Going green on the Parade of Homes

You might notice a little more green on this spring’s Parade of Homes. Out of the 383 homes in this spring’s tour, 228 will feature additional signage that notes these homes as built by Designated Green Path Builders.

Designated Green Path Builders commit to energy test a minimum of 75% of their new single-family homes and to attend annual training on green building. These builders are considered industry leaders in energy efficient residential home construction

The new signage will help consumers identify builders that have made this commitment to building energy efficient homes. While all new homes will save consumers money in energy efficiency, these energy tested homes with Minnesota Green Path’s home performance reports can tell consumers how much money they may save.

The new signage speaks to what’s at the heart of Minnesota’s Green Path program. Green Path provides documentation – a Home Performance Report (HPR) – that displays the home’s HERS index or Home Energy Rating System index.

The HERS Index was created by Residential Energy Service Network (RESNET) in order to give homeowners and buyers a standard by which they could measure the energy efficiency of houses they currently own or are planning to buy. The lower a home’s HERS Index Score is, the better its efficiency.