Earth Advantage

Conceptualized by Earth Advantage Institute and supported by funding from the Energy Trust of Oregon, the Energy Performance Score is a home energy rating system similar to the miles-per-gallon (MPG) rating for the auto industry.

The EPS enables homebuyers to directly compare energy consumption between homes while offering homeowners a natural market incentive to upgrade their homes as much as possible. The EPS methodology was validated during a 2008 pilot program conducted on 300 existing homes by Earth Advantage Institute and partner Conservation Services Group, with the support of Energy Trust of Oregon.

The EPS is already in use on a voluntary basis for new homes in Oregon and for existing homes in a city of Seattle pilot program.

This comprehensive initiative has attracted national interest. The City of Chicago, City of Houston, Clinton Climate Initiative, U.S. Department of Energy, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development are all assessing the final recommendations from the pilot report issued in August 2009 (see link below).

EAI’s pilot program report details the best protocol, audit procedures, software modeling tools, price points, and consumer messaging for wide scale deployment of the EPS performance metric. The report also outlines the training curriculum developed by EAI that is needed for the trade contractor network, agencies, cities, and state energy offices.

Earth Advantage has created a scalable pilot program infrastructure for municipalities and states that enables rapid deployment of training resources, home audits, education and a web portal that matches homeowners with qualified energy contractors. For more information on this program, please see our pilot resource page.