try the link

Here is a link that might be useful: energy star

We contacted out local electrical co-op and they sent out a rep. The rep asked questions and did an inspection and we qualified for an energy star rating.

I followed the link, but am confused. If it's new construction, don't you plan for the Energy Star rating before you build it, and build it to be compliant?

I, too, am waiting (still) for an answer from my CPA about the tax credit and what documents he'll need to file our tax return. I asked our builder about the documentation to "apply" for the rating and he said "You have most of that done when you get through building." Whatever that means.

More bits of the puzzle; still basically clueless.

Do the homeowners get the tax credit? For some reason, I was thinking it was the builder himself who got the tax credit. I had a similar experience when I contacted Energy Star - they just kept referring me to their page, which really doesn't tell one how to apply or go about getting the house certified!
Cheers!
Heather W

Here is a link that might be useful: Our ICF Home Construction Journal

Our builder said we would get the tax credit, which was news to me. That's why I sent the question to our CPA.

This is for MA

Here is a link that might be useful: MA Energy Star Credit

mightyanvil, I did go to energystar.gov before posting here and did NOT find anything on how to obtian the certification.

1sst, Thanks. I will try my utility.

hmp2z, Yes, the credit goes to the builder, but as owner/bulder, I should qualify.

bj, The law is that it goes to builder, but he could be passing it on to you by lowering the house price.

Some of what is being said here is contradicted by the information on the Energy Star web site. Tax credits are generally available for owners of existing homes and the builders of new homes. Tax credits for owner/builders are limited to photovoltaics, solar water heating, and fuel cells.

Here is a link that might be useful: Energy Star FAQ's

Some states don't have any type of credit or benefit for an ES rating (mine doesn't), so check before you go through the expense. We hired an ES consultant to help run numbers of insulation and get techniques, and we executed them, but we didn't bother with the blower test because the actual certification doesn't get us anything.

Consumers can still take credits on their Federal tax returns for improving the energy efficiency of their existing homes in 2007. It's considerably more complicated for new homes.

"but we didn't bother with the blower test because the actual certification doesn't get us anything..."
Well actually the blower door test tells you how well the building performs and pinpoints any air infiltration issues, is an unbiased inspection & testing that benefits the occupants of the home and verifies efficiency & install of upgrades, it is a very important part of energy star certification..I don't understand why anyone would skip this portion, or how the home can be certified by Energy Star without the actual verification of performance...

But it is different from state to state.

Tax credits (here in La. ) to to homeowners who retrofit ..96% gas furnaces, .85 energy factor tankless gas water heaters, up to 20% of vinyl low e windows (cost only..not install) these are available for existing and new homes, tax credits are $600 for furnace & higer seer hvac, $300 for tankless gas water heaters.

The $2,000 tax credit is for new construction. New homes are more costly as Energy Star for $1,000 tax credit has to be 15% better than IRC, and for the max $2,000 has to be 30% better than IRC.

Again for La. an energy rater has to be envolved in planning stages, and do the Energy Star thermal bypass inspection checklist (insulation inspection among other things..before sheetrock is installed). Several inspections are incorperated in the Energy Star rating, and homeowner or builder pays for the rating service.
Tax credit goes to builder.

I think what Energy Star is realizing is what I have seen for the years that I have been involved in energy efficiency. You can educate the homeowners one at at time, and battle with builders to actually get upgrades properly installed and verified, or simply go to builders ( who will build several homes per year) and allow them to collect the incentive. In this way the builders who have the want to do better can have the credit, set themselves apart from other builders by joining Energy Star, and the savings from energy saved goes with the house for life of upgraded installs.

Oh and to get an Energy Star certification..you have to hire an Energy Rater...look on ES website under partners for participants and raters in your areas.

FWIW, I get a lot of work from my local utility co-op for new construction homes that have need of diagnostic testing. I turn down a lot of existing home work from the same co-op after the co-op has given away a 'free' inspection and the homeowner has tried their upgrades and they failed to achieve the savings or performance promised...for free. You gets what you pays for folks!

energy rater, I'm way ahead of myself here. I don't even have a builder yet. But if the new home owner, is PAYING for the more expensive windows, insulation, etc., why is his builder getting the tax credit??? Is the new home owner also expected to pay for the energy inspection so that the builder collects his tax credit??? Am I missing something? Or is this another one of those 'only in Louisiana' things???

emmachas: we haven't finished the design yet, but do have a builder onboard. He said WE have to pay for the energy inspection, but that WE also get to claim the tax credit.

More confusion. Maybe the builder can opt to do it that way?? At least here in GA.

Federal tax credits for new houses are claimed by the builder on his tax return. Owners can only claim credits on their federal tax returns for improvements to existing homes.

Perhaps your builder is talking about state credits or rebates.

Here is a link that might be useful: tax credits

I read it. On new houses the tax credit goes to the builder. So, I need to clarify things with my builder. I pay for the testing, and the materials/installation to achieve the rating, and he gets the tax credit. Um...ok if he's a production or spec builder and I buy the house at retail like from Walmart. Not OK if I hire him to build my house. I obviously need to take this up with the federal government.

And the people who GC their own houses, do they at least get to take the tax credit? Or should they install some old stuff from the city dump, move in, then remodel to get their tax credit? Is there a waiting period? Would it constitute fraud?

I'm going outside to enjoy the free light at dusk.

"...I don't understand why anyone would skip this portion, or how the home can be certified by Energy Star without the actual verification of performance..."

As I said (I thought) we weren't bothering with the certification because in our state the certification is meaningless - there are no tax credits, etc. The ES consultant ran all the stats on the insulation, windows, etc., and said the house should exceed the certification requirements. He agreed there was no reason to do the blower door test since we know everything was installed correctly and we don't need the cert for anything. Even he (the ES guy) said we shouldn't bother.

We followed his recommendations to make the house as energy efficient as possible without foam, not for the certification.

The federal government is trying to make houses more energy efficient. It's not a give away program for homeowners. They correctly assume that MOST houses in the U.S. are designed by contractors therefore the new house incentives go to contractors. If you want to get part of the $2,000 credit you need to talk to your contractor, not the federal government.

As has been stated already, owner/builders can only get tax credits for photovoltaics, solar water heating, and fuel cells. I believe the homeowner credit will end this year but the contractor credit continues for another year. It's all in the links I posted. You need to take the time to read it.

mightyanvil: I do remember those details now. So, even the homeowners GCing their own build can only get tax credits for those specific items, which most of them are probably not using anyway.

I'm still cranky over this (plus the realization that I shouldn't use my sconces pointed downward). More poorly written federal legislation. I assume driven by the NAHB or some other lobbyist group which does not represent homeowners.

I'm so old and cynical, and while I'm extremely pleased with my builder, I still have to say that if I truly believed that the overall price on my home would be reduced if I negotiated with him to pass on "his" tax credit to me, I would also believe that the federal government is truly interested in making houses more energy efficient. (The federal govt. does not exist. We have a collective of elected representatives whose livelihood depends on reelection and building profitable alliances, and who therefore must submit to the realities of PACs and other forces of political reality.)

What I take from all this, is that my custom-home builder, (who is not risking his cash to build a more expensive, energy-efficient home that he hopes he will be able to find a buyer for), will receive a tax credit related to my choices to build, performance-test, and pay for an energy efficient home. I will benefit for the rest of my life in the form of reduced energy costs and increased living comfort. I will have a happy, and therefore more motivated builder. Politicians will get reelected. Builders' trade associations will attract new members. All will be right with our world.

What they say about cynicism if true: you can never have enough of it. Or maybe someone just needs a prescription for Prozac.

I think you need to backup a bit and realize as to what the program is for. Most of the non-energy efficient homes are built in the middle to lower end homes. The program was to encourage builders to build a more efficient home for the exact group that was less likely to do it and give them an method to advertise such home (or benefit) to sell it. In most places, having that 'certification' means nothing after the sale so having it doesn't really do a homeowner any good (in a few places there are usage credits, but its rare) - which is why getting a home certified after the fact is rare and usually uselsss.

Think about it this way - how many homes in the lower end are built first and then the homeowner comes in and purchases it (spec) vs a custom home ? And then you realize where the program is trying to hit.

anthem: yes, I can see how it will eventually benefit us as a whole in reducing our nation's energy usage. The way to achieve that is to create financial incentives (negotiated, no doubt by the NAHB and others) for large production builders at the low to middle price range. Mission accomplished.

I'm just grousing as we scrounge for money to build our Not So Big house. It's not that I don't understand the forces at work or how they will serve the greater good.

There are other Energy Star "partners" that offer rebates to homeowners for certification in most states. This may be what your contractor is talking about. I believe Georgia Power offers a $300 rebate if you heat and cool with electricity. There is one for natural gas as well.

You need to spend the time to learn what is offered in your area. Alternatively, you could retire and criticize the government full time.

Here is a link that might be useful: GA rebate

I was speaking about state rebates, not federal. I know that at the time we built NH had good rebates, and Maine didn't have any. I believe the NH rebates are from the power company, PSNH. Maine's power company (CMP) is horrible - they actually promote additional electric use, pushing electric space heaters, electric water heaters, etc.

The ES guy we used is near the NH/ME border and said almost all his work was in NH. The current federal tax breaks didn't exist when we built. We were the builder, so we would have gotten the breaks if there had been any.

mightyanvil: OK. The link says that on new construction the rebate goes to the "builder/installer". I just don't think that's me. I'll leave it to all the Sally-Two-Shoes to tell me I can have the builder pass that on to me.

All I can find right now in GA that will go to me is a sales-tax-free holiday for any Energy Star rated appliance I buy for less than $1500. between Aug. 3 and 6. (One of the private advocacy organizations in GA got the governor to buy into that little reprieve for the citizens.) We won't be ready to buy then anyway; don't have anywhere to store it; bank won't lend funds on any "warehoused" items.

Still waiting to hear back from my CPA, who is apparently on vacation. He earns good pay playing good cop/bad cop with the IRS.

I don't like the post-retirement career option. I will have to work to age 90 to pay off the mortgage and by then I'll be WAY too cranky to ruin my remaining few days focusing on that irritating gnat.

You're trying so hard to be helpful to all of us here. There's just a lot of frustration because of deadends, all the money at stake (or the question of how to get it), and mostly because of the incredible amount of work involved in pulling together all this information. I do appreciate your efforts and help very much. Just blowing off a little steam; certainly don't mean for it to be directed at you. (An apt figure of speech given my recent lessons on steam, direction of travel of gases, etc.)