The Signal / Field notes 003 / October 4, 2026
UAD 3.6 / Energy Efficient and Green Features
The energy story hiding in a house.
A solar array is easy to see. The air barrier, rating record, and market response are harder. Section 6 gives appraisers a more precise way to tell the whole story.
The new report can name the energy evidence. The appraisal still has to explain what the market makes of it.
Fannie Mae’s new Uniform Residential Appraisal Report separates Energy Efficient and Green Features into three subsections: Renewable Energy Components, Building Certifications, and Green Efficiency Ratings. When a relevant feature is present, the appraiser reports additional information about it and rates its effect on value and marketability. This is Section 6 of the URAR, distinct from Section 5’s disaster mitigation features. Fannie Mae’s section overview ↗
The structure invites a crucial distinction. A rooftop array is equipment. A HERS Index is a rating. ENERGY STAR is a whole-home certification when the home earned it. None of those is a dollar adjustment by itself. The job is to identify the feature accurately, verify the evidence, and test buyer reaction in the local market. UAD 3.6 policy, p. 94 ↗
What is installed, and who owns it?
Which whole-home program and verification?
Which score, scale, date, and provider?
Field ID ranges follow Fannie Mae’s Inspection and Reporting Tips. The complete field definitions and enumerations live in Appendix F-1 on the UAD documentation page. “Apparent Environmental Conditions,” such as contamination, is a separate Site Influence topic.
One address. Two construction eras.
What could change inside the walls?
This is a comparison of available construction approaches, not a claim that every 2000 home performs poorly or every 2026 home is efficient. Location, code, builder, renovations, and occupant behavior change the result.
Insulation and air sealing varied widely by builder and local code.
Continuous insulation strategies, deliberate air barriers, and blower-door testing can limit heat loss and leakage.
Double glazing was available, but performance details were often less visible to the buyer.
Low-e coatings and better frames can be specified and documented for the climate.
A conventional furnace and central air system was a common package.
Right-sized high-efficiency equipment, variable-speed heat pumps, sealed ducts, and ventilation can work as one system.
The house generally consumed grid power with limited feedback to the resident.
Solar, batteries, smart controls, and energy monitoring are available—but must be verified and ownership established.
A 2000 home can be retrofitted. A 2026 home can still be built to minimum local code. The appraisal question is the subject’s actual systems and documented performance. EPA enclosure guidance ↗
A label is a lead, not the conclusion
Which signal are you reading?
The score’s direction, the certifier, and the date all matter. A point on one scale cannot be translated into points on another.
RESNET HERS® Index
Lower is betterA modeled and field-verified energy rating for a specific home. A HERS reference home is 100; a net-zero-energy home is 0. Record the score, rating date, company, and address match.
Understand the index ↗DOE Home Energy Score
1–10; higher is betterA separate asset-based score, often useful for existing homes. Its direction is the reverse of HERS. Do not compare the numbers as if they share a scale.
See the score ↗ENERGY STAR / DOE Efficient New Homes
Program + versionWhole-home programs with specified performance and third-party verification. Confirm the actual certification and the applicable version; a high-efficiency appliance alone does not certify the home.
See ENERGY STAR requirements ↗NGBS Green / LEED / Pearl
Different scopesNGBS and LEED assess broader building performance. Pearl documents high-performing features, especially in existing homes. The label, issuing body, date, and covered property matter.
Explore NGBS Green ↗A rating company and its credentialed rater produce and document the home’s rating; a home certification organization oversees a program’s certification process. The software used to calculate an index is another layer. RESNET lists accredited tools such as Ekotrope and EnergyGauge, but a software brand is not proof that a particular home was rated. Check the named company and record in the RESNET registry, and the certification pathway in EPA’s process guide.
The practical starting point
Open the RESNET Appraiser Portal.
RESNET’s free portal lets appraisers look up a HERS-rated subject and search rated homes in a market by score range. Its records include the rating date, rating company, builder, and year built. The public registry can verify an address and a rater. Use the portal to build an evidence trail, then confirm each candidate sale and its comparability in the market.
HERS 72 is an illustrative graphic, not a subject rating.Other useful trails: DOE Home Energy Score for an existing-home score; DOE Efficient New Homes (the successor name for Zero Energy Ready Home); LEED residential; EPA WaterSense homes for water efficiency; and Pearl Certification for documented home features. Verify the scope of each before putting it in a UAD field.
The market has the last word
Performance is not a price tag.
Fannie Mae says special energy-saving items must be recognized in the report. It also requires comparison with the comparable properties in the sales comparison grid. The effect can be positive, negative, or absent, depending on climate, utility costs, and local buyer behavior. Cost and income methods may support analysis, but a mechanical equipment-cost or discounted-bill-savings adjustment is not allowed. UAD 3.6 policy, p. 94 ↗
Start with a document trail: certificate or rating report, issuing company, date, relevant equipment details, and a matched address. For solar, establish ownership and financing before considering value. Fannie Mae treats leased systems and third-party power purchase agreement systems as personal property; their value cannot be included in the real estate appraisal. Solar policy, pp. 30–33 ↗
- 01Identify
What is installed or certified? Separate equipment, rating, and program.
- 02Verify
Match the address, date, provider, version, and solar ownership.
- 03Compare
Look for similar sales and test market reaction.
- 04Explain
Connect Section 6 entries to the grid and narrative.
Why this is a bigger story
A more efficient home changes its own load.
As the population grows and communities add homes and electric uses, conservation becomes a practical way to ease pressure on infrastructure. The Census Bureau reports that U.S. population still grew between July 2024 and July 2025. The sharper near-term electricity story is elsewhere: in its September 2026 forecast, the U.S. Energy Information Administration expects record U.S. consumption in 2026 and further growth in 2027, driven primarily by data centers and manufacturing. The national outlook is not a promise about any one utility territory. EIA Short-Term Energy Outlook ↗
A tighter envelope and well-designed equipment can reduce a home’s demand; controls and storage can change when it draws power. That matters to households and potentially to peak grid planning. The appraisal remains anchored to the property and local market: societal benefit alone is not evidence of a premium. EPA on the enclosure ↗
Open the original documents
A field kit for Section 6.
Research checked October 4, 2026. Program requirements and UAD documents can change; use the current source at assignment time.
The Signal / Monthly briefing
Keep the evidence in view.
Practical reporting guidance and the bigger forces changing appraisal work.
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