FSEC
Provides Assistance to Homes Featured at the International
Builders' Show
Revised April 16, 2007
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More than 100,000 people attended
the International Builders' Show in February.
Photo:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
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Among the highlights of this year’s National Association of
Home Builders’ International Builders' Show in Orlando in February
were some high-performance homes that attracted a lot of attention
for their energy-saving construction and features. The work of a number
of center researchers helped with the design and planning of these
homes as well as the information given to interested attendees. With
more than 100,000 builders and others in the construction industry
attending the show, FSEC’S efforts helped make these homes a
big success.
“We actually had two important roles at the builders show,” explained
Stephanie Thomas-Rees, a research architect in FSEC’s buildings division. “We
were very visible at the show with several of our staff members helping support
the U.S. Department of Energy’s booth and working the ‘Ask the
Experts’ desk, answering all kinds of questions on buildings, solar
water heating, photovoltaics and other topics. There was a lot of
interest this year as you might expect in zero-energy homes, and we had the
opportunity to talk with many builders, architects, engineers and others
about energy-saving features and strategies in homes.”
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Sitting in front of the Building America
booth, Stephanie Thomas-Rees (left) and David Hoak were
available to answer energy-efficiency building questions.
Photo:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory |
But there was a second major role that FSEC played that was more
behind-the-scenes that Thomas-Rees was especially excited about. “There
were two ENERGY STAR-qualified manufactured homes built by Palm Harbor
Homes that drew tremendous interest,” she explained, “as
both were promoted as being part of the Department of Energy’s
Building America program that supports research toward zero-energy
homes. One was the ‘GenX’ single-family home and
the other the ‘EchoBoomer’ town homes, both of which featured
improved envelopes, low-E vinyl windows, high-efficiency HVAC equipment
with ventilation strategy to promote good indoor air quality, ENERGY
STAR appliances, compact fluorescent lighting and other features.”
FSEC provided technical assistance during the planning of these homes,
and worked with industry to get renewable energy products donated for
the show homes. Researchers also worked with Palm Harbor during
the planning of the homes to make sure the products being sponsored
were compatible with the objective of qualifying for both the Florida
Green Building Certification and ENERGY STAR ratings. Sev
According to David Chasar, a senior research engineer in FSEC’S
Buildings Division, FSEC staff tested and conducted ENERGY STAR ratings
on these homes. “We performed blower door and duct blaster
tests to determine duct and envelope airtightness,” Chasar explained. “Test
results were used in the buildings’ ratings. Though there
are plenty of third-party raters that can perform these tests, we
got involved as a Building America Industrialized Housing Partnership
(BAIHP) partner and used the results to get firsthand knowledge of
how Palm Harbor Homes are performing and then provide feedback on
possible improvements. I worked with FSEC’s Carlos Colon
and David Beal to conduct the tests.”
A number of other FSEC Building Division staff members worked
on homes at the show. Chasar pointed out that there were two
other show homes that were higher-profile site-built homes where FSEC
played a key supporting role. David Hoak was responsible for
documenting progress on the site while keeping an eye out for possible
construction problems, Eric Martin performed green certification ratings,
and Hoak, Chasar, Beal, Colon, Martin and Josh Newland all worked
together on performance testing for ENERGY STAR ratings.
The Buildings Division also worked with the center’s Solar Energy
Division to provide design and technical support for the 4-kW PV system
installed on one of the homes. Kevin Lynn, a senior research engineer
in the Solar Energy Division, led this effort and was active in finding
industry partners willing to participate. “This synergy between
our organization’s division really makes FSEC a ‘one stop-shop’ for
high-performance project assistance,” Thomas-Rees added.
One of the keys to the success of these efforts was the support
of a number of individuals and organizations who provided
donations and technical support for the Palm Harbor home and the New
American Home. Donations to the homes (and their contact individuals)
included:
- 3.25 kWp BP Solar PV System (donated by SunBuilt, FlaSEREF
and BP Solar). Contact: Colleen Kettles.
- GridPoint Inverter and instant, “clean” battery-backup
power and energy management system (donated by GridPoint, Inc.) Contact:
Allison Archambault .
- Solar domestic hot water systems for both homes, including installation
(donated by SunBuilt, FlaSEREF and the Florida Energy Office/Dept.
of Environmental Protection). Contact: Colleen Kettles.
- Show sponsorship for achieving ENERGY STAR status (donated by
Progress Energy). Contact: John Masiello.
- Honeywell DH90 Dehumidifier (donated by Honeywell). Contact:
Don Feliciano.
- PV and SHW installations were completed by Dave Bessette of Allsolar
Service Co. Inc. (The PV installation on the Palm Harbor Home was
paid by Palm Harbor Homes)
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The GenX manufactured home incorporates
photovoltaic and solar water heating systems.
Photo:
David Hoak |
“I think what encouraged me the most after talking with so
many builders and especially the general public at the show,” she
said, “was that people were impressed at not only the quality
environment of the manufactured home but that you could put renewable
energy equipment on these homes in a quality controlled environment. It’s
obvious that every year, manufactured homes just get better and better,
and adding PV and solar hot water options to them allows them to compete
with the site built zero-energy homes.”
You can get more details on the homes at
www.baihp.org/casestud/ph_homes2007/index.htm/.