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"Raising Energy Efficiency Highlighted at ASHRAE Meeting"
HVI Fresh Ideas
HVI Fresh Ideas: Building a Greener Future
ASHRAE 62.2
"2010 ASHRAE Ventilation Standard Brings Breath of Fresh Air to Industry"
Canadian News
"RSES to Offer HRAI Residential Ventilation Training"
Residential Building News
"Building for the Future"
Top Story
Raising Energy Efficiency Highlighted at ASHRAE Meeting
Data Center Journal (07/10)
The focus of the recent ASHRAE 2010 Annual Conference in Albuquerque was raising efficiency to new levels. More than 1,400 attendees participated in the late June conference, which celebrated the induction of the Society's first female president, Lynn G. Bellenger. Her presidential theme focuses on "Modeling a Sustainable World." It was also announced that ASHRAE reached its Research Promotion fundraising goal for a third straight year, hitting the $2,075,000 mark -- a 2 percent increase over 2009. ASHRAE's Research program has supported more than 700 projects over the past five decades, addressing such areas such as indoor air quality and energy efficiency. Top-selling publications at the meeting were newly published standards, ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.2-2010, Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality in Low-Rise Residential Buildings, and ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2010, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality. Top-attended technical program sessions included natural refrigerants, retro-commissioning, and HVAC equipment needs for net-zero-energy homes. Finally, ASHRAE launched a new online bookstore on ASHRAE.org designed to make finding publications and other products faster and easier.
Newly-published ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.2-2010, Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality in Low-Rise Residential Buildings was one of the top selling publications at the ASHRAE annual conference held in June. It is encouraging to see that the importance of understanding ventilation is recognized by the conference attendees. For more information on HVI Certification and Procedures referenced in ASHRAE 62.2-2010, check out the HVI website at www.hvi.org.
HVI Fresh Ideas
HVI Fresh Ideas: Building a Greener Future
These days it seems that virtually everyone is promoting his or her products and business practices as ‘green.’ While the intent is positive, not all that is said to be ‘green’ actually makes a positive environmental difference. Building better homes truly makes sense and the move toward ‘green’ building is surely worth pursuing. After all, our homes consume up to one-third of the energy needed to keep North America running, so reducing the energy homes use could have a significant positive impact on our environment. Today we have the knowledge, processes and products available to build homes that use a fraction of the energy previously required – implementation is relatively simple. A greater challenge we face is retrofitting our existing housing stock to counteract the excessive amounts of energy being spent.
To illustrate how existing homes can be transformed from energy guzzlers to models of efficiency, we searched throughout North America and found an excellent example in Doug Steege and Kris Euclide’s house located in Madison, Wisconsin.
Originally built in 1922, the residence was completely renovated inside and out in 2006 utilizing readily-available materials and products. The result is a very comfortable dwelling where Doug and Kris enjoy much lower energy bills and excellent indoor air quality.
The foundation and wall insulation were upgraded and a R100 insulation level was achieved in the attic. Old, leaky windows were replaced with triple-glazed, ‘Low E’, argon-filled units carefully sealed into the building envelope. With the help of air infiltration experts, the entire home was examined for air leakage. Once the air leaks had been sealed, the final air test showed that the air infiltration had been reduced to less than half that of a typical Wisconsin home.
Reducing air leakage, or making the house ‘tighter’ led the homeowners to design and implement a mechanical ventilation system to control indoor air quality, taking full advantage of the latest ventilation solutions available in the marketplace. Two HVI-Certified energy recovery ventilators (ERV) were installed to ensure that the entire home had the ventilation control to meet not only building code requirements, but also the specific needs of its occupants. An ERV is an excellent choice for a ‘green’ building as it saves energy year-round. By bringing the exhaust and supply airstreams into close contact in the ERV core, energy is exchanged from one air stream to the other without actually mixing with each other. In the winter, the warmer inside air gives up energy to the cooler outside fresh air bringing it closer to room temperature. In the summer when air conditioning is keeping the house cooler, the cool air being exhausted helps to reduce the temperature of the incoming air. This reduces the load on the air conditioning system. The ERV core also transfers water vapor helping to maintain healthy, comfortable indoor humidity levels in all seasons.
One ERV, installed in the second-floor master bedroom closet, exhausts air from two upstairs bathrooms while supplying fresh air to the bedrooms on that level of the house. A second ERV, installed in a mechanical room located in the lower level of the home, exhausts air from the main floor bathroom and kitchen area, supplying fresh air to the family room.
These ERVs provide both continuous and intermittent ventilation. Continuous ventilation is required by code and is designed to maintain general air quality. The low rate of continuous operation offers round-the-clock protection for the occupants from the harmful effects of various odors, chemicals from furnishings, and cleaning products while effectively controlling moisture. Intermittent, high-speed ‘spot’ ventilation of the bathrooms is initiated by push-button switches, operating for a preset but adjustable amount of time. This higher rate of ventilation helps to eliminate immediate odors and moisture from showers while the lower, continuous rate ensures that showers dry effectively to reduce the potential for mold and mildew to form.
In addition to the ERVs, a range hood, installed over the cook top in the kitchen, provides intermittent, spot ventilation during cooking. As all range hoods should, this HVI-Certified unit vents directly to the outside. An excellent choice for a ‘green’ retrofit, the hood, which is Energy Star-rated, uses less energy for both ventilation and lighting.
Attending to the home’s heating system, Doug and Kris installed a high-efficiency sealed combustion boiler, eliminating the problems associated with open combustion air supplies into mechanical rooms. An active solar domestic hot water system completed the mechanical systems for this exceptional renovation.
Building ‘green’ means more than just energy conservation as Doug and Kris know. Low-flush toilets and low-flow faucets and showerheads reduce water consumption for the couple. Carpeting with a high-recycled material content is in use throughout the home. Low volatile organic compounds (VOCs) paints, sealants and caulking help to reduce the levels of harmful contaminants in the home. Compact fluorescent bulbs installed in all fixtures produce significant energy and cost savings. Even the landscape was designed to be drought-tolerant and low-maintenance.
To complete the ‘green’ theme of this renovation, ‘green’ energy is purchased from a local provider. Electricity is sourced from wind farms, solar systems and methane gas turbines. Though Doug and Kris pay a premium of one-cent-per-kilowatt-hour, this is a perfect choice for a ‘green’ home. And the additional funding generated helps the utility provider to limit the development of coal-fired power plants and encourage the development of alternative and renewable energy sources. It is expected that the premium will decrease as technology advances and more renewable energy sources are developed. In fact, a utility company in Texas has been able to reduce the cost of their ‘green’ energy below that of energy from conventional sources.
Doug and Kris’ home uses less energy than 95 percent of the homes in the Madison, Wisconsin area. Doug estimates that the ERVs alone are reducing the energy costs by up to two hundred dollars per year.
This is not the couple’s first advanced home. Our featured home is the sixth new or remodeled home with which they’ve “gone green” including one of the first active solar homes in Wisconsin in 1976. The significant energy investments they have made in each of their homes have never cost them a penny. The energy savings have always been much larger then the cost of the additional loan payments resulting in positive cash flow from the very beginning. And to make the financial picture even more enticing, more than 100 percent of the added costs have been recovered at the time of selling.
Where to Start
‘Green’ building represents a wonderful opportunity to improve the energy and resource effectiveness of our homes while providing health and comfort benefits never before possible. If you’re interested in retrofitting your own energy guzzling home, Doug and Kris offer the following tips based on their experience:
Look for contractors who are knowledgeable in ‘green’ building practices and who are familiar with Leadership in Environment and Energy Design (LEED), the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) residential sustainability program, as well as the U.S. EPA’s Energy Star for Homes program. Check potential contractors’ references and view their past projects to ensure that their knowledge translates into effective ‘green’ building practices.
Always consider energy and water in any remodeling project. Installing better insulation and reducing air leakage is an inexpensive first choice. Triple-glazed windows now cost little more than double-glazed and not only reduce energy consumption but also block outside noise much more effectively. Additionally, high-efficiency heating systems are readily available and reliable and will save energy for years to come.
Perhaps most importantly, don’t forget to consider the indoor air quality. All homes need mechanical ventilation, and retrofitting homes to be ‘green’ provides an excellent opportunity to integrate the most advanced energy-efficient ventilation products available today. When selecting ventilation equipment, choose only those products which are HVI-Certified. This provides the assurance that actual airflow, sound and energy performance will meet the manufacturers’ ratings when the products are properly installed and ducted. HVI has been the premier source for reliable performance data on residential ventilation products since 1955 and today lists over two thousand products in its Certified Products Directory.
ASHRAE 62.2
2010 ASHRAE Ventilation Standard Brings Breath of Fresh Air to Industry
GreenBuildingPro.com (08/01/10)
Included in the newly published 2010 version of Standard 62.1 are new requirements regarding natural ventilation, exhaust systems, and the IAQ Procedure. Roger Hedrick, committee chair, comments, "The 2010 standard furthers ASHRAE’s work in ensuring acceptable indoor air quality, while also heeding the need for energy efficiency as we strive to find ways to help designers tailor ventilation system designs to each particular application." Modifications to the Natural Ventilation Rate Procedure are among the changes to the 2010 standard. Hedrick states, "Most buildings using natural ventilation in the United States are high-rise residential buildings that often have no form of outdoor air intake other than operable windows. This results in buildings with inadequate ventilation, because occupants often leave the windows closed in order to run the air conditioning, keep out noise, etc." One of the major changes relocates requirements related to exhaust systems to a new section, stipulating that exhaust requirements apply to all buildings regardless of the procedure used to determine outdoor air intake flow rates.
The newly published ASHRAE 62.1-2010, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality sets minimum ventilation rates for commercial and institutional buildings while ASHRAE 62.2-2010 sets the ventilation rates for low-rise residential buildings. Together they provide the most up-to-date resource for building professionals from single-family homebuilders to high-rise condominium developers. For more information on ASHRAE 62.2 please click here.
Canadian News
RSES to Offer HRAI Residential Ventilation Training
ContractingBusiness.com (07/29/2010)
The Refrigeration Service Engineers Society (RSES) has joined with the Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada (HRAI) to have RSES become an authorized Delivery Partner for HRAI SkillTech Academy's Residential Mechanical Ventilation Installation training program. The course covers the fundamentals of ventilation assessment, focusing on system design and installation. The curriculum's chief aim is to provide contractors and building professionals with the skills they need to develop opportunities in the growing residential ventilation market, including heat and energy recovery ventilators. HRAI President Warren Heeley states, "Through our partnership with RSES, the availability of this training will be greatly increased in the U.S., to HVACR contractors and building professionals who want to understand the role residential mechanical ventilation can play in solving issues such as moisture management and IAQ." The first course will be held in Virginia later this fall by instructors certified to teach the course.
There are several options available to those looking to further their education about good ventilation practices. In addition to the course mentioned above, HVI and EEBA have partnered to offer a ventilation course, which is presented several times a year in various U.S. locations. This course is also offered through Green Builder College's online training and is entitled Ventilation That Works. For more information on ventilation training resources, contact HVI at hvi@hvi.org and EEBA at http://www.eeba.org/contact.htm.
Residential Building News
Building for the Future
Boston Globe (07/29/10) Quinn, Molly Jane
Bruce Irving, executive producer of This Old House Productions Inc., reports that his latest TV show is called "This New House." In it, he highlights a number of promising new technologies, including a building standard called Passive House. He states, "It's a very strict building code that highlights insulation and air sealing. Even though it involves no groovy technological tricks -- it actually relies on a lot of dumb no-moving parts which I think is its strength -- the result is a house that uses 90 percent less energy than a regular house." Passive Houses do not have boilers or furnaces, but instead are heated by passive solar heat, body heat of their occupants, and waste heat coming off appliances and lights. "Every BTU is sacred," he states. "Where your grandma's house might have four air changes in an hour, one of these basically is sealed tight with no air exchange at all." The device that makes it all possible is an energy recovery ventilator, which sucks in cool air and pushes out stale air.
This New House’s use of an energy recovery ventilator clearly shows that they understand the need for mechanical ventilation in high-performance houses, and certified ventilation performance is essential to making high-performance homes work properly. HVI certifies virtually all residential ventilation products from bathroom fans to energy recovery ventilators for airflow, sound and energy performance. The HVI-Certified Products Directory found at
www.hvi.org provides current listings for all HVI-Certified products.
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