What Does Silver Mean and How Does A Home Earn a Silver Certification?

To achieve a Silver Medallion, a home must have a SCORE of 501 points or more, and have confirmed high-performing features that support basic energy and comfort performance, including adequate attic insulation and above-average efficiency heating and cooling systems. A Silver home is significantly better than an average home. 

Approximately 20% of U.S. homes qualify for Pearl Silver. Silver homes have important features that protect a family’s safety, comfort, and pocketbook. 

Exact Silver gates

To earn a Silver Medallion, a home must have a Pearl SCORE strictly above 500 (i.e., ≥ 501) and meet all of the following gate requirements:

• Attic insulation: R-30 or higher.
  
  
• Primary heating & cooling:
  
  
  • Furnace ≥ 92% AFUE,
    • AND

• • Cooling ≥ 15.2 SEER2;
    
    
    • OR
  • Heat pump ≥ 15.2 SEER2 and ≥ 7.8 HSPF2.
    
    
• Testing: None required for Silver.
  
  

Threshold Rationale
Pearl’s mission is to help all U.S. residents understand why home performance matters to them, and to take action to improve the performance of the homes they own and/or live in.

Attic Insulation Levels

Attic insulation and a home’s heating and cooling system are two of the most critical components of a home’s performance. Homes that do not have adequate insulation of heating and cooling systems can risk significant safety, indoor air quality, comfort issues and/or high energy bills.

Attic Insulation:

• The most common insulation R-value in 1979 homes is R-30, so in the Pearl SCORE attic insulation of R-30 does not receive points, but insulation with higher point values does receive points. 
• This insulation level also serves as one of the gates for Silver. In the vast majority of cases, homes with attic insulation levels lower than R-30 risk significant comfort complaints or high energy bills and should not earn a whole-home Silver Certification. 

Heating and cooling systems:

• Virtually all heating and cooling systems that were installed in a 1979 baseline home have been replaced with more modern equipment that meets more recent Federal Minimum Standards. 
• While Pearl uses the Federal Minimum Standards standards as the basis for earning Pearl points, they are not sufficient to reach Silver because:
  • The prevalence of these systems in the marketplace 
  • These cooling systems are often single-speed compressors that result in less comfort (thermal and acoustical ), as well as being less capable of handling indoor humidity levels
  • These heating systems are not sealed-combustion, which can result in backdrafting and the risk of unhealthy contaminants entering into the home
• To maintain Silver as a meaningful benchmark, Pearl references the ENERGY STAR specifications for heating and cooling systems as threshold for Silver.

Intended Outcomes:

The consumer decision-making process is typically very different between attic insulation and mechanical systems. No one wakes up on a hot summer day and finds out their attic insulation suddenly stopped working (barring a catastrophic structural failure). But this is a very common occurrence with mechanical systems. 

• While Pearl strongly encourages consumers to upgrade attics to IECC 2024 levels (and a home must meet those requirements for Gold), a home that has R-30 insulation does not represent a significant risk to safety, indoor air quality, comfort, or high energy bills.
• Conversely, a home with a heating and cooling system that just meets Federal Minimum Standards does represent a high enough risk that it doesn’t meet the intent of Pearl brand for a Silver home.

Versioning & updates

Pearl periodically updates its scoring to reflect codes, technology, and building-science best practices. Always consult the current gates before submitting.