Alliance Launches Energy Efficiency Lab Home in Pittsburgh

March 30, 2010

PITTSBURGH, PA—This Tuesday, March 30, will see the groundbreaking of a unique homebuilding project in Ohio Township-a research lab home that will focus on the goal of making a zero energy house affordable, and easily constructible by production homebuilders, using methods and building materials available now.

The Best Practices Research Alliance (the Alliance), a collaborative innovation-based organization looking at strategies to improve quality and performance in American homebuilding, has partnered with Pennsylvania-based S&A Homes to construct the house, which is slated to be complete in the fall of 2010.

The groundbreaking ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. at the Cobblestone Estates community with a presentation from Michael Dickens, a partner at IBACOS®, the company responsible for founding the Alliance and a team leader for the U.S. Department of Energy's Building America program. Chris Schoonmaker, Vice President of S&A Homes; Jill Allan, Vice President of The Meritage Group, the developer of Cobblestone Estates; and Kevin Brozyna, the Lab Home Program Manager for IBACOS®, will also speak.

The Alliance's Energy Efficiency Lab Home is a multi-year research initiative focused on developing design, construction and financial approaches to deliver affordable, zero energy homes at the production level. The four-bedroom home, based on one of S&A's existing models, will explore strategies for cold climate construction.

Zero energy homes produce as much energy as they consume in a given year by maximizing energy conservation and using renewable energy strategies such as solar, hydro, geothermal or wind to offset energy consumed through heating, cooling, lighting and electric appliances.

This Lab Home will be evaluated against three criteria: Performance (energy, safety, health, durability, comfort and environmental friendliness); Ease of Construction (material availability, trade capabilities, and installation time); and Cost-effectiveness (affordability to build, own, and operate, and value over time). With coordination and guidance from IBACOS, the Alliance will target zero energy, determine what strategies are successful, and identify any barriers to wide-scale adoption at the production level.

The home will remain uninhabited for three years, while its performance is monitored using simulations of typical home occupants. It will also be leveraged as an educational tool for the industry and consumers.

Mr. Dickens said that while other zero energy-focused projects exist, this will be the first to focus on making such a home technologically and economically feasible for large-scale homebuilders, who typically account for about half of the homes built in the U.S. each year. "Delivering net zero energy homes isn't just a design challenge, it's a business and construction challenge at the production builder level," he said. "Open collaboration with homebuilders, trade contractors, and leading product and material suppliers will be critical to finding design and construction practices that builders can leverage to take zero energy homes from one-off projects and small communities to a core market offering. That's where the Alliance comes in. We're tackling the problem from the technology and business ends and engaging the industry in the discussion and development."

He also noted that while energy efficiency is the top priority for the Zero Energy Lab Home project, the Alliance is also focused on other issues, such as whether the home is more environmentally friendly, comfortable and a good value for homebuyers. Another priority is making the home cost-effective-not only affordable for homebuilders to construct, but returning a good investment value to homebuyers through its durability and monthly savings in utility bills.

Mr. Brozyna pointed out that although a zero energy home isn't currently cost-effective at the production homebuilder level, the keys to achieving that goal lie in the kind of collaborative research the Alliance is doing.

"It's technically possible with existing technologies," he said. "But there is a real need in the industry to understand how to consistently deliver high-performance homes with quality and business success. We're looking for the strategies and tools homebuilders are going to need in the coming years."

S&A Homes, the company IBACOS selected as the builder of the Energy Efficiency Lab Home, is a founding member of the Alliance, and builds all of its homes to exceed ENERGY STAR® standards.

Mr. Schoonmaker said that with legislation and building codes pushing builders toward greater levels of energy efficiency, and homebuyers increasingly interested in low energy, efficient homes, it only made sense to participate in the lab home project.

"Our business model of providing high quality, high performance and high value homes fits perfectly with the Lab Home program's goals," he said. "This is a great way for us to learn about how to provide what our customers want, while we invest in the future."

Several national product manufacturers and material suppliers, and local trade contractors have committed to participating in this research effort to date, including:

Product Manufacturers and Material Suppliers: Carrier, Century Kitchens, Dow Building Solutions, DuPont, Fypon, Glen Gery Brick, Gorell Windows & Doors, i-Level, Johns Manville, Kohler, Norandex, Progress Lighting, Protecto Wrap, Shaw, Therma-Tru, Uponor, Whirlpool

Trade Contractors: Bauer Plumbing, Collective Efforts, Iron City Excavating, McMurray Cooling & Heating, O.C. Cluss, Stone & Co.

Contact
Elizabeth (Betsy) Scott
escott@ibacos.com
Phone: 412-325-1514
2214 Liberty Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15222

Chris Campbell of S&A Homes and more than 40 project partners break ground