Why Your Net Zero Home May Have the Same Pearl SCORE as Your Neighbor’s
Reaching net zero is a big achievement — it means your home produces as much energy as it uses over the course of a year. But if you’ve checked your Pearl SCORE™ and noticed it looks the same as a neighbor’s home that isn’t net zero, you might wonder why. The answer lies in how the Pearl SCORE is designed to measure total home performance.
1. Not All of Your Home’s Features Have Been Included in the SCORE
There’s a blind spot in the real estate market. While features like number of bedrooms, square footage, and the age of the home are well known, many of a home’s features that contribute to its performance are invisible. If you found your home on the Pearl Registry it’s highly likely that none of your home’s net zero features are included, because none of those features were captured when the home was built or improved! That’s why Pearl exists - to make value visible. Our tools and resources help you capture that value - and make it visible when you are refinancing or selling.
2. The SCORE Measures More Than Energy
The Pearl SCORE doesn’t just look at how much energy your home uses. It also evaluates safety, comfort, operations, and resilience. Just because a home may be very energy efficient and have renewables that offset the energy usage doesn’t mean that it’s healthy, comfortable, or resilient.
3. Your Neighbor May Score Well in Other Areas
Even if your home produces its own power, your neighbor’s house might perform strongly in other categories, like indoor air quality or backup systems, which can balance out the overall score.
What You Can Do Next
- Review your Pearl App features. Check if all your performance upgrades — beyond energy — are documented.
- Look for opportunities outside of energy. Improving comfort, safety, or resilience features can raise your SCORE further.
- Celebrate your net zero achievement. Even if the SCORE looks similar, your utility bills and environmental impact are already much better than average.
Reassurance for You
The Pearl SCORE is designed to recognize a wide variety of performance features, not just energy use. Your net zero status is still a major advantage — it saves money, reduces carbon emissions, and adds to your home’s long-term value.
CTA / Next Step
👉 Log in to the Pearl App to review your features and see how you can raise your SCORE beyond energy performance.