New Construction Energy Guide

Energy efficient homes are composed of a network of elements working together to reduce the overall amount of energy consumption. This section will help you understand what makes a home more energy efficient, why insulation and ventilation are key ingredients and how you can start making your home more energy efficient.

1. Insulation
2. Windows
3. Tight Construction and Ducts
4. Efficient Heating and Cooling Equipment
5. Efficient Products
6. High Efficiency Water Heaters
7. Solar PV System
8. Tax Incentives
9. Third Party Verification

Effective Insulation

Properly installed and inspected insulation in floors, walls, and attics ensures even temperatures throughout the house, reduced energy use, and increased comfort. Insulation is one of the keys to a comfortable, energy-efficient home. But simply having the right amount of insulation is not enough. If insulation is not properly installed, a home can have excessive heat gain during the summer and heat loss in the winter forcing the heating and cooling systems to work overtime.

Enhanced Comfort
Properly installed insulation minimizes temperature variability indoors and helps keep rooms warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.

Lower Utility Bills
As much as half of the energy used in your home goes to heating and cooling. By preventing heat loss in the winter and heat gain in the summer, a properly installed insulation barrier reduces utility bills year round.

Improved Durability
When insulation is properly installed, the potential for condensation that can lead to decay of building materials is reduced, helping to improve the durability of your home.

Better Resale Position
The improved comfort, lower utility bills, and improved durability of a properly installed insulation barrier can translate into higher resale value compared to less efficient homes.

High-Performance Windows

Energy-efficient windows employ advanced technologies, such as protective coatings and improved frames, to help keep heat in during winter and out during summer. Windows provide natural daylight and views, but homeowners often use drapes or blinds to cover them because of comfort concerns. Energy efficient windows and skylights allow owners to enjoy the light and views while saving money on utility bills and protecting valuable furnishings and finishes from sun damage. Independently tested for superior energy performance, these windows and skylights are also better for the environment because lowering energy use helps reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants at the source.

Energy Savings
Efficient windows and skylights feature advanced technologies such as invisible glass coatings, vacuum-sealed spaces filled with inert gas between the panes, improved framing materials, better weather stripping, and warm edge spacers, all of which reduce undesirable heat gain and loss.

Improved Comfort
Compared to less efficient windows, these windows help keep homes warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. This is because they can block 70 percent or more of the solar heat gain in the summer and reflect radiant heat indoors during winter.

Protection of Your Home's Interior
Photographs, furniture, flooring, and window treatments can fade or discolor after repeated exposure to direct sunlight. A window with special (Low-E) coatings can reduce fading. These coatings can reduce fading by up to 75 percent.

Reduced Condensation
If an inefficient window or window frame gets too cold, water c

an condense (or even freeze) on the interior surface and then pool on the sill. Over time, chronic condensation can damage window sills, cause paint to crack, and encourage the growth of mold. Advanced frames, glass coatings, spacers, and other technologies enable windows to keep the inner surface of the glass and frame warmer, reducing the potential for condensation and ensuring a clearer view on winter mornings.

Tight Construction and Ducts

Sealing holes and cracks in the home's "envelope" and in heating and cooling duct systems helps reduce drafts, moisture, dust, pollen, and noise. A tightly sealed home improves comfort and indoor air quality while reducing utility and maintenance.

Improved Comfort
When ducts are properly sealed and insulated, they deliver conditioned air more effectively to all rooms, helping to ensure a more constant temperature throughout the home.

Lower Utility Bills
The average homeowner spends more than $600 on space heating and cooling each year. Tightly sealed and well insulated ducts found in efficient homes can reduce annual utility bills by $120 or more.

Improved Indoor Air Quality
Leaky ducts in attics, unfinished basements, crawl spaces, and garages can allow dirt, dust, moisture, pollen, pests, and fumes to enter the home. Sealing these ducts helps improve indoor air quality.

Lower Equipment Costs
When ducts are leaky, the heating and cooling system has to work harder to condition the home. Duct sealing, along with proper insulation, allows the installation of a smaller, less costly heating and cooling system.

Efficient Heating and Cooling Equipment

In addition to using less energy to operate, energy-efficient heating and cooling systems can be quieter, reduce indoor humidity, and improve the overall comfort of the home. When properly installed into a tightly sealed home, this equipment won't have to work so hard to heat and cool the home.

Geothermal Heat Pumps
Geothermal heat pumps are able to heat, cool, and, if so equipped, supply the house with hot water. Some models of geothermal systems are available with two-speed compressors and variable fans for more comfort and energy savings. Relative to air-source heat pumps, they are quieter, last longer, need little maintenance, and do not depend on the temperature of the outside air.

Proper System Sizing
Load calculations (from Manual J and Manual S of the Air Conditioning Contractors of America [ACCA]) should be used to determine heating requirements. These calculations are more accurate than rule-of-thumb estimating (for example, square footage ratios). In addition, ACCA Manual D should be used to properly size the duct system.

Proper Equipment Placement
The best location for air-handling equipment and ducts is inside the conditioned space of the home (as opposed to an unconditioned garage or attic) to minimize exposure to harsh conditions (e.g., hot, humid, dusty attics in summer).

Correct Airflow
The airflow and duct leakage should be tested and airflow adjusted as necessary to improve operating efficiency, comfort, and indoor air quality.

Proper Refrigerant Charge
Once the system is installed, the refrigerant line should be checked to verify proper refrigerant charge. An incorrect amount of refrigerant can lower system efficiencies by up to 20 percent and ultimately lead to premature component failure.

Better Indoor Air Quality
Indoor air can be many times more polluted than outdoor air, and the average American spends 90 percent of the day inside. Ventilation systems can significantly improve a home’s air quality by removing allergens, pollutants, and moisture that can cause mold problems.

More Control
When homes rely on air flow through walls, roofs, and windows for ventilation, there is no control over the source or amount of air that comes into the house. In fact, air leaking into the house may come from undesirable areas such as the garage, attic, or crawl space. Mechanical ventilation systems, however, provide proper fresh air flow along with appropriate locations for intake and exhaust.

Improved Comfort
Mechanical ventilation systems allow a constant flow of outside air into the home and can also provide filtration, dehumidification, and conditioning of the incoming outside air.

Efficient Products

Using energy efficient products throughout the home, such as lighting fixtures, compact fluorescent bulbs, ventilation fans and major appliances, can drastically improve a home overall efficiency.

Appliances
Efficient appliances incorporate advanced technologies and use 10 to 50 percent less energy than standard appliances. From refrigerators to clothes washers, these appliances save energy, save money, and help reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants at the source.

Lighting Systems
Choosing more efficient light bulbs or light fixtures can make a big difference on utility bills and for the environment. Replacing the five most frequently used light fixtures in a home with ENERGY STAR qualified lighting can save about $65 each year in energy costs.

High Efficiency Water Heaters

Heating water accounts for approximately 15 percent of a home’s energy use. High efficiency water heaters use 10 to 50 percent less energy than standard models, saving homeowners money on their utility bills. Actual energy savings from high efficiency water heaters depend on family size, heater location, and the size and placement of water pipes.

Storage (Tank) Water Heaters
Water is kept hot and ready for use at all times in insulated storage tanks with capacities ranging from 20 to 80 gallons. Many fuel options are available, including electricity, natural gas, oil, and propane. One drawback of these units is the energy used to keep the water hot at all times, otherwise known as “standby losses.”

Demand (Tankless) Water Heaters
Water circulated through a large coil is heated only on demand using gas or electricity; there is no storage tank continuously maintaining hot water. A possible concern with this technology is the limitation on the number of fixtures that can simultaneously use hot water. However, there is an endless supply of hot water and standby losses are eliminated.

Solar Water Heating
While the initial purchase price of solar water heaters is high compared to standard models, they can be cost effective. That is because the sun, energy is harnessed to reduce operating costs up to 90 percent. Solar water heating systems require a conventional water heater as a backup water heating source to ensure hot water is available when solar energy is not.

Solar PV System

For a growing number of users, particularly those who are environmentally aware, PV is the clear choice. PV provides sustainable energy, operates silently, produces no toxic emissions or greenhouse gases, and causes no hazardous waste. PV systems generate electricity using the Sun's free energy, so the ongoing costs are minimal. Moreover, continued R&D means installation costs are gradually being reduced. Some people would rather invest capital on an energy-producing improvement to their property than continually send money to a power company. Others like the security of reducing the amount of electricity they buy from power utilities, because it makes them less vulnerable to power outages and future increases in the price of electricity.

Protect Yourself From Escalating Energy Costs
Electricity gets more expensive every year. Over the last 35 years, the average annual rate increase in California has been 6.5% (high energy users have seen substantially greater increases).

Support Clean Energy - Environmental Benefits
The average solar PV residential system (based on 5kW), would save nearly 175 tons of carbon dioxide over its 30 year lifespan - equivalent to removing 32 cars from the road. It takes approximately 4,487 new trees to absorb that much CO2 produced by fossil fuels.

Add Value to Your Home
The value of a solar system is added to the appraised value of your property and does not increase your property taxes. Solar is one of the few home improvements that can be justified in terms of return on invested dollar.

Take Advantage of Tax Incentives

Federal tax incentives are available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Energy efficiency incentives for upgrades to existing homes have been extended, and are now available for 2009 and 2010. These incentives now cover up to $1,500 (from $500), based on 30 percent of the cost of the improvement. Improvements can include building-envelope improvements (windows, insulation) and heating/air-conditioning upgrades. There are also 30-percent credits, without a cap, for on-site renewables (solar photovoltaic and solar hot-water systems, small wind systems, and geothermal heat pumps)

Third Party Verification

Energy Efficiency Certifications can also increase the value of your home, another great incentive in a tough housing market. An Energy Efficiency Certification is typically done at the initial construction of a home or during a remodel.

The two major national certification programs are Energy Star Certifications and LEED for Homes.

In a remodel scenario these certifications are done by an energy specialist and determine the efficiency of all aspects of the home: windows, appliances, heating systems, insulation, etc. This specialist can recommend upgrades and changes that will make your home more efficient, give cost estimates, and show you potentially how much you could save.

In a building scenario, a specialist would evaluate the house a few times during the construction phase, typically after the insulation is in place and a final evaluation.  Certified homes are typically 15% more energy efficient.

Efficient building will not usually cost much more than conventional building and the savings you will see over time, as well as the increased value of your home, are worth it.