UTAH ENERGY HUB

Low & Zero Emission Single Family Homes Builder Toolkit

Key Terms

  1. DOE Efficient New Homes: A U.S. Department of Energy certification given to homes that are so energy efficient that a renewable energy system could offset most or all of the homeā€™s annual energy use.Ā 
  2. Energy Efficiency: The use of less energy to perform the same task or produce the same result. Energy-efficient homes and buildings use less energy to heat, cool, and run appliances and electronics. Energy efficiency is one of the easiest ways to increase the long-term profitability of a home, reduce operational expenses, and improve the competitiveness of developer businesses.Ā 
  3. ENERGY STAR NextGen: ENERGY STAR NextGen is a home certification given to highly energy efficient homes and apartments equipped with leading-edge, efficient and electric technologies and electric vehicle charging capabilities. ENERGY STAR NextGen homes are on average 20% more energy efficient than homes built to typical code levels.Ā 
  4. Electric-Ready Home: A residential building that is designed and constructed with the necessary electrical infrastructure to support the future installation of all-electric appliances and systems. This includes pre-installed electrical circuits, outlets, and dedicated spaces for electric appliances such as heat pumps HVAC systems, electric water heaters, induction cooktops, and electric vehicle (EV) chargers. These homes are built to allow an easy and cost-effective transition to electric appliances and equipment even if the initial appliances are not fully electric.Ā 
  5. Low Emissions Building: A building that achieves significantly reduced operational emissions through achieving high levels of energy efficiency, limiting on-site combustion, and meeting part of its energy consumption with clean energy sources.
  6. Solar Ready or ā€œPV-Ready” Home: A solar-ready home, also called a PV-ready home, is a residential building designed and constructed with the infrastructure and layout to support the future installation of a solar photovoltaic (PV) system. This means that key design and building elements are in place during construction, such as proper roof orientation and shading, roof structure built to support the weight and wind loads of solar panels, a pre-installed electrical conduit from the roof to the main panel, and space allocated for future inverter and battery components.Ā 
  7. Zero Emissions Building: A building that achieves zero operational emissions from energy use through achieving high level of energy efficiency, being free of on-site emissions from energy use, and using energy that is generated solely from clean energy sources.
  8. Zero Emissions-Ready Building: A building that is designed to be highly energy efficient, free of on-site emissions and pre-wired for future installation of on-site solar or other renewable energy, or able to use electricity from an emission-free energy supply.

NOTICE: WEĀ ARE NOT A SOLAR COMPANY

We would like to clarify thatĀ Utah Clean EnergyĀ isĀ not a solar company. We are a nonprofit organization that advocates for solar and other clean energy technologies, but we do not install or sell solar in any way.

Utah Clean EnergyĀ AssociationĀ is not affiliated with our work. This is a sales group that despite our best efforts to get them to stop, continues to use our name in their advertising. We encourage you to report them to Google Ads as misleading. The company that reached out to you is likely a solar company that purchased your contact information as a lead. You may consider reporting that company to the Better Business Bureau for using misleading sales tactics also.

We apologize for any confusion this may have caused and appreciate your understanding.

Thank you,
The Utah Clean Energy team