On June 11, 2009, Boulder County revised the HERS Index Score requirements for residential new construction under its BuildSmart program.  The revised program requires a HERS Index Score of 85 for new construction that is up to 1,000 square feet in size, while maintaining the previous requirement of a HERS Index Score of 60 for new homes that are between 1,001 to 3,000 square feet in size.

Boulder County’s most pronounced revisions to the BuildSmart code focus on how the County treats residential new construction that is between 3,000 and 8,000 square feet in size.  Previously, the County employed a stair-step approach, with larger reductions in energy usage required at specific square footage thresholds.  Under the revised code, Boulder County has implemented a scaled approach for new homes between 3,000 and 8,000 square feet, reducing the HERS Index Score requirement by 1 HERS point for every additional 100 square feet of home size.  In order to implement the new scaled requirements, the County will round the actual square footage of a home to the nearest 100 square feet of conditioned floor area to determine the required HERS Index Score.

For homes that are 8,001 square feet or above, Boulder County will require the home to achieve a HERS Index Score of 10.

Boulder County’s revised HERS Index Score requirements are graphed in the table below.

Tags: Boulder County, BuildSmart, Green Building Codes, Home Energy Rating System ("HERS"), Performance-based Codes

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 18th, 2009 at 11:14 am and is filed under Boulder County's BuildSmart program, Home Energy Rating System ("HERS"), Performance-Based Code. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.