Building America Program Research Findings Promoted through Industry Publications

In an effort to disseminate information about Building America program research findings to the building industry, IBACOS submits articles for publication in technical journals and trade publications.

An article entitled “An Energy Makeover: Changes in material, installation and quality assurance add up to a high-performance home,” appeared in the March issue of Professional Builder magazine and is posted on the Housing Zone website. The article, written by IBACOS’ Marketing Director Stacy Hunt, highlights Washington Homes and the work the builder has done on a Building America pilot home as an example of how builders can build for energy efficiency and high performance without having to drastically change their current practices or increase costs.

The article discusses the specific measures taken to elevate the pilot home past Energy Star® performance levels (HERS 86 score) to a HERS score of 90. Key details include: optimizing the size of the HVAC equipment, insulating the basement, building an unvented crawlspace, and tightening the building envelope. The article also includes a matrix that shows the standard specifications and the pilot home specifications for the ventilation system.

The print version of the article includes a case study of Washington Homes as well. The case study focuses on the builder’s involvement with IBACOS and the Building America program and the value of providing consumers with high performance homes.

(http://www.housingzone.com/topics/pb/green/pb03ca024.asp#)

A second article published by Professional Builder entitled “Quality Products Don’t Always Equate to Quality Homes” appeared in the NAHB Product Showcase and Show Village 2003 supplement section in January 2003. The article, written by Stacy Hunt, urges home builders to take control of the quality of the building products they use, and the process in which they are installed, as a way to ensure better performance of their product—the home.

The article suggests setting standards inside residential building companies for overall home performance, the selection and proper installation of products, and adequate training for the installers. Builders are also cautioned against using a product simply because it costs less. Product failures and improper installation can harm not only the product brand but also the builder’s. When selecting vendors, builders should look for people who have high customer service standards and are willing to go the extra mile for a customer. In addition builders should be sure to talk to the tradespeople who may have used the products and also to other builders who have experience with them as well. This will help to make any decisions made about new products informed ones that will benefit the builder and their customers.

(http://www.housingzone.com)

Home Energy magazine published an article entitled “The Green House Shows the Way” in the March/April 2003 issue. The article, written by Stacy Hunt and Duncan Prahl, IBACOS’ Innovation Programs Leader, discusses Building America program research into strategies to improve energy efficiency by 30% in existing homes, which would qualify the homes as Energy Star®.

The article specifically discusses the Green House project in the Noisette community in North Charleston, South Carolina. The community, along with IBACOS and the Sustainability Institute, organized a retrofit of one home that is being used to educate members of the community about the importance of increased home performance. The house is also being used to teach community members about how individual renovation projects impact other systems.

IBACOS has created a prioritized list of possible renovations based on their importance to increasing the overall efficiency of the home. Another educational tool that IBACOS has created is a system-interactions matrix. The matrix identifies possible major retrofit work as well as system synergies and system-engineering strategies that can optimize energy efficiency, durability, safety, and comfort. Both the prioritized list and system-interactions matrix are available to members of the community.

The specific strategies used in the Green House are also discussed in the article.

(http://www.homeenergy.org)

As another avenue to disseminate Building America research findings, IBACOS submits abstracts to conferences throughout the year and, when accepted, papers appear in the published proceedings.

For more information about the articles discussed above, contact Stacy Hunt at 412-325-1523 or shunt@ibacos.com.