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Presentation discussing the systems integration approach to energy efficient, durable, sustainable homes.
The location of the duct system can have a significant impact on the overall performance of the system–both the utility use and the ability to provide comfort.
Electrically commutated motors (ECM) in air-handler fans promise improved efficiency. But does improved technology necessarily mean efficient HVAC systems? This article was first published in Home Energy, May/June 2010. Reprinted with permission.
Attics or roofs can be designed and constructed to be either vented or unvented in any hygro-thermal zone (Map 1). The choice of venting or not venting is a design and construction choice not a requirement determined by the physics or by the building code. The model building codes allow both vented and unvented roof assemblies. The applicable physics impacts the design of attic or roof systems as does the applicable building code but neither limit the choice.
This information sheet summarizes double stud wall construction, including the advantages and disadvantages of this construction strategy.
All space-conditioning systems are intended to provide a comfortable and healthy indoor environment. But the fact is, the the most popular residential furnace/AC systems and commercial VAV systems are fundamentally flawed from their conception.
Predicting the future is very difficult, but examining trends and potential tipping points is useful as an aid to understanding the direction the building industry is headed, and where it might end up. Although some future changes can only be speculated upon, other trends are already occurring and causing changes. Below is a series of changes and possible changes that may influence the building industry and society.
This Insight is in response to questions from clients and interested members of the public and academia, I have recently written about some aspects of the German PassivHaus housing standard as it applies to cold climates.
Building America is a program of the U.S. Department of Energy, in which teams of architects, engineers, builders, equipment manufacturers, and others collaborate in a systems engineering approach to produce homes that use up to 50 percent less energy to operate.
Think $50 per square foot and $50 a month for utilities are unattainable? Government-sponsored research proves otherwise. Reprinted with permission from Fine Homebuilding, June/July 2005, pages 56-61.
Roofs can be designed and constructed to be either vented or unvented in any hygro-thermal zone. Air barrier systems are typically the most common approach, however, air pressure control approaches are be-coming more common especially in cases involving remedial work on existing structures.
Pitched roofs of either wood rafter and joist or truss construction are used in the construction of literally millions of homes and small commercial buildings each year. There are variations in these roofs, but there are relatively few primary options.
The following digest describes the most common types of wood pitched roofs, their enclosure functions, and common modes of failure.
Buildings leak water and air, which is normal and unavoidable. Therefore, designers should not fixate on preventing leakage, i.e. making buildings “airtight.” Because even if all cracks were sealed, buildings have doors and windows.
Advanced framed wall systems that use a stud spacing of 24 inches on center and eliminate the plywood or OSB sheathing from the wall and replace it with insulating sheathing is a type of enclosure assembly that has been designed to be energy efficient combined with efficient material use.
The American Foursquare, a Sears, Roebuck & Co. kit home, was a staple of small American towns between 1908 and 1940. More than 100,000 of them were built in America. Homes built prior to 1980 make up 80% of the housing stock in the United States, and are responsible for a majority of the residential energy use in the country. All of the renovations used systems engineering principles to ensure good indoor air quality and longterm durability while providing deep energy reductions. This posting is permission of ASHRAE. Additional reproduction, distribution, or transmission in either print or digital form is not permitted without ASHRAE's prior written permission.
The construction and operation of buildings consumes over a third of the world’s energy consumption, and 40% of all the mined resources. Striving to make buildings more sustainable, while saving construction and operating costs and improving health and occupant well being is not only possible and practical, it should be the goal of the building industry. Achieving this goal requires an awareness of the problem and the skills to design, specify, construct, and operate buildings in a manner that is often quite different from current standard approaches. This digest will review the challenge of sustainability, discuss methods of assessing green buildings, and recommend a process by which more sustainable buildings can be delivered.
