Residential New Construction Program

Summary

In Massachusetts, home builders constructing new homes in territories of sponsoring utilities and energy efficiency service providers* can receive up to $7,000 in incentives for building a home more efficient than the typical Massachusetts home.

The incentives offered in the Massachusetts program vary depending on the tier level achieved and the type of housing. The incentives listed here are for single-family (detached or up to 4-attached units) homes. For the multi-family incentives, see the MassSave website.

There are two options for participation in the program: the prescriptive path and the performance path. The prescriptive path requires certain energy efficiency measures to be taken in order to receive the incentive, while the performance path requires a certain percentage improvement over the 2014 Massachusetts baseline home and compliance with sections 3 and 5 of the ENERGY STAR Thermal Enclosure System Rater Checklist (TESRC) or Thermal Bypass Checklist (TBC).

Performance path incentives are as follows: 

• Tier I (15% improvement): $750
• Tier II (30% improvement): $1,250
• Tier III (45% improvement): $4,500

Building an ENERGY STAR qualified home is encouraged, but not required in order to earn rebates. However, an additional $25 incentive is available for ENERGY STAR-certified projects. 

To participate and become eligible for the incentives, the home builder must first contact the program. They also must select and work with a Home Energy Rating Service (HERS) Rater. A supplement is available to help with the cost of working with a HERS Rater. Once the builder has selected and met with the HERS Rater, the builder can apply to the program, and a reservation for incentives is made. Once the home has been built and met the qualifications as determined by the final HERS Rater inspection, the rebate payment will be processed.

*Sponsoring utilities, that support the program through rate-payer collected funds, include Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, Berkshire Gas, Cape Light Compact, National Grid, Eversource, Liberty Utilities, and Unitil.