An Earth Advantage- Energy Star-certified home.

Education is power. That's what two Oregon nonprofits are teaming up to prove. 

Portland-based Earth Advantage, a green building advisory and certification group, together with The Energy Trust of Oregon, a Portland-based organization promoting energy efficiency, in July 2008 launched a scoring system intended to give Oregon homeowners, builders, real estate agents and mortgage lenders a way to gauge a home’s energy use and emissions. 

Known as an Energy Performance Score (EPS), the rating system would distill the many variables of a home’s energy consumption and carbon output into a numerical rating. The goal: Promote energy efficiency in existing buildings by educating consumers by giving them a "miles-per-gallon measure,"  says Sean Penrith, executive director of Earth Advantage.

Programs already exist for assessing a home’s emissions and energy efficiency; EPS creators aim to translate such information into an easy-to-understand comparable score.

New homes earn two numerical scores: an energy rating and a carbon emissions score. After assessment by a trained contractor, existing buildings would receive an additional number indicating potential emissions and energy use levels if suggested energy-saving measures are implemented.

Its creators say they hope EPS will push homeowners and builders to improve energy performance. Scores are presented on a scale for comparison against benchmarks such as typical older houses, built-to-code homes and Oregon high-performance homes. Home and building owners could be eligible for incentives for investing in energy conservation measures.