The Human Factor: Zero Energy Buildings(ZEB) and Common Sense
June 2, 2011
A blog on Building Green.com regarding people and the creation of Zero Energy Buildings(ZEB) really started me thinking about some personal experience, our results and how to apply some Common Sense to what we learned.
About 3 years ago we completed a 3 Bedroom Modular Home certified to Energy Star–EarthCraft House Virginia Standards for an Inner City Affordable Housing(CHODO) program.
We were interested to see what kind of energy it used relative to a home built strictly to the “Building Code.” In other words would it use less energy? To accomplish this for the first year of occupancy we paid the owner $100/month for original copies of their energy bills. If the home used less than a $100/month they made money, if more, the $100 supplemented the bill. We were expecting energy bills in the neighborhood of $50-60/month, with a spike above $100.00 in Air Conditioning Season.
Without getting into boring details, the house didn’t use less energy, it used more. Personally I was flabbergasted. My theory of building was disproved. As a HERS rater, engineer, builder I was out to prove this was the only way to build “Affordable Housing.” What had we done wrong?
Nothing! That’s right, we had done nothing wrong in trying to construct an energy efficient, affordable, modular home within a strict budget. What we hadn’t figured on was the occupants.
The home owners were a military family. They were originally from a very warm environment. They liked a warm house in winter, and a cold house in summer. They pushed the heat pump high in the winter, forcing the back up strip heat to engage, and spin the old electric meter. In the summer they cranked that dial down into the 60′s.
Now another factor kicked in. The family had 2 young children and a third one born shortly after moving in. That meant lots of loads of wash. This meant lots of electric hot water and dryer usage. You factor in all of those issues and the electric usage was way above projections.
For me it proved a point that all affordable housing providers, including for-profit, non-profit and government agencies should be doing after they build these homes: Secure the monthly utility bills. It should be mandatory in any type of project using grants or government funds helping to build a project to an energy efficiency standard. It should be mandatory for any homeowner/renter receiving subsidies or grants or any type of financial help to allow them to afford living there.
Why? We need feedback and documentation to see where the rubber meets the road between projections and reality. We need it to educate the occupants using some good old fashioned common sense.
The recent posting on BuildingGreen called:”Net-Zero Does Not Live by Design Alone: The Human Factor”by Paula Melton gives a realistic viewpoint regarding the creating of Zero Energy Buildings(ZEB) and how people, occupants, are the wild card between the projections and the reality. This posting makes a lot of common sense, something sorely lacking in the majority of Never-Never Land projections. It should be read by anyone working on a Zero Energy Building Concept.
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