(3) holds insurance coverage of at least 
$1,000,000 for general liability, and for such other 
purposes and in such other amounts as required by 
the State; 
(4) provides warranties to the homeowner that 
completed work will— 
(A) be free of significant defects; 
(B) be installed in accordance with the 
specifications of the manufacturer, and all ap-
plicable State and local codes; and 
(C) perform properly for a period of at 
least 1 year after the date of completion of the 
work; and 
(5) completes an energy audit to determine the 
impact of the proposed energy efficiency measures in 
accordance with an ANSI accredited energy auditing 
standard. 
(b) AGREEMENT
BETWEEN
CONTRACTOR
AND 
HOMEOWNER.—A contractor who performs retrofit work 
under the Home Energy Savings Retrofit Rebate Program 
must sign a written or electronic contract with the home-
owner that includes— 
(1) an agreement to not increase the cost of the 
home improvement as a result of the rebates re-
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ceived under this Act with respect to physical im-
provements made to the home; 
(2) if the contractor and homeowner choose the 
transferable rebate option authorized under section 
7, an agreement to provide the homeowner, before a 
contract is executed between the contractor and the 
homeowner covering the eligible work, a notice of the 
rebate amount the contractor intends to apply for 
with respect to eligible work under this Act; and 
(3) a notice that the homeowner acknowledges 
that they— 
(A) reviewed the national retrofit website 
for the Program; 
(B) understand the scope of work intended 
to be completed and that such work may be eli-
gible for a rebate under the Program; and 
(C) understand that the rebate funds are 
fully subject to availability from the Depart-
ment of Energy or rebate aggregator and not 
within the control of the contractor. 
SEC. 5. REBATE AGGREGATORS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop a net-
work of rebate aggregators or a national rebate aggregator 
that can facilitate the delivery of rebates to homeowners 
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or contractors participating in the Home Energy Savings 
Retrofit Rebate Program by— 
(1) reviewing the proposed rebate application 
for completeness and accuracy; 
(2) reviewing measures for eligibility in accord-
ance with this Act; 
(3) providing data to the Federal Rebate Proc-
essing System consistent with data protocols estab-
lished by the Secretary; and 
(4) not later than 30 days after the date of re-
ceipt, distributing funds received from the Depart-
ment of Energy to homeowners or contractors. 
(b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to apply to the Sec-
retary for approval as a rebate aggregator, an entity shall 
be— 
(1) a Home Performance with Energy Star pro-
gram sponsor; 
(2) an entity administering a residential or 
building energy efficiency retrofit program, solar 
program, or other such program impacting energy 
efficiency in homes established or approved by a 
State or local government; 
(3) a Federal power marketing administration, 
an electric utility, or a natural gas utility that has— 
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(A) a residential energy efficiency retrofit 
program; and 
(B) a quality assurance provider or pro-
vider network; or 
(4) an entity that demonstrates to the Sec-
retary that the entity can perform the functions of 
a rebate aggregator, without disrupting existing resi-
dential retrofits in the States that are incorporating 
the Home Energy Savings Retrofit Rebate Program, 
including demonstration of— 
(A) the capability to provide electronic 
data to the Federal Rebate Processing System; 
(B) a financial system that is capable of 
tracking the distribution of rebates to partici-
pating contractors; and 
(C) coordination and cooperation by the 
entity with the appropriate State energy office 
regarding participation in the existing energy 
efficiency programs that will be delivering the 
Home Energy Savings Retrofit Rebate Pro-
gram. 
(c) PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION EFFICIENCY TAR-
GETS.—The Secretary shall— 
(1) develop guidelines for States and local gov-
ernments to use to allow utilities participating as re-
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bate aggregators to count the energy savings from 
the participation of the utilities toward State and 
local level energy savings targets; and 
(2) work with States and local governments to 
assist in the adoption of those guidelines for the 
purposes and duration of the Home Energy Savings 
Retrofit Rebate Program. 
SEC. 6. QUALITY ASSURANCE PROVIDERS. 
(a) QUALIFICATIONS.—An entity shall be considered 
a quality assurance provider under this Act only if the en-
tity is qualified through— 
(1) the BPI; 
(2) RESNET; or 
(3) any other entity designated by the Secretary 
such as a State, local government, or State-approved 
or local government-approved residential energy effi-
ciency retrofit program. 
(b) FUNCTIONS.—A quality assurance provider 
shall— 
(1) be independent of the contractor; 
(2) confirm that contractors or installers of 
home energy efficiency retrofits meet the qualifica-
tion requirements of this Act; and 
(3) perform field inspections to confirm the 
compliance of the retrofit work and the simulated 
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energy savings under the Home Energy Savings Ret-
rofit Rebate Program. 
SEC. 7. TRANSFERABILITY OF HOME ENERGY SAVINGS RE-
BATE. 
A homeowner may transfer the rebate provided under 
the Home Energy Savings Retrofit Rebate Program to the 
contractor performing the retrofit work if the contractor 
completes a form that accompanies the rebate form devel-
oped under section 3(b). This form, to be made publically 
available by the Secretary 90 days after the date of enact-
ment of this Act, must be approved by paper signature 
or electronically by the homeowner and include— 
(1) the amount of the rebate the contractor will 
submit for disbursement to the contractor; 
(2) the level of energy use reduction of the 
home retrofit certified under section 8(e)(4), and as-
surance that the contractor will provide the certifi-
cate to the homeowner within 30 days of receipt 
from the Department of Energy; 
(3) a documentation report of the retrofit per-
formed and paid by the homeowner; and 
(4) confirmation from the homeowner that they 
understand they have the right to submit directly for 
the rebate and have chosen to transfer the credit in 
full to the contractor. 
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SEC. 8. HOME ENERGY SAVINGS RETROFIT REBATE PRO-
GRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—If a qualified home energy effi-
ciency retrofit of a home is carried out after the date of 
enactment of this Act by a qualified contractor in accord-
ance with this Act, subject to appropriations made avail-
able for such purpose, rebates shall be awarded for retro-
fits that achieve home energy savings in accordance with 
this Act. 
(b) AMOUNT OF REBATES.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (e), 
the amount of a rebate provided to the owner of a 
home or a designee of the owner under this section 
shall be determined in accordance with the following 
formula: 
(A) Retrofits that are projected to save at 
least 20 percent of energy use (Home Perform-
ance Retrofits) shall receive a rebate of $2,500. 
(B) Retrofits that are projected to save at 
least 40 percent of energy use (Deep Home 
Performance Retrofits) shall receive a rebate of 
$5,000. 
(2) REBATE PAYMENT.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The rebate shall be 
paid, based on energy savings as calculated 
under subsection (e), within 60 days after— 
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(i) submission of the required rebate 
forms; and 
(ii) the completion of any quality as-
surance assessment required under sub-
paragraph (B). 
(B) QUALITY ASSURANCE ASSESSMENTS.— 
The Secretary shall establish a schedule of re-
quired quality assurance assessments. In the 
first year of the Program, the first 10 homes 
retrofit by each contractor and then 60 percent 
of all future homes shall be required to have a 
quality assurance assessment. The Secretary 
shall establish a cost effective schedule of re-
quired quality assurance assessments for subse-
quent years based on performance under the 
Program. 
(C) BONUS
INCENTIVE.—Recipients of 
grants under section 9 and rebate aggregators 
are encouraged to present a proposal to the 
Secretary for an incentive bonus for contractors 
who have delivered services to consumers and 
who have achieved a 70 percent or greater real-
ization rate for predicted gross energy cost sav-
ings achieved by their portfolio of participating 
customers. Bonus incentives under such a pro-
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posal may be up to 20 percent of the rebate 
paid to the homeowner. 
(3) LIMITATION.—In no event shall the amount 
of rebates under this subsection exceed— 
(A) $10,000 with respect to any individual; 
or 
(B) 50 percent of the qualified home en-
ergy efficiency expenditures paid or incurred by 
the homeowner under subsection (c). 
(c) QUALIFIED HOME ENERGY EFFICIENCY EX-
PENDITURES.—For purposes of this section, the term 
‘‘qualified home energy efficiency expenditures’’— 
(1) means any amount paid or incurred by a 
homeowner for a qualified home energy efficiency 
retrofit, including the cost of diagnostic procedures, 
labor, reporting, and modeling; and 
(2) does not include— 
(A) improvements to swimming pools or 
hot tubs; or 
(B) any amount paid or incurred to pur-
chase or install a biomass, wood, or wood pellet 
furnace, boiler, or stove, unless the system— 
(i) is designed to meet at least 70 per-
cent of the heating demands of the home; 
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(ii) in the case of woodstoves, is cer-
tified by the Environmental Protection 
Agency; 
(iii) in the case of a wood stove re-
placement, replaces an existing wood stove 
with a stove that is certified by the Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency, if a voucher 
is provided by the installer or other respon-
sible party certifying that the old stove has 
been removed and made inoperable; 
(iv) in the case of a furnace or boiler, 
is in a home with a distribution system 
(such as piping, ducts, vents, blowers, or 
affixed fans) that allows heat from the fur-
nace or boiler to reach all or most parts of 
the home; and 
(v) is certified by an independent test 
laboratory approved by the Secretary as 
having— 
(I) thermal efficiency (with a 
high heating value) of at least 75 per-
cent for stoves and 80 percent for fur-
naces and boilers; 
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(II) particulate emissions of less 
than 3.0 grams per hour for wood 
stoves or pellet stoves; and 
(III) less than 0.07 lbs per mil-
lion BTU for outdoor boilers and fur-
naces. 
(d) QUALIFIED HOME ENERGY EFFICIENCY RET-
ROFIT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—A qualified home energy ef-
ficiency retrofit is a retrofit that implements meas-
ures, during a rebate-eligible year in the existing 
principal residence of the homeowner which is lo-
cated in the United States, intended to reduce the 
energy use of such residence. A qualified home en-
ergy efficiency retrofit shall— 
(A) be implemented and installed by a 
qualified contractor; 
(B) install a set of measures modeled to 
achieve a reduction in home energy use of 20 
percent or more from the baseline established 
under subparagraph (C), using computer mod-
eling software approved under paragraph (2); 
(C) establish the baseline energy use as 
provided in subsection (e)(1)(C); 
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(D) implement a test-out procedure, fol-
lowing guidelines of the applicable accrediting 
program established by an organization identi-
fied in section 4(a)(2) or equivalent guidelines 
approved by the Secretary for this purpose, to 
ensure— 
(i) the safe operation of all systems 
post retrofit; and 
(ii) that, except as provided in para-
graph (3), all improvements are included 
in, and have been installed according to— 
(I) standards of the applicable 
accrediting program established by an 
organization 
identified 
in 
section 
4(a)(2); 
(II) manufacturers installation 
specifications; and 
(III) all applicable State and 
local codes or equivalent standards 
approved by the Secretary for this 
purpose; 
(E) include only measures that have an av-
erage estimated life of 5 years or more as deter-
mined by the Secretary; 
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(F) not include funds paid or incurred in 
connection with any expansion of the square 
footage of the residence; and 
(G) not include improvements to swimming 
pools or hot tubs or any other expenditure spe-
cifically excluded by the Secretary. 
(2) APPROVED
MODELING
SOFTWARE.—The 
contractor shall use modeling software certified by 
RESNET as following the software verification test 
suites in section 4.2.1 of RESNET Publication No. 
13–001, or under equivalent standards approved by 
the Secretary for this purpose, and shall have the 
ability at a minimum to assess the savings associ-
ated with all the measures for Home Energy Savings 
Retrofit Rebate Program. 
(3) EXCEPTION.—For purposes of paragraph 
(1)(D)(ii), installation of gas-fired appliances shall 
comply with requirements of the National Fuel Gas 
Code (ANSI Z223.1/NFPA 54) and applicable in-
stallation requirements in lieu of performance of 
combustion tests outside those required by the Na-
tional Fuel Gas Code (2012 Edition) and the Inter-
national Fuel Gas Code (2012 Edition). 
(e) ENERGY USE REDUCTION.— 
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(1) DETERMINATION OF ENERGY USE REDUC-
TION.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The reduction in en-
ergy use for any residence shall be determined 
by modeling the annual predicted percentage re-
duction in total energy consumption or costs for 
heating, cooling, hot water, and permanent 
lighting. It shall be modeled using computer 
modeling software approved under subsection 
(d)(2) and calibrated according to subpara-
graph (C) of this paragraph. 
(B) ENERGY COSTS.—For the purposes of 
subparagraph (A), the energy cost per unit of 
fuel for each fuel type shall be determined by 
dividing the total actual energy bill (subtracting 
taxes and fees) for the residence for that fuel 
type for the most recent available 12-month pe-
riod by the total energy units of that fuel type 
used over the same period. 
(C) BASELINE
ENERGY
USE.—For the 
purposes of subparagraph (A), the software 
model that establishes the baseline energy use 
and predicted energy savings shall be calibrated 
according to the procedures set forth in sections 
3 and 4 of ANSI/BPI Standard BPI–2400–S– 
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2012: Standard Practice for Standardized 
Qualification of Whole-House Energy Savings 
Predictions by Calibration to Energy Use His-
tory, or an equivalent standard approved by the 
Secretary for this purpose. 
(2) DOCUMENTATION.—The percent improve-
ment in energy consumption calculated under this 
section shall be documented through modeling soft-
ware described in subsection (d)(2). 
(3) MONITORING.—The Secretary— 
(A) shall periodically evaluate the software 
packages used for determining rebates under 
this section; 
(B) shall monitor and compare the pre-
dictions to the real energy data, and based on 
the results, create performance criteria to allow 
or disallow the software; and 
(C) may disallow the use of software pro-
grams that improperly assess energy savings. 
(4) CERTIFICATE
OF
RETROFIT
PERFORM-
ANCE.—The Secretary shall establish a system for 
distribution of a certificate of performance in ac-
cordance with BPI–2101–S–2013: Standard Re-
quirements for a Certificate of Completion for Resi-
dential Energy Efficiency Upgrades with the 
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issuance of a rebate that certifies the predicted level 
of energy use reduction achieved by the retrofit. The 
certificate shall be provided to the rebate recipient. 
If the recipient is the contractor under the terms of 
section 7, the contractor shall remit the certificate to 
the homeowner, to be delivered or postmarked not 
later than 30 days after the contractor’s receipt of 
the certificate. 
(5) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary shall not uti-
lize the authority provided under this Act to— 
(A) develop, adopt, or implement a public 
labeling system that rates and compares the en-
ergy performance of one home with another; or 
(B) require the public disclosure of an en-
ergy performance evaluation or rating developed 
for any specific home. 
Nothing in this paragraph shall preclude the com-
putation, collection, or use, by the Secretary, rebate 
aggregators, or quality assurance providers, or the 
States or Indian tribes, for the purposes of gath-
ering information on the rating and comparison of 
the energy performance of homes with and without 
energy efficiency retrofits. 
(f) QUALIFICATION FOR REBATE.—On submission of 
a claim for a retrofit rebate by a rebate aggregator, the 
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Secretary shall provide reimbursement to the rebate 
aggregator, if— 
(1) the retrofit is a qualified home energy effi-
ciency retrofit; 
(2) the amount of the reimbursement is not 
more than the amount described in subsection (b); 
(3) documentation required to verify the claim 
is transmitted with the claim; and 
(4) any quality assurance assessment required 
by the Secretary or the rebate aggregator has been 
completed. 
(g) AUDITS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—On making payment for a 
submission under this section, the Secretary shall re-
view rebate requests to determine whether Program 
requirements were met in all respects. 
(2) INCORRECT PAYMENT.—On a determination 
of the Secretary under paragraph (1) that a pay-
ment was made incorrectly to a party, not later than 
3 years after the payment was provided the Sec-
retary shall— 
(A) recoup the amount of the incorrect 
payment; or 
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