|
Click here for the Energy Star main web site.
Responding to buyer demand for new homes that are healthier, more comfortable, more energy-efficient and friendlier to the environment, home builders across the nation are entering a new era of "performance building." Today, engineering and testing new homes for health, durability, and comfort is becoming just as important to the building equation as the number of bedrooms and the school district.
Nowhere is this theme more important than in North Carolina where the climate is mixed with cool winters, hot summers and humidity levels conducive to mold growth. As energy costs continue to rise and interest rates drop, there may soon be a mass of new homes in which the monthly utility bill eclipses the monthly mortgage payment.
Indoor air quality is another important consumer issue. A recent survey published in Builder magazine found that 91 percent of homebuyers are concerned about indoor air, which can be two to five times as polluted as outdoor air.
In the Triad, performance building has been limited to the upper end of the market. Now one builder is focusing on the first-time buyers and first-time move-up market with homes priced from the low $100,000s to $570,000. Don Hamrick of Homes by Hamrick is building North Carolina’s first Mold Resistant Energy Star Home. Hamrick is the first to introduce standard features that address a buyer concerns about mold, air quality, comfort and energy efficiency in this price range home.
Such features include:
- “Low Toxicity” Termite Protection – Since studies have shown that what’s under a house usually gets into the house, a low toxicity termite treatment is a healthier alternative to the conventional “soil poison” treatment. The borate based formula is environmentally friendly and non toxic to people and animals. It works by contaminating the termites' food source such as wood and other cellulose materials. The contaminated food (wood) kills microbes which termites and pests need for digestion and essentially starves them to death.
- Mold resistant construction techniques such as water managed foundation, perimeter drainage system with clean outs, watertight window flashings and a continuous drainage plane are used to keep water out of the house.
- Sealed vapor tight crawl space. Although it’s been customary for years to install them in foundation walls, recent research provides plenty of evidence that vents for crawlspaces don't work. A sealed and conditioned crawlspace is a much better choice if you want to control moisture and mold growth in a home.
- Special framing techniques reduces waste, optimizes insulation coverage and minimizes cold spots where condensation can occur inside walls.
- High performance insulation. While most new homes typically incorporate fiberglass insulation, urethane foam provides over 200% better insulating value, forms an airtight barrier and does not support mold growth inside wall cavities.
- Solar Smart Windows. Windows commonly comprise 10 to 30 percent of a home's exterior wall area and accounts for 25 to 50 percent of heating and cooling needs. Today's Homebuyers love designer windows, such as floor-to-ceiling windows in two-story family rooms and arched Palladian windows in two-story foyers. The problem is windows are poor insulators. Solar Smart Windows -- such as double-paned, low-E2 contain multiple layers of microscopic coatings to filter the sun's energy. They are 50% better at reducing heat loss and less susceptible to condensation, providing superior comfort year round. The special glass also blocks damaging UV rays which discolor carpets, draperies and upholstery.
- Tight Construction – One of the most important things in a home that adversely affects comfort and heating and cooling bills is air leakage. The average home loses 30 percent of its heated or cooled air because of air leaks. Proper caulking, gaskets and foams pay huge dividends in the life of a home. When the house is finished, the air leakage is tested with a space age device called a blower door.
- Air Tight Ducts - Leaky air conditioning ducts are one of a home's largest energy wasters with estimates indicating that the average residential duct system leaks as much as 30 percent. With proper sealing, duct leakage can be reduced to less than 5 percent. It would seem if water pipes don’t leak, then neither should ducts. Interestingly, there is no code requirement for ducts to be leak tested. However, testing is the only method which verifies ducts are substantially air-tight.
- Right sized heating and cooling equipment - With tight construction, air-tight ducts, improved insulation and high-performance windows, it is possible to "right-size" (in other words, decrease the size of) the home's heating and cooling equipment. Smaller equipment uses less energy and is less expensive to install.
- Highly efficient 13-SEER air conditioning unit. 90 percent of all the houses built in America have the least energy efficient heating system, cooling system and water heaters allowed by code. High efficiency heating and cooling equipment costs more money. However, it is well worth the investment because it will cut your heating and cooling costing over 30 percent.
- European Style Tankless water heater – Most people don't use hot water 24 hours a day. But with the old hot water tank technology, you're likely paying to heat water 24 hours a day. All day, you heat and reheat the same water… Even when you're sleeping. A tankless water heater delivers a never-ending supply of hot water only when you need it for as long as you need it. While these water heaters cost up to $400 more per unit, they will save much more than that because they are 87 percent energy efficient compared to 54 percent for most other water heaters.
- Humidity Control - Variable A/C equipment with a humidity-sensing thermostat is designed to control temperature and humidity. When humidity control is more important than cooling, the system adjusts to remove six to seven times more humidity. However, this system only works when there is a need for cooling. Since there are a significant number of hours every year when cooling is not needed, it is necessary to use a dedicated dehumidifier for this purpose.
- Pressure balancing. Pressure balancing is another important consideration for comfort. Many new homes do not include return grilles in bedrooms, making it impossible for air to circulate freely when doors are closed. Returns in these rooms help balance pressure thoroughout the home, enabling air to circulate more easily. With appropriate measures, there should be no more than a three-degree difference from the thermostat setting in any room.
- Manifold Plumbing Distribution - The manifold water distribution system is the most efficient water management technology on the market. Recognized as one of the most significant advances in plumbing technology. The manifold system services each plumbing fixture with a dedicated water line from the central manifold plumbing control unit. The system equalizes pressure, making it possible to use multiple fixtures simultaneously without dramatic temperature or pressure changes. It uses less water and conserves more energy than other systems. Fixture repairs are easier to make because each fixture has its own shut-off valve. The system uses 90 percent fewer joints which reduces the risk of flooding from plumbing leaks.
By weight, people breathe seven times more air than food each day. So, disease laden air means puts you at greater risk than eating contaminated food because of volume. It is easy to see why clean, pure air can be the greatest of all health supplements …more than vitamins, more than food supplements. In planning a health regimen, fresh, clean air must be a major component of this plan and perhaps is at the top of the list.
- Allergy Filter - The typical throw away furnace filter only traps about 5 - 15% of polluting particles. Since the slightest traces of pollutants can trigger miserable reactions for allergy sufferers, a whole-house, HEPA-type air cleaner is the best system to scrub particles from the air. The efficiency of these filters actually improves to 95 percent, catching particles smaller than a human hair.
- Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation - We now know that airborne germs are wildly diverse, always on the move in a home and often spreading with terrifying consequences. Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) is used to kill germs circulating in indoor air, destroy microbes in “nesting areas” and prevent germs from going airborne. UVGI may be the final defense against those diseases that have developed a resistance to drugs. For example, UVGI is now the weapon of choice for most hospitals with patents infected with the airborne TB, Strain W, a new drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis. UVGI is used in the hospital room ceilings of infected patents to destroy these bacteria that pass through it.
- Fresh Air Ventilation System - Bringing in fresh, uncontaminated air is essential to the durability of the home and the health and safety of the homeowners. Providing efficient air delivery and filtration systems also helps to dilute pollutants, manage moisture, provide make-up air for appliances and ensure proper house pressures.
- Direct Vent Gas Fireplace - There has also been a dramatic increase in the installation of house-vented (vent-free) logs and fireplaces. These are the kind that don’t need a chimney. Common sense will tell you that what used to go up the chimney is now going into the air of your home for you to breathe (sort of like leaving your car running in your living room) House-vented fireplaces and logs produce water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxides, and other undesirable combustion products. A typical house-vented fireplace or log set burns approximately 30,000 btu/hr. It releases nearly 27 cubic feet of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the air you breathe every hour. If you’ll remember science class, carbon dioxide is also what people exhale. 27cubic feet is the equivalent of the amount of CO2 produced by 54 people at rest. House vented fireplaces also generate lots of moisture. Typically, 1 gallon of water vapor is released into the air every 2 ½ to 3 hours you burn them. Direct vent fireplaces remove all flue gases from the house and use outside air as a combustion source. Direct Vent fireplaces are healthier, safer and more energy efficient.
- Vented Range Hood - Cooking adds substantial amounts of moisture and odors to the indoor air. Any time the air becomes saturated with more than 50 percent moisture (determined by a hygrometer), mold and dust mites grow explosively. This has an adverse effect on allergies and related illnesses. Many homes use cheaper “non vented” range hoods, which pass the air through a charcoal filter before it blows it right back into the kitchen. Although the filter may remove some grease and odors, it does nothing to remove moisture. For better health, it is imperative that high levels moisture be vented to the outside at the source.
- Better Quality Bath Fans – Although bath fans have been a standard part of most bathrooms for years, most are noisy and ineffective in removing moisture generated from showers and baths. Better quality bath fans cost $75 to $150 more but are effective in removing moisture with very low noise.
The cumulative results of energy savings from the EPA's Energy Star program and builders' performance-building systems can be impressive.
- Guaranteed cost reductions. Through a program incorporating these features, a builder can guarantee heating and cooling costs. Hamrck is guaranteeing heating and cooling costs for the first two years of ownership for his new homes. The mold resistant home has guaranteed heating and cooling costs of $49 per month. Any charges exceeding the average monthly costs are refunded to homeowners.
- Innovative Financing Programs - The mortgage industry recognizes a buyer finds it easier to make a mortgage payment if his utility bill is reasonable. Many lenders are offering innovative financing products, allowing energy savings from a new energy efficient home to increase the home buying power of consumers. This is making it easier to buy an Energy Star Home.
Homes qualifying for Energy Star's 5-Star rating use 30 percent less energy than homes built to the 1993 Model Energy Code. This allowed Americans to cut their energy bills by over $7 billion in 2003, saving enough energy to power 15 million homes. Greenhouse gas emissions were reduced by the equivalent of taking 14 million cars off the road. Proving that performance building can also make an important contribution to helping the environment.
|
|
