EEBA's High Performance Home Newsletter

In January of this year, Geoff Ferrell stepped up as President of the EEBA board, succeeding Gene Myers of Thrive Homebuilders. Mr. Ferrell's deep immersion in high-performance home building makes him well qualified for the position. He currently serves as Chief Technology Officer for Mandalay Homes in the Prescott, Arizona area, a company that has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy as one of the most innovative home builders in America and was recently named ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year for the 3rd consecutive year. His duties include ensuring that the company's specifications and construction practices consistently meet its performance goals, and as part of that he leads the company's quality assurance efforts. We asked Mr. Ferrell for his thoughts on the EEBA board's priorities for the next few years, as well as his personal goals for the organization. EEBA: How did you get introduced to EEBA and why have you stayed active? GF: I attended my first EEBA ... read more

Dave Hopper has been in the septic installation business since the late 1980's and rarely sees anything new that qualifies as a game-changer. That was until last year when his company, H&M Construction in Walton, Kentucky was asked to install a new type of system from Cincinnati-based NextGen Septic. He has since installed about a dozen of these systems and now offers them to builder customers where the project warrants. Although his customers end up paying an installed cost about twice that of a conventional septic, none of them complain because it lets them build on lots they could not build on otherwise. "The system basically sells itself," he says. Problem Solver The NextGen system consists of a stainless-steel treatment unit placed on top of a two-chamber septic tank. The unit is small enough to fit between the tank's two risers. Rather than flowing to a leach field, effluent from the septic tank is pumped through the NextGen unit, where biomedia remove nitrogen,... read more

Green building is like any other endeavor. Look at a local market and you will see most green builders going about their business the usual way—doing good work but competing with one another for the best jobs. You will also likely see a few companies that have managed to rise above the herd. The latter companies are the ones who create a recognized brand based on their green building expertise. They're less affected by price pressures and stay busy even when the real estate market cools. The obvious question is: how did they get there? You can get a good perspective on that question from industry professionals who work with those market leaders as well as with the rest of the pack. That's why we decided to spend some time with Tadashi Shiga. Shiga is Principal of Evergreen Certified in Seattle. He has worked with 250 builders in what may be the greenest building market in the U.S. His company provides verifier and rater services for programs that include PHIUS+, HERS,... read more

by Steve Byers According to RESNET, just 20% of new single-family homes have a HERS rater involved. When you consider that a rating is the most accurate way to gauge home performance, it's obvious that the industry has a long way to go. Even those builders who regularly contract with HERS raters seldom take advantage of the full value these industry pros can provide. That's unfortunate. The best raters offer more than code or program compliance: they're extremely cost-effective quality assurance partners. They can even help reduce a builder's liability for health and comfort issues, something today's overworked site supervisors seldom have time for. As CEO of a building consulting and training company with more than 25 years in the home performance business, I find that builders are more willing to take advantage of a performance-focused rater's services if they better understand how we work. The relationship is more like that with the architect or engineer than with the... read more

by Srikanth Puttagunta, PE Builders believe that if they install an Energy Recovery or Heat Recovery Ventilator (E/HRV) they have ensured good indoor air quality. In reality, that's seldom the case. To deliver the needed fresh air, an E/HRV must be installed in a way that guarantees balanced airflows—where the intake and exhaust airstreams move equal volumes. But the design of these units makes proper installation difficult and, when integrated with the HVAC system (as most are), almost ensures that they fail to work as advertised. Of course, an E/HRV costs more than other ventilation strategies, so if it doesn't do what it's intended to, the builder has wasted that extra money. Steven Winter Associates is collaborating with a major manufacturer to develop an ERV that solves the shortcomings of conventional units. We have completed the second prototype. We hope to have a final design by Fall of 2019 with commercial availability sometime in 2020. Before moving to... read more

Builders looking for ways to sell more high-performance green homes for more money can glean insight from the February issue of Professional Builder magazine. In it, Suzanne Shelton of The Shelton Group summarizes research from the company's 13th Annual Builder Pulse Study. The study asked homebuyers a series of questions designed to reveal what they actually thought and knew about green homes, and how much they were willing to pay. The study got responses from more than 2000 of what Shelton calls "Energy Savvy homebuyers." Shelton's researchers also polled 100 builders—drawn from the Pro Builder and EEBA audiences—to gauge how well they understood this market. Here's our take on three of the main findings. 1. Most buyers can't clearly define what constitutes a "green" home or what the must-have features are. And, the features they do list as essential don't match those on most builders' lists. For instance, just 38 percent of buyers said a green home had to include a... read more

by Jan Green High performance homes offer benefits every homeowner wants, including lower energy bills and better indoor air quality. These homes tend to sell more quickly and for more money than comparable, code-built homes, but only if they're correctly marketed. That includes describing them correctly in your real estate listings and working with an agent that knows how to list and sell these types of homes. Unfortunately, some builders choose to ignore this advice. For instance, a basic rule of marketing is to emphasize features and benefits the buyer cares about, but I've seen more than one listing with sentences like this: “Solidly-built 2018 structure has Ballard engineered trusses, 8-inch LPI floor joists on triple 2X10s over concrete block piers built by a licensed masonry company. Home is dried in with Pella windows.” Your competition will know what that sentence means but the average buyer won't, and will have to stop and ask why those terms are significant and... read more

By Patrick Barthet Homebuilders are accustomed to managing expectations. They do this at the initial client meeting, when drafting contract provisions, and in all progress meetings. As the project moves from design to occupancy, smart builders work hard to deliver the highest quality work possible while at the same time not promising more than they can deliver. Besides making for happier customers, this also helps minimize a builder’s liability. Managing expectations is a bit more complicated when it comes to high-performance construction, as different homeowners will have different expectations about their home's performance in regards to heating and cooling, moisture issues and indoor air quality. Those expectations may or may not be realistic, and the only way to make sure they are is to put them in writing and to have everyone sign off. In fact, as an attorney who works with builders I always recommend a written, contractual warranty that defines exactly what the... read more

by Sam Myers Blower doors have been around since the 1980s, but for a long time were used mostly by niche builders. However, with more and more codes and high-performance home programs requiring air leakage testing, this tool has entered the mainstream. That change has fueled a demand for training. As a training consultant for a blower door manufacturer, I train and certify builders and other industry pros on the equipment and test methods. After completing around 60 of these trainings, ranging from one-to-ones to classroom-size groups, I've noticed that the same questions come up again and again. I thought it would be useful to offer answers to the top half-dozen questions I hear from my students. Here they are. 1. Why do we have to do this? While the EEBA audience already understands the value of air sealing, the average builder who is forced to test by code often complies grudgingly, at least at first. They're more likely to embrace the test once they understand its... read more

Shopping for a home has some important things in common with dating. Your initial attraction may be based on looks, but the criteria for a long-term match will be more about substance and character. Seattle builder Dwell Development has built a very successful marketing program around this principle. Sales of its individually designed, sustainable spec homes tripled, from 10 to 28 homes per year, during the three years following 2008 when a lot of builders were either closing shop or struggling to stay alive. At the bottom of the recession, the company was even pre-selling homes in one community for 20 to 25 percent more than competing homes of equal size. They accomplished this by crafting a distinct local brand based on modern architecture, a high-performance message, and a disciplined marketing program. Design First According to company principal Anthony Maschmedt, Dwell has built more than 300 homes over the past 14 years, all of them detailed to perform at least 50%... read more