RESNET® Year in Review
The year 2025 has been a turbulent one for homebuilding but the HERS® industry remains strong and poised for growth.
In January, the HERS industry started off the year with a bang at the RESNET® conference in Tempe, Arizona. During the conference, Steve Baden, RESNET’s Executive Director for 30 years, announced he would be retiring at the end of the year. RESNET’s Board of Directors launched a national search for a new executive director.
The new year also ushered in a new version of ANSI/RESNET/ICC 301 for HERS Ratings. The 2022 version of Standard 301 began voluntary compliance for HERS rated homes permitted on or after January 1st and it became mandatory starting on July 1st.
A new version of ANSI/RESNET/ICC 850 was published in April. The 2025 version of Standard 850, which is used for the calculations of RESNET’s HERSH2O®, whole-house water efficiency program now includes water efficiency ratings for multifamily projects. In addition, RESNET-accredited HERS software provider, Ekotrope, was approved for HERSH2O Ratings. HERS Raters can now complete HERS and HERSH2O Ratings in one software tool.
Despite a slight slowdown in HERS ratings, due to an overall softening of the homebuilding market, the HERSH2O program continued to see growth. Ratings for the program are up almost 17 percent in 2025, compared to 2024.
The turbulence got rough in May with the news that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was going to eliminate the ENERGY STAR® program. RESNET and its industry allies and network worked diligently to preserve the program, but its fate is still uncertain as we head into 2026. RESNET also fought hard to preserve the 45L Energy Efficient New Home Tax Credit. Unfortunately, the sunset date for the tax credit was only extended 6 months from the original proposal of December 31, 2025. Under the One Big Beautiful Bill the tax credit will expire after June 30, 2026.
In May, RESNET also launched a new HERS Industry Advocacy Group. This group is open to RESNET’s network and meets monthly to discuss industry trends and opportunities for advocacy efforts at the state and local level.
In August, RESNET published its first ever mid-year report. The report provided a breakdown of HERS rating activity by state and climate zone. It also featured a never-before-published breakdown of HERS target scores by state and climate zone for the top 10th, 25th and 50th percentiles.
In September, the RESNET Board of Directors approved a new pilot program for offsite construction. This one-year pilot program allows for more efficient HERS inspection options for homes built offsite.
Activity on a new draft standard (1550) which provides a consistent calculation methodology for embodied carbon also saw significant progress in 2025 with two rounds of public comments wrapping up by October. This new standard is expected to be finalized in 2026.
To bring more awareness to state and local energy and water efficiency incentive programs, RESNET has created a webpage to track them. The page also contains a form that can be filled out to have new programs added. This important initiative will provide builders and HERS Raters with a resource to ensure they are capturing incentives for the energy and water efficiency of their homes.
RESNET also saw increases in new provider accreditations in 2025. Three new rating quality assurance providers were approved, bringing the total number of active rating providers to 106.
The new rating quality assurance providers are 3E LLC of Las Vegas; NRG Calcs LLC of Awendaw, South Carolina; and Arcxis West Coast of San Diego, California. Accredited rating quality assurance providers are responsible for ensuring the quality of rating services and administering HERS rating programs. These responsibilities include certifying raters, rating field inspectors (RFIs) and modelers, conducting quality assurance of ratings, and marketing rating services.
Quality Training, Precision Inspections (QTPi) has been accredited as a new rater training provider. Certified rater training providers offer the instruction that rater candidates must complete to become certified by an accredited rating quality assurance provider.
RESNET also approved a new HERS software provider, APEX. Finally, longtime HERS Software Provider, Ekotrope was accredited to offer HERSH2O ratings.
Although 2025 has been a turbulent year for homebuilding, RESNET’s network and the HERS industry remain strong. Next year, RESNET is anticipating new programs for energy codes and manufactured homes. To stay up to date on all the latest developments, join us at the 2026 RESNET Conference which will take place in San Antonio, TX from March 17-20.
Ryan Meres is RESNET Programs Director. He may be reached at Ryan@resnet.us
This column is featured in our November/December Green Home Builder Magazine, read more here
