Home Energy Score Program

Home sellers must obtain and disclosure a Home Energy Score Report when the home is listed publicly for sale if the home is:

• Within Bend City limits – check your address with the City of Bend Address Lookup Tool
• A residential detached single-dwelling unit on its own lot
• A residential attached unit, such as a duplex, triplex, townhouse, condominium, or other, where the unit extends from foundation to roof, whether or not the unit is on its own lot. Attached units that are side-by-side, and not stacked (one unit on top of another, like in an apartment building), must receive a score. Stacked units cannot get a score and are not subject to the requirement.
• Manufactured homes will currently not be expected to receive a score, due to the HES tool not being able to accommodate them at this time. Manufactured homes are included in the code and may be required to obtain a score at a later date.

If you are selling a home that meets the criteria defined above, follow these steps to obtain and disclose a Home Energy Score and Report:

1. Contact an authorized, licensed home energy assessor to schedule an appointment. Find a certified assessor on the Earth Advantage Authorized Home Energy Assessor Directory. Make sure to select “Central Oregon” from the region drop-down menu to find assessors serving the Bend area. 
2. Allow your home energy assessor into your home on scheduled date to perform the assessment. Once the assessment is complete, the assessor will generate your score and report. Ensure they can have access to the attic and crawlspace. Once the report is complete, it will be available on the Green Building Registry, and the assessor will provide it to you. 
3. Share the Home Energy Score report with any real estate brokers working on your behalf and ask them to include in your listings. The Home Energy Score and a link to the full report must be included in all real estate listings, including on the MLS, on real estate sites like Zillow, Redfin, etc., and in printed publications specific to the home, such as a flyer that’s attached to a real estate sign or present at an open house.
4. Make sure that the listing is available to any prospective buyers who visit the home, through the online listing or with a physical copy when they visit the home.

Instruction to attach the Home Energy Score Report in the MLS:

1. Look up the property on the Green Building Registry (GBR) – to go us.greenbuildingregistry.com and search for the property by address, street name, or town. 
2. Click on the box for the U.S. Department of Energy Home Energy Score logo or click on ‘Show details.’
3. Log into FlexMLS
4. On the “Details” tab, you will see a field called Green Verification Type
   1. Check the box for Home Energy Score
   2. Enter a number for the Green Verification Metric – This is the ‘Verification Metric’ value from the Green Building Registry
   3. Add the Green Verification URL – on the Green Building Registry, right click on the ‘Download Report” button and select “copy link address.’ Paste this into the Green Verification URL field. 

 For a PDF description of these instructions, with screenshots provided for more clarity, see the Bend Home Energy Score: Adding Scores into Home Listings instructional sheet. 

Some home types and some sale types do not require a Home Energy Score. The home types that do not require a score are homes that the code does not apply to, and generally due to the scoring tool not being compatible with a home type. In addition, there are several circumstances that allow a home seller to receive an exemption from the program. Both are detailed below:

• Multi-unit dwellings that are vertically stacked, such as a 2+ story apartment building or a duplex or triplex where one or more unit is situated vertically on top of another unit
• Detached accessory dwelling units (a HES is required for the main house but not the detached ADU)
• Single dwelling units that are used primarily for commercial purposes

• A trustee’s sale (For the purpose of this program, a trustee’s sale is defined as the sale of real estate property through a public auction. Probate and court appointed trustees are NOT an approved exemption condition. Additionally, representatives for probate are NOT an approved exemption condition.)
• A deed-in-lieu of foreclosure sale
• Any pre-foreclosure sale in which seller has an agreement with the mortgage holder to sell the property for an amount less than the amount owed on the mortgage
• The covered building qualifies for sale at pubic auction or acquisition by a public agency due to arears for property taxes
• A court appointed receiver is in control of the covered building due to financial distress
• The senior mortgage on the covered building is subject to a notice of default
• The covered building has been approved for participation in Oregon Property Tax Deferral for Disabled and Senior Citizens, or equivalent program as determined by the City Manager
• The seller is otherwise unable to meet the obligations of this chapter as determined by the City manager (this will require a description and justification for why an exemption should be granted)

If your sale qualifies for an exemption, see “How to Apply for an Exemption,” below.

If you believe you qualify for an exemption and would like to be exempt from the program, please follow the following steps:

1. Fill out the Home Energy Score Exemption Application.
2. Provide supportive documentation that documents your exempted status to homeenergyscore@bendoregon.gov or mail to:

Bend Home Energy Score Program, City Managers Office

710 NW Wall St.

Bend, OR 7703

Supportive documentation includes official written notification from a public agency, court, or financial institution which clear indicates the correct address of the property and documents the claimed exemption. Please redact any sensitive information, such as bank account information, social security numbers, credit card numbers, etc.

Once an application is submitted, your home is not automatically exempt from the Home Energy Score Program. City staff will review and notify the homeowner of their application status and the determination of their exemption status within ten (10) business days of receiving the application.

If you require a paper copy of the exemption application, please email homeenergyscore@bendoregon.gov to request one. 

Quality Assurance

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) requires quality assurance of a minimum of 5% of all scores to ensure consistent scoring practices. On behalf of the Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE), Earth Advantage provides this quality assurance (QA) scoring service for all cities in Oregon with Home Energy Score Programs. QA checks are conducted on randomly selected Scores, with prioritization for newer assessors. In most cases, this consists of trained QA staff completing an assessment alongside an Assessor to ensure similar results are achieved. 

QA staff also review the results of automated validation checks to screen data entry outside of normal expected values. 

What if I don’t think my Home Energy Score is accurate?

Start by following up with your Assessor

Contact them directly and let them know that you think there might be a problem with the score. The assessor may be able to explain to you why information was entered in a certain way and where the results came from. In many cases, the seller is able to understand the score with more information about how different components of the house were reported and taken into account. 

It is possible that, based on your discussion, the Assessor will find that there was an actual mistake or error in the data entry. In that case, the Assessor can make a correction and provide you with an updated report.

Contact the QA team for Dispute Resolution

If the Assessor is not able to resolve the concern, you can ask them to report the dispute to the QA team at Earth Advantage, or you can report the issue directly. The QA team will investigate each dispute by reviewing the data input by the Assessor. This could also include reviewing notes and photos from the assessment and conducting a follow-up on-site assessment of the home, depending on the circumstances. The QA team will follow up with the results of the review and work with the Assessor to adjust the score, if warranted. 

The average cost of a Home Energy Score is anticipated to be between $150-300, and will vary with the size and complexity of the home. Prices for Home Energy Score assessments are set by assessors.

In partnership with Neighbor Impact, the City of Bend offers free home energy scores for Bend residents with household incomes at 80% Area Median Income (AMI) or below. See table below for what amounts to 80% income for varying household sizes.

80% AMI Levels

If you qualify for a free home energy score and would like to participate in this program, see the program webpage on Neighbor Impact and contact them directly. Neighbor Impact has an application for the program and perform your home energy score assessment directly.

New construction requires scores for each home being sold, including homes sold advertised for sale before construction is complete. Builders can obtain Home Energy Scores for new homes while they are under construction by providing Home Energy Assessors with their construction plans. Assessors that are trained to provide this pre-construction HES service are indicated with an asterisk (*) in the HES Assessor Directory. We recommend contacting multiple assessors to determine pricing and scheduling options that best meet your needs.  Pre-construction HES assessments do not require an on-site assessment.

For new homes with identical design documents and features, a HES will need to be generated for each unique site address. Most, if not all, of the data points can be replicated from the original assessment, allowing the assessor to easily produce a unique HES and Report for each identical home. Individual assessors are able to set their own prices for this service so we recommend contacting multiple assessors to determine pricing options that best meet your needs.

Builders of high-performance homes through the Energy Trust of Oregon EPS™ program are also required to obtain and disclose a Home Energy Score Report prior to listing the home for sale. If a builder’s EPS™ verifier is also an authorized Home Energy Score Assessor, the Energy Trust makes the generation of the Home Energy Score a quick step. Energy Trust has developed a tool that connects the home’s EPS™ information with the Home Energy Score system, ensuring that the verifier does not need to repeat any data entering. If the builder’s EPS™ verifier is not an authorized Home Energy Score Assessor, they can become one by following the Home Energy Score Roadmap. Or the builder can hire an already authorized Home Energy Score Assessor.

Click here to learn more about EPS New Construction

This is a front-and-back sample of what the Home Energy Scorecard looks like and what should be included in home listings. Homes in Bend will use one that is specific to the City of Bend and factors in the City’s utility rates and normalized for weather. 

Interested in getting a score for your home? For a list of businesses offering Home Energy Scores, see the Oregon Home Energy Assessor Directory.

A home energy assessor is an individual who assigns residential buildings a home energy performance score using a scoring system adopted by the Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE). Individuals providing this service must be certified by the Oregon Construction Contractors Board (CCB) after completing ODOE approved training.

For those interested in being able to offer Home Energy Scores in Bend, see the Assessor Roadmap for the 7 step process to become a certified assessor. Also see the Oregon Department of Energy for more information about how to become an assessor with the Oregon Home Energy Score Program. 

In addition to providing information on how your home uses energy, the Home Energy Score provides a list of recommended improvements that can be made to improve your score and save money on your energy bills. Financial incentives for a wide range of energy efficiency projects are available through your electric and gas utilities, and there are likely incentives available for projects recommended through your Home Energy Score report.

Pacific Power and Cascade Natural Gas

For incentives available for Pacific Power and Cascade Natural Gas Customers, see the Residential Energy Efficiency Incentives through the Energy Trust of Oregon.

Central Electric Cooperative

For Central Electric Cooperative customers, see Central Electric Cooperative’s Residential Programs.

The U.S Department of Energy (US DOE) designed and launched the federal Home Energy Score Program in 2012 as part of the Better Buildings Initiative, recognizing the need in the marketplace for a consistent and reliable label to compare the efficiency of homes. After extensive consumer research, software development, pilot studies, and focus groups, the US DOE established a standardized methodology and tools for analyzing, scoring and reporting home assets. Communities around the country can establish a partnership with US DOE to create a local Home Energy Score program and leverage the standard tools and process that US DOE has created. However, in Oregon, the Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE) established a partnership with the US DOE an effort to streamline the various energy scoring efforts in Oregon and develop a statewide framework for consistency and to bring the benefits of the Home Energy Score to all Oregon communities with minimal barriers. ODOE has entered into an agreement with the US DOE as a proxy partner for Oregon communities and is responsible for meeting the requirements of the partnership, eliminating those requirements for smaller cities. ODOE also partners with Earth Advantage to serve all assessor onboarding, training, quality assurance, and data hosting services as part of the partnership requirements. For these services, Earth Advantage receives $25 of the home energy assessment cost, paid through the assessment fee collected by the assessors. Currently, three other cities in Oregon (Hillsboro, Portland, and Milwaukie) have home energy score programs that include mandatory disclosure of the HES report at the time of sale of a home.