Residential Builders,

For those of you building new homes in Duke Energy's Carolinas territory that includes metro Charlotte, the Triad, Orange County and many other areas (see map below), we have a very important update for you.

Thanks to continued efforts by our association, its member builders and contractors, and partner organizations, the North Carolina Utilities Commission is holding a hearing on January 27th to discuss expanding Duke Energy's Residential New Construction Program to your territory. This hearing is more than two years in the making and a significant positive development that may help your company receive significant rebates for building energy efficient homes starting in mid 2020.

The program already offers builders like you in the Progress territory up to $9,000 in cash rebates for equipment and whole-house incentives that result in more energy efficient new homes. The program has been in place for almost ten years in the Progress Territory and has paid out millions of dollars to residential builders.

Now, we're working hard to expand it to the Carolinas territory to the benefit of your company and its customers!
How You Can Participate:

The best thing your business, your subs and any other partners you work with can do right now is to simply file public comments on the Commission's website in support of the program. Doing so will add to the more than 50 comments already listed and offer more voices in support of expanding the program.

File Public Comments:
As stated in the hearing order, the Commission scheduled this meeting due to public comments submitted by builders, contractors and organizations like NCBPA that see rebates for new construction builders as helpful steps in lowering homeowner and renter energy bills, offsetting the up-front costs of energy efficient construction and reducing energy usage from fossil fuel sources.

Click here for sample comments, links and other resources that you can use to submit your comments in support of this program prior to the January 27th hearing, and hopefully much sooner than that. When you do, they will be posted on the Commission's website with the more than 50 others received since September of 2017.

The more personal your comments are to the program's impact on your business and its customers, the better!
With rebates up to $9,000, we make it easier than ever to build energy-efficient homes. Our Residential New Construction Program provides generous cash incentives to builders and developers who build new energy-efficient homes and multi-family residences in our service territory.
About the RNC Program:

The program provides builders with up to a $9,000 cash rebate for building homes that are at least 15% more energy efficient than our state's new 2018 Energy Code. The dollar savings are based on kWh savings as determined by a Home Energy Rating (HERS Rating) completed by a certified HERS Rater.

There are many ways to meet the 15% HERO or "stretch" code, as it's called, which commonly include encapsulated attics and crawl spaces, high efficiency HVAC, above-code insulation, high efficiency windows and more. There are two pathways available: equipment incentives and whole-house incentives. Rebates range from $750 to $9,000 per home.

Additional Resources:

Want to learn more about HERS Ratings and the HERS Index?
Click here for resources from RESNET.

Looking for a HERS Rater?
Click here to view NCBPA's member rating companies.

Interested in building energy efficient and high performance homes?
Consider joining NCBPA as a member company. We offer a wealth of educational news, events, resources, leads and referrals, and much more that can help your company build to a higher standard, and receive RNC rebates for doing so!

Want to talk to the program staff directly?
Contact them at RNCNewHomes@ICFI.com.

Want to talk with us?
Call 919-521-3385 or email Ryan@BuildingNC.org.
And lastly, in case you'll be attending NCHBA's quarterly meeting on Wednesday in Pinehurst, please look for me in the Green Building and Building Codes meetings, or afterward. I'll be happy to speak with you about the program there.

Have questions? Please contact me directly!

Sincerely,
D. Ryan Miller
Founder & CEO
North Carolina Building Performance Association
M: 919-521-3385
O: 919-841-6207