
The Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR Homes program promotes the construction of new homes that consume at least 30% less energy than homes meeting the 1993 Model Energy Code. Thus far, builders participating in the program have needed an individual Home Energy Rating System (HERS) rating for each house certified under the program. Tract-home builders have been reluctant to participate in the program, however, because of the time and cost of HERS ratings, as well as the uncertainty about precisely what measures their homes will need to meet the ENERGY STAR guidelines. To make it easier for large production builders to participate in the program, we have developed packages of energy-efficiency measures that builders can apply to their homes, along with field inspection and testing, in order to receive ENERGY STAR certificates for those homes. This talk describes the development of packages that are as cost-effective as possible for home buyers, while balancing builders concerns about the cost and availability of energy-efficient products.