2024 Housing Innovation Awards Part Six: Most Certified Homes Award

Awarded to the builder with the most certified homes in the calendar year.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy Building Technologies Office

The Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) program kicked off in October by honoring some of the leading builder partners in the program at the Housing Innovation Awards (HIA), held at the Energy and Environmental Building Alliance (EEBA) High-Performance Home Builder Summit. The 2024 awards recognized 24 award-winning projects from across the country. In addition, six grand winners were announced and recognized for their projects and leadership in supporting DOE’s overarching goals .

Most Certified Homes

Awarded to the builder with the most certified homes in the calendar year.

Most Certified Homes

After becoming the first national production builder to commit to 100% ZERH-certified homes across all divisions by 2025, it didn’t take long for Beazer Homes to make some noise within the program. With 1,234 certified ZERH homes in the calendar year, Beazer Homes won the 2024 Most Certified Homes award. In late October, Beazer hosted at a ZERH community in Parkville, Maryland, where they demonstrated the behind-the-wall building science and innovation of Zero Energy Ready Homes to media, realtors, and industry stakeholders. Carolyn Snyder, DOE’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Buildings and Industry, spoke at the event highlighting Beazer’s commitment and leadership and the importance of partnerships and collaboration between government, builders, and innovators.

“Beazer, in making its commitment to ensuring that by the end of 2025, every home we build will meet the requirements of the Zero Energy Ready Home program, changed our course of business. Beazer homes are quickly approaching the most efficient levels of construction possible utilizing conventional building materials and practices.”- Builder

Hampton Hills

Project Address: Ellicott City, MD
Conditioned Square Footage: 5,047 sqft
Number of Bedrooms: 6 Beds
Number of Bathrooms: 5.0 Baths
Number of Floors Above Grade: 2 Floors Above Grade
Home Type: Production
Climate Zone Temperature: Mixed
Climate Zone Humidity: Humid

WITH PV

HERS Index with PV: 4 HERS (PV)
Average Monthly Energy Bill PV: $33
Annual Energy Cost Savings with PV: $5,450
30 Year Savings with PV: $228,000
Built By
Beazer Homes
Profile | Website

Key Features

All-electric home
Compact (core) plumbing design
Electric Vehicle Charger Installed or Wired for Charger
Heat pump water heater
High-efficiency variable-speed heat pump
Photovoltaics
Battery storage
Raised-heel trusses
Sensor controls for better indoor air quality
ACH 50 < 2.5 or CFM50/SF of enclosure ≤ 0.25

SEE THE POSTER

Updated Program Documents

DOE releases updated program documents annually for the Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) program that incorporate changes and clarifications to program requirements, many of which result from dialogue with the program’s builders and raters. The updated program Versions/Revisions will be required for projects with permit dates on or after January 1, 2025. The ZERH program has also released Policy Record documents for both the Single Family and Multifamily programs, which detail the major updates included in these revised documents and the rationale behind the changes. A webinar highlighting these changes and their impact on program compliance is available here.

Article posted by:

Levi Gwaltney

Levi Gwaltney is the Editor In Chief of Las Cruces Digest. The Editor makes editorial and posting decisions regarding content published on this site. In most cases, the Editor makes little if any contribution to content published, and takes no credit for the content of republished posts. If available, the source or author of posts is provided at the top of the article.