This section will remain effective until the effective date of section 10-103.3 in Part 1 of Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations, upon which it will be replaced by the amended version below.

For the purposes of these regulations, the following definitions shall apply:

ACM Manual means the Low-Rise Residential Alternative Calculation Method Approval Manual (Energy Commission Publication CEC-400-2008-002) adopted in Section 10-109(b)(2) of Title 24, Part 1 of the California Code of Regulations.

Building Performance Contractor means a contractor who is certified by a Provider to evaluate the comfort and safety aspects of a home in conjunction with its energy features and its energy consumption in a holistic manner to determine recommendations for the best overall performance of a home for the occupant or owner, and is licensed by the California Contractors State License Board as a current and active Class B general building contractor. Either the qualifying individual for the Class B license or the employee who is directly responsible to the qualifying individual for the Class B license for rating services, audit services, and related construction work is certified as a California Whole-House Home Energy Rater by an Energy Commission-approved Building Performance Contractor program as specified in Section 1674(e).

California Field Verification and Diagnostic Testing Rater means a Rater who has been trained, tested, and certified by a Provider to perform field verification and diagnostic testing of newly constructed homes or alterations to existing homes to verify compliance with the requirements of Title 24, Part 6.

California Home Energy Analyst means a person who works under the direct supervision of a California Whole-House Home Energy Rater and has been trained, tested, and certified by a Provider in accordance with the requirements of Section 1673(a) to perform analysis for a Whole-House Home Energy Rating using an Energy Commission-approved HERS rating software program.

California Home Energy Audit means a process to determine the energy savings and cost-effectiveness of specific measures together with an evaluation of the energy uses listed in Section 1672(d) and a report to present the information used to evaluate the measures and make recommendations for the inclusion of such measures into the home. An audit need not include a Whole-House Home Energy Rating score.

California Home Energy Auditor means a person who has been trained, tested, and certified by a Provider as a California Whole-House Home Energy Rater to provide the information for a California Home Energy Audit.

California Home Energy Inspector means a home inspector who has also been trained, tested, and certified by a Provider and who works under the direct supervision of a California Whole-House Home Energy Rater to gather the data specified in the HERS Technical Manual to enable the development of a California Whole-House Home Energy Rating.

California Whole-House Home Energy Rater means a person who has been trained, tested, and certified by a Provider to properly gather information on the energy consuming features of a home, perform diagnostic testing at the home, evaluate the validity of that information, simulate and perform analysis for a California Whole-House Home Energy Rating or a California Home Energy Audit using an Energy Commission-approved HERS rating software program to estimate the energy consumption of a home using the information gathered on site, and complete all of the cost-effectiveness evaluations described in the HERS Technical Manual.

California Whole-House Home Energy Rating means a process to determine a California Whole-House Home Energy Rating score representing the relative energy efficiency of a newly constructed or existing residential building as compared to the Reference Home.

Certified, as to a Provider and Rating System, means having successfully completed the certification requirements as specified by Section 1674.

Energy Commission means the State of California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, commonly known as the California Energy Commission.

Energy-Rated Home means a newly constructed or existing residential building that has an energy rating pursuant to these regulations.

Executive Director means the Executive Director of the Energy Commission.

Financial Interest means an ownership interest, debt agreement, or employer/employee relationship. Financial interest does not include ownership of less than five percent of the outstanding equity securities of a publicly traded corporation.

HERS Technical Manual or HTM means the HERS Technical Manual, Energy Commission Publication CEC-400-2008-012 (May 2009), and is incorporated by reference.

Independent Entity means having no financial interest in, and not advocating or recommending the use of any product or service as a means of gaining increased business with, firms or persons specified in Section 1673(j).

Note: The definitions of “independent entity” and “financial interest,” together with Section 1673(j), prohibit conflicts of interest between Providers and Raters, or between Providers/Raters and builders/subcontractors.

Net Zero Energy Home means a home that has a net annual Time Dependent Valued (TDV) Energy consumption of zero, accounting for both energy consumption and the use of on-site renewable energy production.

Provider means an organization that administers a home energy rating system in compliance with these regulations (referred to as a “home energy rating service organization” in Section 25942 of the Public Resources Code).

Rater means a person who has been trained, tested, and certified by a Provider to perform one or more of the functions or procedures used to develop a California Whole-House Home Energy Rating, a California Home Energy Audit, or the field verification and diagnostic testing required for demonstrating compliance with the Title 24, Part 6, Building Energy Efficiency Standards, and who is listed on a Provider's registry in compliance with Section 1673(d).

Rating means a California Whole-House Home Energy Rating or a California Home Energy Audit, or the field verification and diagnostic testing required for verifying compliance with the Title 24, Part 6, Building Energy Efficiency Standards, as specified by these regulations.

Rating System means the materials, analytical tools, diagnostic tools and procedures to produce home energy ratings, and provide home energy rating and field verification and diagnostic testing services (referred to as “home energy rating services” in Section 25942 of the Public Resources Code).

Reference Home means a low-rise residential building similar to the rated house, but for which the energy performance characteristics of each component exactly meet the reference house specifications defined in the HERS Technical Manual.

Service Water Heating means service water heating as defined in Section 101(b) of Title 24, Part 6 of the California Code of Regulations.

Time Dependent Valued (TDV) Energy means the time varying energy used by the building to determine the home energy rating pursuant to these regulations. TDV Energy accounts for the energy used at the building site and consumed in producing and delivering energy to a site, including, but not limited to, power generation, and transmission and distribution losses.