I have not heard of the builtgreen program, but it sounds interesting. Our new house will be energy star rated, which seems to be good for a number of reasons. The most obvious of course is that we have a more energy efficient house. There are also financial benefits, however. We are putting in pv, and get and extra $0.50/kWh grant from the state of NY if the house is energy star. Also, we can get a very low interest energy star mortgage.

Our builder had never done energy star certification before, but is was very easy for him to get qualified - he just had to fill out an application! He also gets some tax breaks I think, depending on what our HERS rating is in the end.

Good luck!