For input of the bretheren

Scott Gregg

The site does not have every detail...yet.

Low E glass is being used. Lot placement of the house and positioning was considered however like many lots to keep the house from looking weird by sitting it sideways it didn't matter. It needs to face almost due south. Most of the large glass area face north. This will help avoid large solar gains in the summer and opens the house to the wild rear area of the property.

Solar was given much consideration. Number one, big ugly solar panels on the front roof of the house were quickly tossed out of consideration.

There are new products available that use Photocells that stick between the seems of a metal roof and wire all together to produce power. (Enough to run the whole house!) These were also heavily considered. In a nutshell there was a cost/benefit problem. There are not the tax incentives and subsidies here that other areas enjoy and the up-front costs of going to a metal roof plus the solar equipment would not be a positive cost effective solution. I look forward to a time when it is. This kind of system seems like it would put solar back into the mainstream of home building. Were this home located in areas with the state and federal subsidies it would have been a no-brainer.

The building envelope will use a combination of cellulose and foam insulation products again to get the maximum cost/efficiency benefit.

The goal is to use products and systems to get the best efficiencies without creating a negative cost basis. Ie: the house needs to stay affordable by most common standards for this area and use systems that truly pay for themselves without depending on government subsidies. The goal is not build a house to save mother earth at any cost. It is to prove to folks that good systems are worth building/buying economically and not just for tree huggers anymore. (Although that’s ok too.)

I looked at this house site too. Very cool! My Geo system is very similar other than the addition of the Noritz tankless. Geo only makes hot water during a cycle and here in the swing seasons my system may not operate at all for a week or more. That’s why the tankless.

How cool would it be if the “McMansions” were built with good systems like Geothermal and radiant rather than just regular heat pumps? Would that not work very well for the majority of homes? Would that also work within the budget constraints of the normal people buying these homes? It can be as simple as needed and still be very beneficial to the buyers. Radiant is a luxury and not really “Needed” for this home. But hey, I’m a wethead now.

Scott Gregg

For the Wallies

Wallies. I’m looking for input. I’m building a house.

I am able to do a lot of things MY WAY. I’m using Rehau/Everlock PEXa for domestic hot water. (Because I can) I have chosen a hybrid HVAC system that will be WaterFurnace Geothermal with ground loops, backed up with a Noritz N-084M-DV tankless water heater. We are also doing Rehau Radiant on the basement and first floor. The radiant is luxury overkill and not for energy savings. It won’t cost more to run, in fact maybe a little less, but again, I can and we want the house to have the best comfort system we can put in it. It will of course run the price of the mortgage up. The Geo will use a Bock SideKick heater as a buffer tank and use the Noritz to act as supplemental heat to the heating coil in the tank. Using it like an HX to keep the waters separate)

I will use a desuperheater to an 80- Gallon storage tank that will then feed into the Noritz as a backup for DHW during times when it needs help (Like now when there is almost no HVAC load) It will have a very tight envelope although not ICF. I’m even insulating the DHW and return loop. The Noritz handles both Back-up missions.

My goal is to also use it as a project to help PROVE that spending money wisely on higher priced systems SAVES money right away by saving energy costs without sacrificing. By my math, I will pay about $14K more for my system and end up about $20/month on average less per monthly budget due to utility savings the day I move in.

My site will use 4 years of energy data from my existing heat pump gas furnace system and compare square footage energy costs with that of the new house.

We are on a budget and trying to make a difference in the process. The systems are pretty much chosen and a done deal. I’m pretty happy with the design and equipment choices to get me where I want to go but because this is the best brain trust in the industry I would like to open up for discussion.

What do you think?

www.vaenergyhouse.com

GMcD

Well...

It looks like a typical overconsumptive McMansion. Please do not take my comments as hard-core greenie rambling - but you posted on a public discussion board for comments, and I am a low energy building designer, so here goes.... Nothing seems to be done about harvesting passive energy- solar, wind, natural ventilation, or dealing with window performance. You seem to be all about using techno-solutions rather than starting out with good building design in the first place - orientation, window and solar design, natural day-night temperature cycles. How far is this house from public transit? Long drive on the freeway from where work is? Have you done a free range indoor temperature simulation based on the thermal performance of your house in that climate?

Why geo-exchange? How about solar water heaters with hot water storage and use the direct ground exchange for cooling (if needed) and do away with the pyramid of embodied energy of the heat pump system. Earth tubes for the HRV/ERV ventilator air intake? If the envelope was as high performance as possible, in that climate you could pretty well design a zero net energy house without the reliance on all the "system stuff", and still meet your budget restrictions.

I believe that spending money on higher cost envelopes, harvesting natural energy passively, and on good comfort design is better than buying a bunch of "systems" to achieve some semblance of energy efficiency.

Have you gone through material at www.ourcoolhouse.com or www.enertia.com? Some really good stuff about passive design and operation out there. I start out by thinking- can this building be habitable if the power goes out?

Hey, you asked....