EPA 402/B-20/008
Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)
Indoor airPLUS:
Building Safer and Healthier Homes
2020 EPA Indoor airPLUS Leader Award
Rater Application
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
Overview:
The Indoor airPLUS Leader Awards were created to recognize outstanding Indoor airPLUS Program partners
who construct and verify Indoor airPLUS homes, designed and built for improved indoor air quality. This annual
award acknowledges market leading builders and raters that promote the benefits of enhanced indoor air quality
protections and educate consumers on the value of safer, healthier, and more comfortable homes with the
Indoor airPLUS label
Benefits;
As an Indoor airPLUS Leader Award recipient your organization receives the following benefits:
Customized Leader Award marketing collateral;
2020 Leader Award Winner logos and banner;
Award, presented at ceremony hosted at the EEBA High Performance Home Summit;
Recognition and web linking on the EPA website;
Email and social media promotion; and
Opportunity to earn EPA's Indoor airPLUS Leader of the Award {awarded to just one builder and
rater).
Eligibility:
To be considered eligible for the award, a rater must:
Have verified and reported at least ten (10) Indoor airPLUS homes in the previous calendaryear (2019).
Be in good standing as an Indoor airPLUS partner and with EPA regarding compliance with all
applicable regulations.
Be in good standing with your applicable verification oversight organization.
Submit a valid, complete application for the award.
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What you need to submit:
Complete all fields below. Responses to each narrative question must be typed.
NEW! Submit at minimum 4 high resolution images to be included in featured profiles of the winners.
Examples images can include Indoor airPLUS qualified homes (under construction or finished),
marketing and sales materials, trainings (internal and external), and/or presentations at conferences.
Supplemental materials such as additional photos or illustrative examples are strongly encouraged.
We're encouraging short video submissions in your application! We're also looking to builders for their
best Indoor airPLUS home. If your builder clients are applying for an award, consider assisting them with
photos and/or construction details to supplement their Best Indoor airPLUS Home Showcase submittal,
and consider a joint video submissionor one of your ownto highlightyour important work!
When finished, submit via email to Indoor airPLUS@epa.gov. Once you have submitted the completed
application, the Indoor airPLUS Program will provide a link to your own online folder where you will be
able to easily submit all supplemental materials.
When you need to submit:
Applications are due by 8 pm EDT, June 10,2020.
What to expect after you submit:
Confirmation of Receipt: A confirmation email will be sent to the email address listed in your
application within 2 business days of its submission and will contain further instructions on how to
access and submit all supplemental materials via your online folder. If you do not receive confirmation
within this timeframe, please contact Indoor airPLUS@epa.gov.
Notification: You will be notified of the status of your application by July 24,2020.
Ceremony Details: The Indoor airPLUS Leader Awards will be publicly announced on or before August 11,2020
and will be formally presented at the EEBA High Performance Home Summit. September 29 - October 1,2020 in
Denver, Colorado.
All Indoor airPLUS Leader Award recipients will have the opportunity to receive their award onstage. EPA will
also be presenting the Indoor airPLUS Leader of the Year Award to just one outstanding builder and rater
partner, selected from the pool of Leader Award winners. The builder winner may be selected from anytf the
builder categories. The winning builder and rater will be chosen based on their achievements with Indoor
airPLUS in the previous year, showcased by the quality of their Leader Award application. These two Leader of
the Year winners will be publicly announced in-person during the award ceremony at the EEBA Summit.
This is an excellent opportunity to showcase your great work at a nationally recognized conference for high
performance building!
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Required Information:
Organization Name:
Contact Name:
Phone Number: Email Address:
Physical Address (for award distribution for winners not attending the EEBA ceremony):
Company Website:
Company Social Media Pages:
Facebook:
Twitter:
Other:
Number of Indoor airPLUS qualified homes verified in 2019:
Number of ENERGY STAR certified homes verified in 2019:
Number of Indoor airPLUS builder clients actively building and labeling Indoor airPLUS homes in 2019:
Commitment to Continued Participation:
~ By checking this box you acknowledge your intention to remain actively involved in the verification of at least
one Indoor airPLUS home in the next 12 months.
Scoring Criteria:
Criteria (see details below)
Maximum Points
Number of Indoor airPLUS qualified homes
25
Number of Indoor airPLUS builder clients actively building and labeling Indoor airPLUS
homes
25
Indoor airPLUS web presence (company website, social media, etc.)
25
Use of Indoor airPLUS brand in company marketing, education, and outreach (email
communications, collaterals, training materials, etc.). Attach examples and links.
15
Review of Narrative Questions
10
BONUS: Video Submission
10
Total (110 possible w/bonus)
100
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Criteria Details:
Number of Indoor airPLUS qualified homes
Rater with the most Indoor airPLUS homes verified
25 points
1st quartile (as a percentage of #1)
20 points
2nd quartile
15 points
3rd quartile
10 points
4th quartile
5 points
Number of Indoor airPLUS builder clients actively building and labeling Indoor airPLUS homes in 2019
Rater with the most Indoor airPLUS builder clients
25 points
1st quartile (as a percentage of #1)
20 points
2nd quartile
15 points
3rd quartile
10 points
4th quartile
5 points
Indoor airPLUS web presence
o A strong web presence includes:
¦ The Indoor airPLUS logo featured prominently on the company website as an indicator of
partnership;
¦ A description of the program features and benefits;
¦ Links to applicable and current Indoor airPLUS web pages;
¦ Social media activity including original posts/tweets about Indoor airPLUS homes being
constructed, verified, or recently occupied; and re-posts/re-tweets/likes of Indoor airPLUS
social media content;
¦ Homeowner testimonials and/or videos about their experience in Indoor airPLUS homes.
Examples of Indoor airPLUS in marketing, education, and outreach
o Examples of the following can be provided as electronic attachments in a single PDF, and, where
appropriate, website URLs with a description of the linked material.
o The applicant utilizes the Indoor airPLUS label as a marketing tool in recruiting builders to the program.
¦ Marketing examples include collaterals, fact sheets, case studies, testimonials, or other
materials explaining the benefits of building an Indoor airPLUS home to the builder (i.e., outlining
the growing consumer demand for IAQ and healthy housing).
o Rating company provides training activities for builder client(s) on best practices for design,
construction, and verification processes, as well as sales, marketing, or promotion of Indoor airPLUS to
homebuyers, tenants, and the general public.
o Rating company provides evidence of concerted outreach efforts to grow market share of Indoor
airPLUS labeled homes, including distribution of collaterals or program resources, promotion at trade
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shows, or coordination with designers, trade contractors, real estate agents, housing finance agencies,
and/or other stakeholders.
o NOTE: Please describe and upload marketing examples that have been utilized by your company only
since the last award cycle.
Review of Narrative Questions
o Please respond to the Narrative Questions in the text boxes below, fully addressing each part of the
question. Provide any supplemental materials to your answers in your online folder referenced above.
o The details provided below and images from the applicant will be used to create featured profiles of
the winners.
Video Submission (Bonus, but strongly encouraged)
o 10 bonus points are possible for applicants who provide a video submission.
o Examples of video content include, but are not limited to:
¦ Testimonial from a company representative discussing Indoor airPLUS and how it has benefited
the business;
¦ A short tour of a home;
¦ Indoor airPLUS focused testimonial from a builder and/or homebuyer;
¦ Discussion of how you are collaborating with your Indoor airPLUS builder and/or design team to
spur innovation and offer an exceptionally healthy and safe home for homebuyers.
o Please do not submit content that is largely self-promotional. Applicants can use their name, company,
and logo in the video, but they should also highlight the indoor air quality features of the homes or
benefits to homeowners and insights they've learned as an Indoor airPLUS partner and/or homeowner.
More traditional video advertisements are also welcome but will be considered under the criteria for
Marketing Examples.
o Builder and rater partners are permitted to submit a video together for separate applications in their
respective categories, but each partner's substantive contribution should be readily apparent to the
viewer. Joint videos should be noted in the application.
o The video submission is optional for Leader Award achievement: however, applicants are strongly
encouraged to submit a video to receive top recognition from EPA.
o Please utilize your online folder provided by EPA to upload your video submission.
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Narrative Questions:
1. How do you engage with builders and encourage their participation in the Indoor airPLUS Program, and in
what ways do you educate other stakeholders and community members about IAQ and Indoor airPLUS? In
particular, please provide details of any new efforts or activities that you have undertaken in the last year to
promote enhanced IAQ in homes.
2. For your builder clients that have made the Indoor airPLUS 100% Commitment for 2020, what key factors
contributed to their commitment, and what role did you play (if any)?
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3. For your builder clients that have NOT made the Indoor airPLUS 100% Commitment for 2020, what barriers do
you feel are preventing them from committing?
4. How can EPA help you and your builder partners to make more of an impact in providing healthier homes for
families? Please feel free to describe programmatic changes that could be made, potential improvements to
the Construction Specifications, or additional marketing tools that would be helpful. What do you envision as a
new and exciting step the program could take?
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