Posted: August 2009

This article provides details on some of the methods, procedures, and equipment that enable the whole-house approach while maximizing energy efficiency. 

Many homebuilders – and an increasing number of homeowners – have come to view the whole house as an integrated system. The Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH) applies this concept to home design, construction, and retrofitting by supplying research-based guidance organized around five action principles:

• Resource and waste management
• • Energy system integration
• • Resource-efficient plumbing
• • Good indoor air quality
• • Low-impact development 

On their own, many of the available technologies consistent with these principles improve home energy efficiency. How these technologies can best work together to achieve ultimate cost savings will require continued research and refinement, even as they are implemented. Below, you'll find some of the methods, procedures, and equipment that enable the whole-house approach while maximizing energy and resource efficiency.

Managing Resources and Waste

Resource and waste management involves using durable building materials and construction methods that withstand the elements, minimize labor requirements, and reduce the amount of unused materials. Energy-efficient technologies that advance this principle with demonstrated results include insulating concrete forms (ICFs) and structural insulated panels (SIPS).

• ICFs.  ICFs are foam forms for concrete that remain in place after the concrete is poured, providing a highly insulated wall that possesses great strength. The completed ICF wall consists of a four- to six-inch reinforced concrete core with about two inches of foam insulation on each side. The result is a solid concrete exterior wall that resists energy loss, drafts, and noise. Use of such wall systems may also enable reductions in the capacity of the heating and air conditioning systems because the homes are more heavily insulated and air tight.

• SIPs.  SIPs are engineered panels that offer structural framing, insulation, and exterior sheathing in a solid, one-piece component. The SIP, used for walls and roofs, commonly sandwiches a thick layer of foam between two layers of oriented strand board, plywood, or fiber-cement board. SIPS are precisely cut in standard sizes or to measure in the factory, thus reducing manufacturing waste. 

PATH field evaluations of SIPs document increased energy efficiency achieved through optimized thermal performance. Indeed, utility bills were cut in half at one development in Dallas, TX, and reduced to $48 per month in a home in Minneapolis, MN. In both evaluations, Home Energy Rating System scores were strikingly better than comparable light frame homes.

Integrating Energy Systems

Well-designed buildings are correctly oriented relative to the sun's path, insulated, day- and electrically lit, and have properly sized HVAC systems. All of these factors help reduce overall energy demand while improving comfort and durability. Among the technologies that are consistent with these principles, PATH suggests high-efficiency equipment and tight ductwork installed within conditioned space, passive and active solar design to maximize the sun's energy, solar water heaters, photovoltaic roofing panels, ENERGY STAR®-qualified lighting, high-performance windows, and programmable thermostats. Three of these approaches are discussed below. 

This article was provided courtesy of the Healthy House Institute (www.HealthyHouseInstitute.com).