ACEEE Calls for Home Energy Info in Real Estate Listings

Including home energy efficiency scores in online real estate listings would help buyers to buy more efficient homes with lower energy costs, finds a first-of-its-kind study released by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). By ensuring that home energy information is presented to buyers, state and local policies would guarantee their home energy efficiency needs are met. ACEEE says the development would ensure state and local policies incentivize sellers to make home efficiency upgrades and builders to construct more-efficient new homes. The energy efficiency scores would include simple home energy score (HES), an HES along a continuum (line) from inefficient to efficient, an estimated annual home energy cost, an estimated annual home energy costs plus HES along a continuum or a HES for only above-average homes (simulating a voluntary labeling programme). According to ACEEE, “Prospective home buyers have a lot of information at their fingertips, but usually they know little about the energy efficiency of the homes they’re considering. Just getting the right information in front of people can make big differences in their choices. If we can help buyers find efficient homes, we can really stimulate demand for them.”