Energy efficiency &
passive houses.
We have reimagined home building by developing proprietary, innovative engineering and construction methods to address energy consumption and extreme climates. Recognition for our work includes the 2025 “Resilient Home Builder of the Year USA” award, 2024 “Green Home of the Year” award, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2023 Housing Innovation “Special Honors Recognition.” We design and build Zero Energy Ready and RESNET®-rated homes, as well as Passive Houses, that significantly reduce energy usage and set the benchmark for high performance, resilience, and healthy living. This combination surpasses what traditional concrete, steel, wood, and other conventional building systems can provide.
We have been certified in Passive House Design, an important designation that means we can innately achieve the highest level of green energy efficiency. More information is below.
Passive House design and build.
Everlasting Homes Building Group is certified in Passive House Design—the gold standard for green energy efficiency on the market. This international designation is governed by rigorous, science-based metrics, which focus on “fabric-first” performance of homes that provide innate thermal comfort. The efficiency of Passive Houses isn’t in high-tech gadgets or equipment, but in the physics of the building itself to achieve "passive” stability.
We use non-toxic Structural Concrete Insulated Panel (SCIP), in combination with other non-VOC emitting technologies. For LEED certification, premium recycled materials can be requested. Everlasting Homes’ high-performance monolithic envelopes are built to have the lowest air leakage possible and act as the primary thermal regulator, with unmatched comfort and savings.
Our Passive House key features.
With our building technologies, the need for active heating and cooling is up to 90% less than conventionally built homes, while maintaining superior comfort and air quality. The HVAC and other mechanical systems are small by comparison to traditional building, and only a limited number of solar panels are needed to reach “Net Zero” or eventual “Net Positive” status.
From a structural and environmental perspective, the Passive House has all of the beneficial features of our other Everlasting homes, including lower maintenance and longevity, but the key difference is that the control of the home’s climate is in the hands of homeowners. Even if the power grid fails, the Passive House will remain at a liveable temperature for days, or even weeks, and continuous filtered ventilation provides fresh, healthy air and protection from pollution, wildfire smoke, dust, and allergens.
The reduction in operating costs, non-reliance on energy in a volatile market, and the significant increase in climate resilience make it a superior model if you not only value long-term assets but also independence and savings.
DOE Efficient New Home (Zero Energy Ready).
All of our Everlasting Homes are built with Zero Energy Ready standards (recently renamed DOE Efficient New Home) and homeowners can optionally have them Certified through a program from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). We walk our homeowners through this process when choosing to certify. We have certified multiple homes through this program, and in 2023, received “Special Honors Recognition” from the DOE’s Housing Innovation Awards.
DOE Efficient New Homes mandate specific high-performance features, third-party verification, and future-proofing. They typically achieve much greater efficiency than a conventional home, but with less stringent criteria than a Passive House. With this approach, our SCIP monolithic envelope and other technologies combine to meet the efficiency and performance standards set by the program, and use solar energy and other equipment to offset most or all of the home’s annual energy use.
RESNET (HERS index) rated.
The DOE also has a certification program through the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET®), which uses a third-party closed door testing inspector to measure our homes’ energy consumption and standards for quality based on leakage in the envelope, heating and cooling systems, smart thermostats, lighting, ENERGY STAR Partner appliances, and other equipment.
A HERS rating is assigned for energy performance, usually ranging from 0 to 150 (or higher), with the lowest score representing efficiency. Most of our homes are within the 40 range, which equates to 60% more energy efficiency. In August 2023, we won Builder of the Month by RESNET® for one of our homes that achieved a 42 score, with an annual cost savings of more than $2300, one of the many benefits that an Everlasting home provides.
Recognition and affiliations.
Industry review.
“Your leadership in building Department of Energy (DOE) Zero Energy Ready Homes is impressive…The homes that you build are outstanding achievements and examples of how we can move the building industry to ‘zero’.”
— J. Van Mourik, DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Program Director—Everlasting Homes Building Group’s 2023 Housing Innovation “Special Honors Recognition”