EEBA's High Performance Home Newsletter

By Bruce Sullivan I've seen lots of articles that try to educate homeowners about zero energy construction by diving right into the building science and construction details and leaving the financial payoffs until the end. When I teach EEBA's Path to Zero course, however, I flip that sequence. I always begin with an in-depth discussion about money issues because I know that's the gorilla in the room. Once the attendees understand the financial benefits of this way of building, their minds open to learning more. Of course, the EEBA audience is a professional one, but the approach also works with homeowners, making it a good idea for the builder to consider having this discussion early. In my conversations with builders, however, I find that many aren't sure about how best to have the money talk. Fortunately, it's not that difficult. Most homeowners already have an intuitive grasp of the fact that energy-saving improvements, such as adding insulation and high-efficiency... read more

Although the 2021 version of the International Energy Conservation Code has yet to be finalized, chances are it will get most new homes very close to Net Zero Ready. Builders and architects need to understand the best ways to meet the code requirements for a particular floor plan in a specific climate without creating moisture, health, or other problems. The escalating demand for building science knowledge on the part of industry professionals is why, over the past few months, we have encouraged people to attend EEBA's annual Summit, a 3-day educational and networking event with the top designers and builders of green, high-performance homes. This year's gathering was October 1-3, and in our last article EEBA President Geoff Ferrell offered an insightful summary of how Summit attendees are shaping our industry's future. But of course, the once-a-year Summit isn't the only education that EEBA offers. There's plenty of gold in our full-day training seminars: Houses That Work,... read more

By Tim Kampert Bathrooms account for more than 50 percent of all indoor water use, according to the EPA. That makes WaterSense fixtures a great choice for any project, and a must for anyone claiming to build green homes. But while low-flow fixtures are important they're not the whole story. In my experience as a building performance specialist working with production builders across the U.S., I have learned that there is plenty of additional savings to be gained from more efficient plumbing. It's not uncommon for a homeowner to flush thousands of gallons down the drain each year waiting for hot water to reach the tap. The effect on the water bill is certainly an issue here, but so is homeowners' frustration with that wait time. In fact, a common complaint our builder clients hear from homeowners is that "it takes forever to get hot water." Considering the frequency of those complaints I'm surprised more builders don't do something about them. The truth is that wait time is... read more

By Geoff Ferrell If I had to choose one word to summarize this year's EEBA High Performance Home Summit in Denver, it would be optimism. The most visible sign of that was our record attendance of nearly 400 people, which reflects a growing interest in high-performance homebuilding. But while the numbers were encouraging, where I really heard that optimism was in the presentations I attended and the conversations I had. It was by far the best energy I've felt at any industry gathering. Ever. The sessions included lively and constructive debates, exciting research reports and stories of homes, buildings and communities that put the best research findings into practice. Everyone was fired up about the work they were doing. As is true every year, one of the educational tracks focused on sales, marketing, and business performance. Excellence in these areas is exponentially more important in the high-performance world because every one of us is fighting to differentiate... read more

This is the sixth year that EEBA will be hosting the DOE's Housing Innovation Awards at its annual Summit. The awards recognize builders who have pushed the envelope on the Path to Zero Energy Ready homes by showcasing projects that offer lessons for others builders. As such, the awards perfectly support EEBA's mission of educating the industry on how to design, build and sell high-performance homes. An example of what attendees will see this year is a winner in the Large Custom Home category, a 4-bedroom, 4691 square foot zero energy home in Hampton, Virginia on a beach overlooking the Chesapeake Bay. It was built by Health-E Community Enterprises and in many ways represents the ultimate in high-performance: super-efficient, healthy, resilient and handicap accessible. But while the home was obviously designed for a well-heeled custom buyer, builder Jay Epstein used design approaches and materials choices that he says apply to more mainstream projects. In fact, he offers similar ... read more

by Sandra K. Adomatis Fannie Mae and Freddie MAC are in the process of revising the Uniform Residential Appraisal Report (form 1004). Although the draft has yet to be made public, I believe that it will provide a path for more accurately describing and valuing energy efficiency and green features. The recognition by the mortgage industry that buyers are seeking green features—especially features that lower their monthly energy bills— is a step in the right direction. It should improve the appraised values of these properties as well. But while better appraisal forms will help, they're useless if the appraiser and real estate agent aren’t provided with the home's high performance details. The appraiser can't value green features unless those features are documented, and that's the builder's job. The fact that few builders provide adequate documentation is costing everyone. I've seen many high performance homes that were valued the same as similar homes built to a lower... read more

Builders are often complaining about the industry's lack of young talent – but complaining won't change anything. Improving the situation will demand focused action. It will require that builders, trades, manufacturers, and other industry partners band together in a systematic effort to attract that talent. EEBA took the first step to that outcome during our Path to Zero educational seminar in June. Eight scholarship students from the University of Denver attended free of charge, as their registrations were generously funded by EEBA partner companies. * These partners understand that recruiting and training the next generation of building science professionals will require a sustained effort and the money to support it. The event was the beginning of the NextGen Scholarship Initiative. Its mission is to bring students, recent graduates, and young professionals from around the U.S to the annual EEBA High Performance Home Summit and our various regional trainings, where we will... read more

by Alex Glenn and Tommy Blair Roughly 15% to 20% of homes built in the U.S. each year have crawl space foundations. They're cheaper to build than full basements and more functional than a slab, offering a convenient place for plumbing, wiring, ductwork and heating or cooling equipment, as well as some bulk water resiliency. Twenty years ago, nearly all crawl spaces were ventilated with outside air in an effort to control moisture. Most building codes required such venting. The problem is that atmospheric venting is ineffective, to put it mildly. It can actually cause moisture problems, especially in humid climates when warm, moist air enters the crawl space and condenses on the framing. Many builders and remodelers tried to address these problems by bringing in even more outside air, either passively by building more openings into the foundation, or actively by installing fans in the crawl space. This usually made the problems even worse. Documented Benefits Things... read more

While Building Information Modeling (BIM) is standard operating procedure on large commercial projects, relatively few residential builders have gotten on board. However, the technology has great potential for innovating homebuilding in general and green, high-performance building, in particular. The few homebuilders who are using it call it a game changer. One of these is Jay Epstein, a Virginia builder/developer who started down the high-performance path more than 30 years ago. He was an early participant in the Building America program, and his company won three recent Housing Innovation Awards from the Department of Energy—in 2016, 2017, and 2018. Now he has teamed up with Skokie, Ill.-based DIGIBILT to use its BIM system for designing and managing construction of the state's first net zero ready community, Walnut Farm, which will consist of 75 single-family homes in Williamsburg, Virginia. Epstein hopes the project will serve as an exemplar for the industry. "I want this... read more

As more high-performance zero-energy ready homes get built, and as more customers learn the financial benefits of owning such a home, demand for them will continue to rise. But for builders who have never exceeded minimum code requirements, the prospect of building to zero can seem daunting. Those preparing to embark on the journey usually have a lot of questions. What features should they start with? How long will it take to master this way of building? How will my customers pay the extra upfront costs? The answers to the first two questions, according to Bruce Sullivan, who teaches EEBA's new Path to Zero Energy Homes training seminar, are 1) you can start almost anywhere, and 2) once you get going you can move along at your own pace. He also says that the path can unfold in a nearly infinite number of ways. In fact, the seminar might better be called "Paths" to Zero, since the journey will be different for every builder. The path an individual builder takes will depend... read more