New Homes Pilot Program Summary

• Letter of Intent
• Application Criteria
• Selection Criteria

Letter of Intent

Participants had to submit a letter of intent (writeable PDF) (2 pp, 26K, About PDF) committing to:

• Complete one or more homes (within six months of the program launch on August 1, 2008), which will be built to meet the WaterSense Water-Efficient Single-Family New Homes Draft Specification.
  
  
• Have the home(s) inspected by their current green building inspector/rater, using the pilot inspection process, to be determined by WaterSense, and provide feedback on the inspection process.
  
  
• Provide relevant data on the implementation and certification processes, such as cost and availability of products, cost and availability of inspector/rater, current building and landscaping practices, etc.
  
  
• Suggest helpful promotional materials and offer feedback on WaterSense New Homes materials as they are developed.
  
  
• Promote the WaterSense New Homes Program and water efficiency in general.
  
  
• Grant the WaterSense program permission to include their company name on lists of participating partners and agree to review and provide input on promotional materials developed by EPA describing their efforts.

WaterSense will work closely with the participating builders to design New Homes program materials and to optimize the certification process. WaterSense will recognize the pilot builders as appropriate. In addition, WaterSense is committed to awarding the WaterSense label to pilot homes built as part of the pilot program, which are certified to meet the Draft Specification for Water-Efficient Single-Family New Homes.

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Application Criteria

• Participants must already be active in a “green” building program and have an established rater/inspector who will inspect the home(s) according to the pilot WaterSense New Homes certification process.
  
  
• Participants must commit to the actions above by submitting a signed letter of intent (writeable PDF) (2 pp, 26K, About PDF). This letter will serve as the application to the Pilot Program.

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Selection Criteria

• EPA accepted applications from June 26, 2008 until August 8, 2008, as resources allowed.
  
  
• Seven qualified applicants that provide broad geographical representation (determined by location where home(s) will be built) were selected. Applications were processed according to the time/date stamp on the fax or email containing the signed letter of intent.
  
  
• EPA sought (approximately) equal representation among the following five regions:
  (I) CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT, NJ, NY, PR, VI, DE, DC, MD, PA, VA, WV, IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI
  (II) AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC
  (III) AR, LA, NM, OK, TX, IA, KS, MO, NE
  (IV) AZ, CA, HI, NV, AS, GU
  (V) CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, WY, AK, ID, OR, WA

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