This past year delivered more NEEM-certified homes than we have seen since 2006, with the program certifying close to 100 percent of all HUD-code homes produced in the Pacific Northwest region. That’s nearly a 50 percent increase in market share compared to recent years, and it harkens back to the MAP program of the early to mid-1990’s—albeit with smaller numbers of homes built. The Inflation Reduction Act’s provision for ten years of 45L energy-efficient new home tax credits targeted at home manufacturers is the clear and single driver for the sudden move to build more energy-efficient homes. This subsidy has helped the industry to provide home buyers with additional value in the form of greater comfort, lower utility bills and utility program incentive payments as well.
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The NEEM team has been talking with home dealers and sales people about heat pumps, and we have heard that a lot of people are confused about them and whether they can be installed in conjunction with the factory-supplied furnace (the answer is yes, by the way). The NEEM team has put together a Heat Pump Comparison Table that can help home buyers and sales people consider the different options for adding cooling and efficient heating to homes.
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Washington’s 2021 Residential Energy Code went into effect this past March, and it contains some significant changes. You might recall hearing about how the code was going to make the gas furnace a thing of the past. Well, that hasn’t quite happened, though heat pumps have become very attractive from a code compliance perspective. There are also some changes to the prescriptive insulation and window performance requirements, but the final code language didn’t include the most challenging items that were in earlier drafts.
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