher resale value. It’s no surprise there are multiple ways to go about measuring and certifying the energy efficiency and sustainability of homes.
How far do you want to go? As you decide which approach makes sense for you, some inspiration from real homes can help. For example, here is a home in Alexandria, VA, that combines Passive House principles with a classic American four-square home design with a beautiful result. And here is an example of a net-zero home in Massachusetts.
No matter which system you use to improve your home’s efficiency, your efforts will pay off. A more energy-efficient home will help keep you and your family comfortable and help you save on the ongoing costs of running your home.
Kate Knuth
Dr. Kate Knuth is founder, strategist, and writer at Democracy and Climate LLC; and a fellow at the University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment. Kate was the first chief resilience officer for the City of Minneapolis and founding director of the Boreas Leadership Program. She served six years in the Minnesota House of Representatives, where she championed clean energy, climate, and toxic chemical policy reform policy. Kate also served six years on the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board. She earned a PhD from the University of Minnesota, a MSc from Oxford University, and a BA from the University of Chicago. She was a Fulbright Fellow in Norway.
