The Visible Value Blueprint:
Strategies for Transforming the High-Performing Homes Market

Julie Caracino
September 11, 2019

 

On September 4, 2019, the Building Performance Association and Elevate Energy released the long-awaited update to their seminal 2013 report, Making the Value Visible: A Blueprint for Transforming the High-Performing Homes Market by Showcasing Clean and Efficient Energy Improvements. The updated Blueprint offers high-performing home professionals – managers of clean energy programs – a practical guide for unlocking the value of clean and energy efficient homes in the real estate market regardless of the policy environment.

When homeowners make improvements to their homes, the most important aspects of home performance —safety, comfort, energy efficiency, durability, and environmental impact — are often not visible during a real estate transaction. As a result, clean and energy efficiency investments are regularly overlooked or inaccurately valued at the time of a home's sale.

The blueprint identifies seven actions that programs can take to create a "cycle of market transformation" (shown in the image) in which homeowners upgrade their homes not only because these improvements make their homes more livable and less expensive to operate, but also because they can reasonably expect to capture the value of these improvements when they sell the home, similar to expectations of resale value for other types of home improvements.

The actions described in the blueprint correspond to three outcomes in the cycle:

• Make high-performing homes and home features visible to the market
• Make high-performing homes exciting to buyers and real estate agents
• Quantify the value that a high-performing verification adds to a home

Each of these outcomes can be achieved through one or more actions that can be implemented by a high-performing home professional or program, each of which is described in detail in the Blueprint. The Blueprint also has updated case studies and new tools on incorporating information on high-performing features and verifications into local Multiple Listing Services (MLS) listings.

 

 

Julie Caracino is the Director of Policy and Programs at Building Performance Association. As chairperson of the HPXML Working Group, she facilitates the development of HPXML and works with industry stakeholders to increase its adoption and use among software developers processing home energy data.