Earth Advantage
Earth Advantage is a nonprofit organization focused on creating an informed and humane residential real estate marketplace through sustainable building practices, data transparency, and climate resilience initiatives.
Earth Advantage Services
Earth Advantage delivers the use of credible, nationally-recognized, and locally-applicable standards to document the climate and health impacts of homes. The organization addresses climate vulnerability through direct services, advocacy, and finance system reform. Earth Advantage designs and develops technology solutions for streamlined home energy assessments and greater data transparency. Additionally, they work with local governments on programs aimed at mitigating the immediate impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities. Earth Advantage also offers specialized training programs, including the ADU Training program and the Residential Construction Career Hub, to support a diverse, carbon-neutral construction workforce.
Earth Advantage Certification Programs
Earth Advantage provides Single Family Home Certification and Multifamily Building Certification programs. These certifications include measures designed to improve construction practices, enhance indoor air quality, and reduce operational energy usage. Their Single Family Home Certification program employs rigorous air sealing and insulation checklists, programmable outdoor air exchange systems, and inspections for quality control. The Multifamily Certification program has certified over 20,000 units, covering high-rises, campuses, and multi-building developments. The programs aim to build greater value into final products while decreasing the cost of homeownership through energy and water consumption savings.
Earth Advantage Green Building Registry
Earth Advantage's Green Building Registry® is the largest single-source of building performance data in the United States, housing over three million records. This registry has been making home performance data transparent and accessible since 2017, with data sourced directly from credible third-party certification programs. The Green Building Registry custom API enables data to be auto-populated in multiple listing services nationwide, providing validated building performance data to the real estate market. This initiative is key in Earth Advantage's mission to connect available home energy information to the broader real estate market.
Earth Advantage Home Energy Score Programs
Earth Advantage's Home Energy Score program is a nationally-recognized initiative providing verified home energy scores for over 30,000 homes. As a national Home Energy Score partner, Earth Advantage has long been an advocate for home performance data transparency. The organization's Home Energy Fit™ program supports DOE Home Energy Score program management, remote assessment, and quality assurance. Additionally, Earth Advantage's City HELP™ program assists cities with Home Energy Score deployment, enhancing data accessibility and transparency in residential real estate transactions.
Earth Advantage Climate and Sustainability Initiatives
Earth Advantage has spearheaded several significant climate and sustainability initiatives. Their Cooling Portland program aims to install 15,000 energy-efficient heat pump/cooling units over five years. The PCEF Heat Response Program involves climate justice work with the city of Portland. Additionally, Earth Advantage has been awarded $3.5 million in grant funding to serve as the regional Program Administrator for the Oregon Department of Energy’s Community Heat Pump Deployment program. These initiatives underscore Earth Advantage's commitment to reducing climate impacts and supporting climate justice efforts.