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Advice provided by: Rob Freeman Jr, LEED AP, Green-Buildings.com

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Hi Barry,

Great question. Home Star legislation, if passed, will have a significant impact on the HVAC industry.

For those that are not totally up to date, the HOME STAR Energy Retrofit Act, also known as 'Cash for Caulkers,' is a proposed nationwide incentive program for home energy performance retrofit projects. It is intended to encourage homeowners to invest in improving the energy efficiency of their homes.

A version of the Home Star act has recently passed in the House of Representatives and a revised version was was introduced into the Senate on May 27, 2010. A vote in the Senate is expected soon.

In terms of BPI Certification, it is important to understand that under the current proposed Home Star act incentives for homeowners will be split into two levels - Gold Star and Silver Star.

Briefly, the Silver Star program will consist of rebates of 50 percent of the cost for simple upgrades, i.e. new insulation, duct sealing, or water heaters. The Gold Star level, however, will be much more comprehensive and provide a much higher level of homeowner incentive amounts. Under gold star, contractors evaluate the entire house, recommending a wide suite of improvements to realize 20 percent energy savings.

As you might expect, since Gold Star requires contractors to conduct comprehensive energy audits and also potentially offers significantly higher rebates, the current Home Star legislation proposes that for Gold Star projects the energy audits and home assessments may only be performed by individuals with certification. Specifically, the legislation requires that a Building Performance Institute (BPI) Building Analyst Certified Professional perform the audit. In addition, Energy efficiency improvement measures may only be installed by a BPI GOLD STAR Accredited Contracting Company.

Furthermore, while SILVER STAR improvements may be implemented by any appropriately licensed and insured contractor, every participating contractor in the program will receive information about opportunities for BPI certification.

More importantly, I assume that since the majority of money in Home Star is targeted to SILVER STAR rebates, there will be strong demand, and hence extensive competition for SILVER STAR projects. Contractors who are forward thinking will obviously want to differentiate themselves from competitors, and so getting BPI Certification, even if you're only going to handle SILVER STAR projects, will certainly help.

To sum it up, for Home Star GOLD programs, you will almost surely need BPI Certification. Even if the government recommends other accreditation organizations, BPI remains the leader in this industry and BPI Certification will remain a "gold" standard. For SILVER STAR projects, BPI certification will not be needed by law. However, it would appear to be a smart business decision to get certified, if one is serious about reaping the benefits of Home Star legislation.

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