Updated Energy STAR 7.0 Requirements

In a note to ENERGY STAR Residential Window, Door, and Skylight partners and stakeholders dated Oct. 20, Doug Anderson, product manager for windows, doors, and skylights, wrote: 

“The ENERGY STAR Version 7.0 specification provides a significant jump in efficiency and savings and will recognize a good selection of types and styles of products offered by a variety of manufacturers at a range of price points. 

If all residential windows and doors sold in the United States were certified to ENERGY STAR Version 7.0, the energy cost savings would grow to more than $156 billion each year and more than 53 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions would be avoided annually.”

What’s New:

ENERGY STAR has recently announced some changes they are making to their SHGC and U-Value requirements. Here are the changes to go into effect on October 23, 2023:

• New energy star ratings for our South-Central climate zone are ≤0.28 for U-Factor and ≤0.23 for SHGC. That's a change from ≤ 0.30 for U-Factor and ≤ 0.25 SHGC. 
• New energy star ratings for our South climate zone are ≤0.32 for U-Factor and ≤0.23 for SHGC. That's a change from ≤ 0.40 for U-Factor and SHGC has remained the same. 

For other zones, please reference this chart provided by ProVia: 

• To receive the tax credit, the windows/doors MUST MEET THE "MOST EFFICIENT CRITERIA", which means the maximum allowable U-Factor will be 0.20 and the maximum allowable SHGC will be 0.25.

For the full document, including the zone requirements and changes, you can view it here.

How These Changes Affect Texas Homeowners

Local energy codes may be different from ENERGY STAR criteria. ENERGY STAR criteria have historically been the most stringent, and it's these requirements that are used to qualify for federal tax credits. 

The following energy efficiency requirements must be met to qualify for the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit:

• 
  Exterior doors must meet applicable ENERGY STAR requirements:  ≤0.28 for U-Factor and ≤0.23 for SHGC
• 
  Windows and skylights must meet ENERGY STAR most efficient certification requirements. ≤ 0.20 for U-Factor and ≤0.25 for SHGC. Please notice that these ratings are more stringent than those in the chart above.

It’s important to keep these changes in mind as these are national changes and not all glass packages will meet these standards. Check with your window provider or contractor to ensure your windows are meeting the new ENERGY STAR 7.0 requirements.

If you want to qualify for tax credit for your new windows or doors, they must adhere to these new standards as of October 23rd. For more information regarding tax credit, you can reference the IRS form here. 

For homeowners considering a ProVia product, ProVia has created an energy calculator for your use.

Where to find tax credit information/links to IRS

• Residential Clean Energy Credit | Internal Revenue Service
• About Form 5695, Residential Energy Credits | Internal Revenue Service

Why They're Changing

The EPA continually monitors window, door, and skylight performance and began discussions to update previous energy requirements in 2019. With these changes, the EPA’s expects to save over $156 billion each year and more than 53 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions would be avoided annually.

To learn more about the benefits of installing windows that are energy-efficient and how they can save you money, read our post “10 Benefits of Energy-Efficient Home Replacement Windows”. 

Brennan

Published

July 02, 2023

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