About HERS Raters
Home Energy Raters are energy
professionals who are trained
and certified to evaluate a
home’s features and prepare an
energy efficiency rating.
Experienced raters are adept in
assessing a home’s projected
energy performance either from
construction drawings or by
physically inspecting the home.
Raters may develop a wide
variety of technical skills, but
first and foremost they must be
grounded in building science.
Raters produce a rating by
entering the home’s measurements
and specifications into energy
modeling software accredited
through the
Residential Energy Services
Network (RESNET®). Raters
must be experienced at
performing site inspections and
diagnosing problems and
opportunities using a blower
door to test the tightness of
the home and a duct blaster to
test duct leakage. To keep
technically sharp and maintain
knowledge of the latest building
science, raters are required to
acquire a minimum number of
continuing education credits to
earn re-certification.
Energy ratings are currently
used for:
- Verification of a home’s
energy performance for EPA’s
ENERGY STAR Homes Program
- Verification of energy
savings for energy efficient
mortgages (EEMs)
- Performance option for
energy code compliance in 16
states
- Verification of energy
performance in state utility
benefit program funded
residential energy efficiency
programs in 9 states
- Verification of federal
income tax credits for builders
The HERS industry relies on a
nationally established system of
quality assurance (QA) and
oversight to ensure that raters
meet minimum qualifications and
follow established protocols for
performing energy ratings. This
QA system allows housing
stakeholders such as lenders,
realtors, low-income housing
developers, and utility
companies to trust the validity
of energy ratings to establish
the energy efficiency of a home.
In theory any certified rater
should be able to reach the same
rating results reached by any
other rater.
If you are interested in
learning more about the energy
raters, we recommend that you
start your research on our
website and also visiting the
RESNET website. The
Northeast HERS Alliance supports
RESNET’s mission to “increase
the opportunity for ownership of
high performance buildings.”
Before entering the field, we
encourage you to become familiar
with what rater training entails
and the level of technical
knowledge required to pass the
National Rater exam. On our
website you will learn the
requirements and process for
becoming certified. In addition,
you should investigate the cost
of required equipment. NEHERS is
an educational organization and
Accredited HERS Rater TRAINING
Provider, not an Accredited HERS
RATING provider, so you will
have to do the leg work of
planning how you will complete
the certification process, and
establish through which
accredited HERS Provider you
will become certified.
Last but not least, if you are
not already employed by an
organization that performs
ratings, we recommend that you
develop a few good ideas for
attracting clients once you are
certified. While existing
companies are likely to hire new
raters in the coming years, many
certified raters will choose
self-employment and will market
their services independently.
Once you have learned as much as
you can about the rating field
and perhaps have even drafted a
business plan, there is a
greater chance that you can
successfully begin your rating
business and thrive thereafter.
In this age of global climate
change, diminishing fossil fuel
supplies, and heavy reliance on
foreign oil supply, the rating
field is an exciting one to
enter. We hope you will consider
taking our training, attending
our monthly conference calls,
and of course, joining NEHERS to
support and strengthen this
important field.
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