Sustainability Leader Categories:
Submit a Nomination
Excellence in Healthier Homes
People in the US spend approximately 70% of their time at home. This award seeks to call out builders who understand the impacts that certain products and services have on homeowners to build a better air quality environment that includes low VOC, air filtration, and avoiding hazardous materials. Projects must be seeking Indoor airPLUS certification as a baseline but go above and beyond this baseline by showcasing best in class practices. Click here to submit your project for Excellence in Healthier Homes.
Excellence in Electrification
Many countries, including the US, are seeking ways to decrease current carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to respond to concerns about climate change. Electrification of homes is a key strategy in transitioning to renewable energy sources and reducing CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels. This award highlights homes that deliver the climate, health, and economic benefits of electrification. This award seeks to identify best-in-class all-electric house-building strategies and showcase technologies used. Click here to submit your project for Excellence in Electrification.
Excellence in Resiliency
On average, about 1 in 10 homes are impacted by natural disasters, affecting millions of homeowners a year. This award seeks to identify the best-in-class homes built with resiliency in mind, looking for solutions that can help make homes stronger and better prepared for droughts, wildfires, extreme heat, storms, earthquakes, floods, and other types of natural disasters and severe weather, protecting homeowners. The FORTIFIED program is one building method that recognizes how typical construction leaves homes vulnerable and has found solutions to meet the increasing demand for stronger, more resilient homes. This award seeks to identify single-family and multi-family projects focused on cutting-edge resiliency strategies that protect the occupants. Click here to submit your project for Excellence in Resiliency.
Excellence in Decarbonization
40% of carbon comes from the real estate sector; decarbonizing our homes is one way to reduce carbon emissions. This award seeks to identify builders that have measured their operational and embodied carbon throughout the construction process and look at ways to reduce carbon through thoughtful choices of materials, and processes which may include carbon offset strategies. Click here to submit your project for Excellence in Decarbonization.
Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) Categories:
Stay tuned for submission form!
Production
Zero Energy Ready Homes are becoming mainstream as production builders increasingly look to this solution to provide healthy, efficiency, comfortable, durable homes to their customers. The Production Award recognizes the builder who has demonstrated successful innovation to achieve Zero Energy Ready Homes at production scale.
Affordable
Zero Energy Ready Homes have only truly transformed the market when innovative performance is available to every homebuyer and occupant anywhere in the country. The Affordable award recognizes the builder who has demonstrated successful innovation in building affordable Zero Energy Ready Homes.
Attached
Attached construction presents its own unique challenges for high performance construction, but also presents the opportunity for more space-efficient construction. The Attached award recognizes the builder who has demonstrated successful innovation in building attached Zero Energy Ready Homes.
Custom for Buyer (under 2,500 SF)
While production housing drives up overall program numbers, the most leading edge innovation often comes from custom houses. The Custom for Buyer (under 2,500 SF) award recognizes the builder who has demonstrated successful innovation in building custom homes. Because custom homes can be built to broad range of price points, this category is separated by home size.
Custom for Buyer (over 2,500 SF)
While production housing drives up overall program numbers, the most leading edge innovation often comes from custom houses. The Custom for Buyer (Over 2,500 SF) award recognizes the builder who has demonstrated successful innovation in building custom homes. Because custom homes can be built to broad range of price points, this category is separated by home size.
Custom Spec
Being able to build a home that will appeal to a wide range of customers and meet market demand, all while providing a custom feel and experience, is a unique challenge. Adding to that Zero Energy Ready Home performance is an amazing achievement. the Custom Spec award recognizes the builder who has demonstrated successful innovation in building a custom home to spec.
Most ZERH SFH Homes Built
A single Zero Energy Ready Home is an achievement to be proud of, but the builder who builds the most Zero Energy Ready Homes is in a league of their own. This award goes to the builder who built the most certified Zero Energy Ready Single Family Homes between June 1, 2024 and May 31, 2025.