September 27, 2018 – Vienna, VA – Today Pearl Certification launched a new cutting-edge tool to help homeowners make decisions about energy-related home investments.
“Pearl’s new Home Investment Plan enables high-quality home improvement contractors to present comfort, health and energy upgrade options to homeowners in an attractive, easy-to-read report,” said Pearl CEO Cynthia Adams. “Homeowners can use these reports to understand their benefits and select the features that work best for them and their needs.”
Research indicates that homeowners struggle with home improvement decisions. In a recent Zillow study, 41% of homeowners said that deciding what to improve next is the most challenging part of owning a home. Because most homeowners are not energy experts, decisions about heating and cooling systems, insulation and renewables are often even more challenging than choices about other types of upgrades such as kitchen remodels and master bedroom upgrades.
“Pearl’s Home Investment Plan (HIP) enables contractors to show how improvements can be made over time by breaking out immediate, short-term improvements from longer-term projects,” said Pearl President and COO Robin LeBaron. “This gives homeowners a roadmap for upgrading their home over time.”
The HIP includes detailed cost information to help homeowners. It also shows which packages will enable the home to attain the valuable Pearl Silver, Gold and/or Platinum certifications.
Any type of home improvement contractor, from HVAC to insulation to home performance, can use Pearl’s new HIP reports.
Pearl Certification was founded by energy efficiency and residential construction experts with a goal of a developing a simple way to help homeowners make their homes more comfortable, healthy, and energy efficient. Pearl also works closely with real estate agents and appraisers so that energy efficiency improvements are visible at the time of sale and add value to the home. When marketed properly, Pearl certified homes sell for a 5% premium, according to an independent study authored by appraisers.
