When it comes to reducing energy consumption in buildings, residential homes play a leading role. The federal government took steps to make homes more efficient and announced version 2 (V2) of its Zero Energy Ready Homes (ZERH) certification program.

ZERH was launched in 2013, and the program has set energy and environmental performance benchmarks for new residential construction. Now the Department of Energy (DOE) wants to raise the bar, and it is calling V2 “the most significant overhaul of DOE’s energy and environmental performance benchmarks in history.”

Since its inception, over 12,000 new homes have been ZERH certified. According to the DOE, these homes can be 40%-50% more energy-efficient than a typical new home.

The DOE wants to improve on that performance and set the stage for future growth of zero-energy homes. With that goal in mind, ZERH V2 is intended to help homebuilders keep pace with the growing demand for these kinds of homes and up-to-speed with a rapidly evolving market, including new technologies and construction processes designed to improve efficiency and fight climate change.

ZERH V2 includes several features that will make homes even more energy efficient. The updated certification standards:

• Include making homes “ready” for high-efficiency electric technologies for space heating, water heating and electric vehicles
• Address issues of insulation by aligning insulation levels with the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code
• Take air quality into consideration, incorporating the EPA’s indoor air quality standards, known as the Indoor airPLUS program
• Expands the use of solar photovoltaic-ready features so new homes can easily accommodate a PV system should the owner opt to have one installed

V2 also maintains a tiered relationship with the EPA’s ENERGY STAR Single Family New Home program, an energy-efficiency certification program for new single-family homes, similar to the program of the same name for energy-efficient appliances.

V2 boosts the efficiency threshold for ZERH certification. Qualifying homes will generally have Energy Rating Index scores in the low to upper 40s.