This summer, the U.S. Department of Energy will unveil the Home Energy Score program in 10 separate locations, according to Central Penn Business.

The news source notes that home energy software (HERS) is evaluative technology that analyzes a home's weak points. It provides an energy scoring tool, which produces ratings that are based on a 1-to-10 scale and show homeowners how their home compares to others in the region.

A score of 10 represents a home with excellent energy performance, while a 1 represents a home that will benefit from major energy upgrades. Each participating homeowner will also receive a list of recommendations for improvements and other useful tips.

"The Home Energy Score will help make energy efficiency easy and accessible to America's families by providing them with straightforward and reliable information about their homes' energy performance," said Steven Chu, U.S. Department of Energy secretary.

The media outlet predicts that, due to increased public awareness of the environment, the inclusion of home energy audits and energy scores into real estate transactions may become a reality in between three and five years. It's also predicted to become a point of negotiations over price and repairs.