Home > Partner Resources > For New Home Industry Professionals > Benefits > Lender Benefits of Being an ENERGY STAR Partner
Energy efficient homes that earn the ENERGY STAR are good for lenders, builders, homeowners and the environment. As a lender, you have the opportunity to see immediate benefits by writing more loans for more money, with less risk. You can also team with local builders and utilities to become leaders in the community and promote better products and a cleaner environment. Become an ENERGY STAR Partner, and realize the advantages of selling energy efficiency. Lenders can partner with ENERGY STAR by offering energy efficient mortgages (EEMs) or energy improvement mortgages (EIMs).
Through energy-efficient mortgages (EEM) homebuyers can use the projected energy cost savings of their ENERGY STAR home to qualify for larger mortgages.
Offering EEMs and ENERGY STAR Mortgages can result in the expansion of your building-partner clientele. The ENERGY STAR program has been incredibly successful, enrolling more than 8,500 builders who collectively have built more than one million ENERGY STAR certified new homes.
Many utilities offer rebates and other perks to promote energy-efficient building practices. By working in conjunction with participating utilities, lenders can significantly increase the number of Energy Efficient Mortgages they write. Similarly, lenders stand to benefit from the broad-based advertising campaigns many utilities sponsor. Other building industry professionals including builders, product manufacturers, trade magazines and raters are also willing to collaborate in spreading the ENERGY STAR message. Find other ENERGY STAR "champions" in your area by using the Partner Locator.
Co-branding your company with the ENERGY STAR label will set you apart from your competition. By becoming an ENERGY STAR partner:
You will enjoy the added measure of credibility derived from partnering with EPA. Part of this credibility is illustrated by your listing on the Partner Locator and utilizing ENERGY STAR's logos in your marketing efforts.
To be listed on the Partner Locator and to access ENERGY STAR's logos, financing partners must first submit to EPA a copy of a home energy rating report used by the partner to write an EEM. Then every 12 month period thereafter, the partner must submit copies of three home energy rating reports used by the partner to write three EEMs. The partner must also be able to answer consumer questions about ENERGY STAR certified homes and energy efficient mortgages (EEMs). Once a year, EPA will call each lender partner at the telephone number provided to determine whether consumers can get questions answered about ENERGY STAR certified homes and EEMs. Partners who are not able to fulfill the above partnership conditions will be considered to be inactive partners.
Inactive partners will be removed from the ENERGY STAR Web site and may not use the ENERGY STAR logo marks, advertise themselves as an ENERGY STAR partner, and will not be included by EPA on any partnership lists. Inactive partners may be reinstated as "active" partners at any time by submitting copies of three home energy rating reports used by the lender to write three EEMs. More information on home energy ratings is available through the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) .
Many partners link their Web sites to ENERGY STAR. For these partners, in addition to their listing on the Partner Locator, EPA provides a link back to the partner's Web site. For more information, refer to our Web Linking Policy.