Task 4 - High Performance / Zero Energy Buildings Assessment, Development and Deployment of Technologies for Cold Weather Climates

High performance (HP) residential buildings utilize commercially available, advanced energy-efficient envelope components, appliances, lighting devices and heating and cooling systems to reduce energy consumption significantly below current average levels. Going beyond high performance concepts, zero energy (ZE) buildings generate on-site energy applying renewable energy systems, such as solar thermal and photovoltaic systems. ZE buildings are designed and constructed to produce as much energy as they consume on an annual basis. They are connected to the utility grid and over the course of a year, they give back as much energy to the grid as they take.

Much of the current Department of Energy (DOE) HP/ZE building program is directed at the South and West Census Regions – the Sunbelt – where extreme air conditioning loads place increasing demands on electricity generation. High profile rolling blackouts and skyrocketing electricity prices have placed much deserved programmatic focus on reducing energy consumption and demand in these areas of the country. Now sustained high natural gas prices are creating a need for programmatic HP/ZE building emphasis on Midwest and Northeast Census Regions – the Frostbelt. According to DOE the ultimate goal of this initiative is to bring the benefits of advanced building technologies into the mainstream of the residential new construction, with the near-term focus on single family homes.

The goal of this task is to identify a portfolio of technologies that cut in half the annual energy consumption of a typical new residence in the Frostbelt. In a follow-on Task 14, the identified technologies will be incorporated into two new homes, where their performance will be measured and verified.

This task compromises four steps

In a first step, experts were interviewed and pertinent publications were reviewed to identify energy savings technologies that have the potential to meet the goals of ZE/HP buildings as described above while maintaining acceptable indoor environmental quality (IEQ).  Three technologies seem to meet these objectives:

§         Superinsulated, airtight wall construction

§         Supplemental humidity control

§         Mechanical ventilation

In a second set, software models of these technologies were developed and incoporated into VisualDOE simulation program. Parallel to the technology models, a benchmark home model was completed as well. Using the benchmark residential model, various energy savings technologies were simulated. The simulation results were used to rank these technologies.

The modeling results combined with cost data collected from manufacturers of the selected technologies formed the basis for the payback/return on investment calculations in the third step.

In the final step, deployment teams have been organized to implement economically justified technology portfolios into housing development in the Midwest and Northeast in Task 14.

This project is being executed by the Energy Resources Center (ERC) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). The Principal Investigator is Douglas Kosar. This project is scheduled to be completed by July of 2005.