As the HERS® rating industry prepares to travel to the #RESNET2020 Building Performance Conference in Scottsdale, a group of volunteers will arrive early to participate in a Habitat for Humanity of Central Arizona Build Day on February 22. RESNET and its Emerging Leadership Council are sponsoring the Build Day with approximately 25 RESNET HERS® Raters, partners, and organization staff coming to town early to volunteer for the building activities. According to Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona Sponsor Relations Coordinator Jessica Sepulveda, the build is part of their current plan to build five houses in the spring all within one mile of the cross streets 7th Ave & Buckeye in Phoenix. This will be the second year RESNET has organized volunteers from the rating industry to participate in a local build day prior to the RESNET Conference. Before the 2019 RESNET Building Performance Conference in New Orleans, 15 volunteers helped build a home with around 20 area high school students and a local nonprofit, unCommon Construction. Said RESNET spokesperson Valerie Briggs, “We are excited to partner with Habitat for Humanity of Central Arizona and we look forward to the build day. We see volunteering as a great way to give back to our host city and to encourage energy-efficient construction. We hope to make it an annual tradition for future conferences.” Habitat for Humanity has a long history of building energy-efficient homes. In the current Builder of the Month profile on hersindex.com, Habitat for Humanity International’s Vice President of U.S. Operations Sue Henderson notes that “the (HERS) Index is an incredibly valuable tool to local Habitat organizations across the country. As an affordable home builder, we recognize the cost of home doesn’t start and end with the purchase price – it includes utility and maintenance expenses as well. Many local Habitat organizations use the HERS® Index as a tool to plan the most cost-efficient home for the up-front investment. The HERS® Index has broad recognition as an indicator of efficiency; Habitat homes consistently post low indices, demonstrating our success in building truly efficient, quality homes.” The profile also features the Hartford Area Habitat for Humanity which was recently recognized with the Connecticut Green Building Council’s Residential Award of Honor for constructing its first net-zero energy home with a HERS® Index Score of -7. Habitat for Humanity International is the 17th largest homebuilder in the U.S. closing 4,334 homes in 2018. To date, Habitat has had over 8,300 homes HERS® rated. A special feature of #RESNET2020 is a breakout session on “Habitat and the HERS® Index®: High Performance, Affordable Housing” presented by Molly Berg of Habitat International. For more information on the RESNET2020 Building Performance Conference and to register, visit https://www.resnet.us/conference/scottsdale-2020//
