The Council of Multiple Listing Services defines an AEM as, “any algorithm or scoring model that estimates the [efficiency] of a home without an on-site inspection.
[1]” Most AEMs calculate a property’s selected efficiency by analyzing available public information and may also apply proprietary data or formulas, and allow for a user such as a home owner to make additional inputs.
Housing characteristics such as age of the home or square footage may be obtained by data providers such as those on this list of online real estate databases or a similar offerings.
[2] Zillow publishes a Sun Number score on the home fact sheet so website visitors can compare the solar energy potential of prospective properties.
[3] Trulia has published a report using automated estimates from UtilityScore to present water, natural gas and electric rates into a single price per square foot by zip code.
In the photovoltaics industry, installers use Sun Number to reduce the soft costs associated with motivating consumers to invest in solar systems and in recording property specifications to create quotes.