The Ekotrope reference home for South Carolina has been updated to better align with the North Carolina reference home. We expect this change to improve energy savings and incentives in South Carolina Program homes. Please reach out to the Program team for additional information on updates.
Ekotrope
Duke Energy Carolinas RNC Program Accepting Homes in South Carolina
Homes in the Upstate off South Carolina served by Duke Energy are now eligible for incentives in the RNC Program.
Any qualifying homes in Duke Energy territory in South Carolina permitted on or after 12/8/2022 are eligible for incentives and can be submitted in the RNC Program. Homes in South Carolina will follow the same incentive structure as North Carolina whether the home is in Progress or Carolinas territory. Homes in South Carolina will use the South Carolina building code for the reference home in Ekotrope.
The Duke Energy RNC Program Incentive structure can be found here.
North Carolina Temporary Change to Duct Insulation Requirements
The Duke Energy RNC Program will be temporarily modifying the minimum required duct insulation in response to the Executive Order issued by North Carolina Governor Cooper (page 46, section 20.10) reducing the duct insulation requirement in unconditioned spaces from R-8 to R-4.2 in the North Carolina building code.
If the temporary order expires, the RNC Program will default back to the North Carolina building code for duct insulation requirements. This change will go live in Ekotrope in the coming weeks. The RNC Program team will provide updates as they become available.
Due to the complexity of calculations determining whether homes qualify for incentives in the RNC Program, participating builders should check with their Home Energy Raters when making specification changes to homes to ensure they still qualify in the Program, and to determine incentive impacts.
Read MoreHVAC Grading Savings Captured in Ekotrope
Updated on 4/27/22
The Duke Energy RNC Program will begin capturing savings from HVAC grading in the coming weeks.
HVAC grading savings will be capped at 1,000 kWh per home system.
Homes must qualify for the full HERO+ HERS incentive category to receive incentives from HVAC grading.
The RNC Program team will provide updates as they become available surrounding the timeline in Ekotrope.
Read MoreEkotrope Version 4.0 Mandatory 01/01/2022
Ekotrope Version 4.0 will be mandatory for all homes in the Duke Energy RNC Program permitted on or after January 1, 2022 , per RESNET guidance. The RNC Program Team recommends all raters review their builders plans for potential impacts to program savings and compliance in the RNC Program prior to January 1st. The complete list of changes in Version 4.0 can be found on Ekotrope.com.
Read MoreBest Practices for T-Ply and Housewrap Rater Webinar
The Duke Energy RNC Program team will be hosting a rater webinar to overview the best practices with t-ply and housewrap and answer questions from raters. Please reach out to the RNC Program team for a link to the webinar.
Read MoreHVAC Grading in Ekotrope Rater Webinar
The Duke Energy RNC Program team will be hosting a rater webinar to overview the HVAC Grading process in Ekotrope and answer questions from raters. Please reach out to the RNC Program team for a link to the webinar.
Read MoreHVAC Grading in Ekotrope
The new Standard 310 (Std. 310) provides a method for evaluating the installation quality of HVAC systems. Ekotrope currently has the HVAC grading system in Beta and plans to release the working version in April.
Read MoreBeta Versions of Rating Software
Beta rating software is not permitted for homes in the Duke Energy RNC Program under any circumstances. Read the full post for more information.
Read MoreUpdates to Savings and Incentive Calculation Process
The Program is excited to announce updates to the savings and incentive calculation process that will streamline raters’ tasks and improve the consistency of calculated savings.
Read MoreEkotrope and the RNC Program
in Raters
The Program Team is pleased to announce that homes modeled in Ekotrope will be accepted beginning on Monday, May 7th, 2018.
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