Home Energy Rating System Research Articles

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF SHIPPING CONTAINER POTENTIALS FOR NET-ZERO RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS

ABSTRACT Recycled shipping containers have the potential to be successfully used as a net-zero ready home. This study aims to evaluate the outcomes of a high-performance shipping container single-family housing project located in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The project was awarded the Best Undergraduate Project in the Single-family division at the 2019 U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon Design Challenge. The Hampton University Millennial Village Design Team designed a marketable net-zero ready container home for the ViBe Creative District in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Container Homes are not suitable for every homeowner, but they have a particular appeal to a generation of young and creative people across the country. For many municipalities in Virginia, where container housing is not readily accepted, the ViBe creative district has been having discussions with City code officials and local architects about the benefits. The Hampton University Millennial Village Design Team aimed to take advantage of the competition as an opportunity to explore a building construction method that is not widely seen in this part of the country. Testing design for net-zero readiness is a comprehensive way to understand how this type of construction performs from a building science standpoint. Collaboration with professional industry advisors helped the team to use research-based design methods to work on a unique project that the team believes will become a reality in the future. For the performance assessment of a net-zero container house, several simulation tools were used to investigate the environmental impacts, daylight performance, envelope performance, Energy Use Intensity (EUI), Home Energy Rating System (HERS), and solar energy generation. As for energy standards and codes, the Virginia residential code (VRC) 2015, International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) 2015 and The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) 90.1-2013 for residential buildings were consulted to set each variable for the net-zero container house project. The Rem/Rate energy simulation software achieved the HERS index of 51 and 0 without and with the applications of roof photovoltaics, respectively.

MULTIFAMILY AFFORDABLE HOUSING THAT IS HEALTHY, EFFICIENT, COST EFFECTIVE AND LEED PLATINUM

INTRODUCTION A developer who had chronic asthma as a child built the first LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certified apartment complex in Idaho. He has also heard from two residents that their asthma no longer resulted in attacks due to eliminating triggers in the interior environment. Eight years and a dozen multifamily affordable housing projects later, the LEED consultant on these projects has gathered insight on best practices, lessons learned and strategies that result in resident, owner and project team satisfaction. Ten projects have achieved LEED Platinum certification (two more are still under construction, but are on track for Platinum), and the HERS (Home Energy Rating System) scores are as low as 48. Feedback has been collected on what works, what doesn't and what matters most: from low energy bills to living in a healthy home and not having asthma attacks. These projects debunk the assumptions that energy efficiency adds too much cost or that green homes are only for the wealthy.

Using building and occupant characteristics to predict residential residual miscellaneous electrical loads: a comparison between an asset label and an occupant-based operational model for homes in Florida

Over the past thirty years, the intensity of all major energy-use categories has decreased in the residential market with the exception of residual Miscellaneous Electrical Loads (MELs). MELs include primarily plug loads and some hard wired loads. The Home Energy Rating System (HERS) index is the most widely used residential energy rating system in the USA. It provides a home asset label using standardized occupant-dependent behaviour. Standardized occupant behaviour allows for the comparison of other HERS-rated homes, but may not predict actual energy consumption well. This study created the Residual Miscellaneous Electrical Load Model (RMELM) to predict the MEL by regressing an equation from a 12,000 household survey. The RMELM was then tested on 24 existing homes and compared with the MEL model of the HERS index. The RMELM more closely predicted the actual MEL in 71% of the test houses and explained 55% more of the MEL variation.

Maximum Zero

This article focuses on the research and development projects to ensure homes and office buildings implement the concept of zero net energy, i.e. self-sufficient in energy buildings. Net-zero commercial construction has doubled since 2008. Reducing energy consumption on the inside depends on ultra-efficient appliances, high-performance heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, geothermal heat pumps, and lighting controls. Impressive advances are occurring in the field of solid-state lighting technology, which has the potential to reduce U.S. lighting energy usage by nearly 50%. The solar-energy technology company Vivint partnered with Garbett Homes to take on one of the biggest challenges for net-zero housing: creating designs that work in cold climates. The house that Vivint and Garbett built in Herriman, Utah, attained a Home Energy Rating System score of zero, indicating that the home is completely self-sustaining. The Habitat for Humanity house, in particular, shows how affordable zero net energy homes can be – especially for lower income homeowners.

Evaluating ten years of energy performance of HERS-rated homes in Alachua County, Florida

This paper evaluates the performance of 1,346 homes in Alachua County, Florida that were Home Energy Rating System (HERS)-rated between February 1998 and December 2009 for participation in various energy-efficiency programs for new residential construction. The primary analysis objective is to measure the energy-efficiency performance of these HERS-rated homes against conventionally built homes using metered energy consumption data for calendar years 2000–2010. A secondary objective is to assess performance of the four major builders of HERS-rated homes. In calendar year 2000, average energy savings for all HERS-rated homes was 18 %. However, over the following decade average savings degraded steadily, stabilizing around 7 % in the last 5 years of the analysis. We conclude that, while HERS-rated homes in the study area are performing better than similar conventionally built homes, the average HERS-rated home is not achieving the level of savings anticipated based on its HERS score and related energy-efficiency program participation. Differences in savings among builders of HERS-rated homes suggest that variations in program implementation and construction practices can yield significantly different energy performance results. Of the four builders tested, the least efficient averaged 3 % less energy consumed than conventionally built homes, while the most efficient averaged 21 % less. Overall, findings of this study indicate the need for re-examination of the HERS-rating process as a primary benchmark and for increased emphasis on direct measurement and verification of performance using historical energy consumption data.

City Partners Maintain Climate Change Action Despite National Cuts: Residential Energy Efficiency Programme Valued at Local Level

Cities, regional governments and their local utilities are taking leading roles in programmes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Agenda 21 highlighted the need for such local action to achieve the goals of the 1992 Earth Summit and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This trend of increasing local action was demonstrated dramatically in Canada in 2006 when the newly elected federal government cancelled many of the previous government's climate change programmes. The EnerGuide for Houses Program illustrates the growing importance of local decisions where the federal government developed a home energy rating system that was delivered through a range of partnerships across the country. Despite all political parties voting to increase funding for the programme in 2005, the Conservative government cancelled it in May 2006. The response by provincial and local governments was immediate. Their actions revealed the ability and desire among lower-tier governments to sustain popular climate change initiatives. Both the political responses and financial implications are included in the examination of the shift in environmental responsibility from the national to the local sphere.

Accuracy of home energy rating systems

We compared Home Energy Rating Systems (HERS) ratings and actual utility billing data for about 500 houses in four states. We found that HERS can, on average, predict annual energy cost accurately. However, on an individual house basis the agreement between predicted energy cost and actual energy cost was often poor, especially for older houses. Discrepancies between predicted and actual energy use have important implications for the true cost-effectiveness of HERS-recommended improvements. There was no clear relationship between rating score and actual energy cost. Given these results, HERS providers need to give consumers more information about accuracy and how to interpret ratings. They should also take greater advantage of the thousands of ratings that have been conducted in order to assess and improve HERS' ability to predict energy use.

Energy labels and economic search: An example from the residential real estate market

Home energy rating systems are popular and widely used programmes to encourage energy efficiency in the residential housing market. With the actual rating perhaps conveyed to prospective buyers as a posted label, these rating systems offer a variety of benefits. This paper focuses on the ability of these systems to help buyers identify more quickly the properly priced house. An economic search model is applied to a unique sample of energy-efficient homes in Minnesota. The search benefits are modest but positive in our case study, but could be larger in a more diverse housing market.

Implementing Home Energy Rating Systems

We evaluate the implementation of home energy rating and labelling programs (HERS) that are being conducted around the country. We examine the nature of different implementation problems and the kinds of strategies that have been used to deal with them to ensure the effective penetration of HERS to all HERS users. Based on our evaluation of 34 home energy rating and labelling programs, HERS that were actively marketed, had a comprehensive appreciation of the market, were adaptive to the needs of particular users, and included user participation in the operation and revision of the program were more successful in terms of penetration rates and in improving the energy efficiency of the older housing stock. Where successful, HERS have penetrated an estimated 40% of the new construction market and 20% of existing construction, and energy savings have ranged from 10 to 50%.

Energy-efficient U.S. buildings and equipment: Progress toward least lifecycle cost

New energy-conserving technologies for the buildings sector are reviewed, and it is argued that such technologies have the potential to cut specific energy use (per house, per refrigerator, per square meter of commercial floor space) approximately in half within 20 yr, at economically justifiable cost. Technologies for efficient lighting and for efficient windows are described, with emphasis on those now being investigated at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. Modern approaches to lighting are discussed, involving gas discharge lamps with dynamic controls, high-frequency solid-state ballasts, mercury vapor with altered isotope composition to reduce ultraviolet self absorption, and external magnetic fields parallel to the main current. Modern approaches to windows designed to improve overall annual thermal performance are also discussed; these include low-emittance surfaces in the infrared (heat mirrors), movable insulated window shades, and silica aerogel, an intrinsically insulating microporous glazing material with good optical properties. A methodology for assessing the potential for conservation is described, requiring the development of supply curves for conservation: lists of conservation investments ordered by the cost of the energy saved (annualized investment divided by annualized energy savings). Calculating an annualized investment from a one-time investment necessitates the selection of a consumer's operative discount rate, whose most appropriate value depends on the quality of information available to the consumer; better information lowers the operative discount rate, increasing both the optimum level of investment and the achieved savings. It is argued that in view of this linkage, one crucial component of conservation strategy is the introduction of trustworthy information programs, such as home energy rating systems.