The S.E.E.D. Home receives the GOLD EVHA award!

I am honored, humbled, proud and excited to have received the GOLD 2012 Energy Value Home Awards  ( EVHA) New Home/ Hot Climate Award last week at the NAHB Research Council Energy Value Home Award ceremonies this past Wednesday in Orlando, Florida  during the NAHB International Builder Show.

Unexpectedly, I also won an IPAD at the BASF booth after playing their construction related ‘jeopardy game’. They gave one away at the end of each day of the event. I happened to be walking by about 4:30pm on Wednesday and was corralled into the challenge booth to play the last game of the day against two others. The highest score for the day had been 14 out of 18. I answered 16 correctly and therefore was awarded the coool prize of an IPAD!!!

Anyway, I made quite a few important contacts and hope that they will help the S.E.E.D. Home to sprout and blossom in the near future.

Many of the events at the International Builder Show can be seen online at the IBS Show

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Local news covers EVHA award

When one of our local news stations, KGUN 9 (who had done a story on The S.E.E.D. Home during construction) found out it was receiving the EVHA award they called and asked to do another story.  I was interviewed about a week ago by  reporter Stephani Ruiz.  This morning she did two live broadcasts outside of the house, incorporating the earlier interview.  If you’d like to see the story and video click  here.  I don’t know if this is a permalink, so I don’t know if it will always work.

EVHA Award

I am honored and excited to be receiving a coveted energy efficiency award from the National Association of Home Builders Research Council (NAHBRC), the Energy Value Home Award (EVHA) during the International Builder Show next week in Orlando, Florida.

The NAHBRC, for the last 17 years, has been honoring and awarding those individuals (or company) in the home building industry who have, of their own volition and desire gone above and beyond the norm with regard to advancing energy efficiency in new home construction.

This award although being received by me, is most assuredly about The S.E.E.D. Home and the breakthrough accomplishments it has achieved since being ‘planted’ at its building site here in the desert southwest of Tucson, AZ.

Since being ‘planted’ last April, 2011 when final inspection was obtained from the City of Tucson Development Services, real-time data (through imbedded sensors) has been flowing to Davis Energy Group-lead team member of ARBI (Alliance for Residential Building Innovation) one of the fifteen Team Members affiliated with Department of Energy (DOE) Building Technology Program Build America Team members.

The ongoing data accumulation has revealed that the S.E.E.D. Home’s design and construction principles have proved successful in its application.

Related articles

• Breathe Green & Easy: Pro Energy Consultants Launches ‘Breathe Green & Easy’ Homeowner Education Campaign Promoting Indoor Air Quality Awareness (prweb.com)
• Passivhaus: the poet’s energy efficiency standard (energysavingtrust.wordpress.com)
• Householders ‘could be forced to green their home’ when building extensions (guardian.co.uk)
• How Banks Can Make Money On Energy Efficient Mortgages (greenflbroker.com)
• 2/9-3/8: Green Building Seminar Series (flxpermaculture.net)

Department of Energy, Build America Builder Challenge, HERS 20 rating

On June 7th, the DOE, Builders Challenge program issued its formal certification of the HERS (Home Energy Rating System) rating for The S.E.E.D. Home; it received an astounding rating of HERS 20!  Very close to the holy grail of ‘0’.  As it turns out, the only reason it did NOT receive a HERS ‘0’ is because the final rating category has to do with only the end user and how much electricity they might use for TVs, computers, game boys, hair dryers, etc., etc.

However, it is my belief that anyone interested in an efficient home is going to be mindful of their energy use habits. That being said, I have no doubt that The S.E.E.D. Home performance in terms of electrical energy usage will in fact be a true net zero home.

One of the most outstanding aspects is the RADIANT FLOOR COOLING performance. The reverse cycle chiller 2 ton heat pump operates ONLY between the hours of midnight and 7 am! That’s it. The floor is cooled to a comfortable 72 degrees with the corresponding air temp being 75 degrees. This reading is taken at 7am. By the end of the day the temperature rise is only 3 degrees, a corresponding 75 degree floor with a 78 degree air temperature! It is like being in a cave wherein the ENTIRE air space is a consistent and near constant temperature throughout every square foot of the home. There are NO hot or cold spots created by forced air movement from an air handler – just cool consistent temperatures throughout the day and night. Then at midnight, the compressor kicks in recooling the exposed aggregate concrete floor to 72 degrees and the cycle replays.

This is turning into a cutting edge breakthrough with regard  to cost effective high performance energy efficiency because the compressor ONLY operates in the early morning hours when the outside temps are coolest and therefore the heat pump can operate at its optimum efficiency. Additionally, there is NO cycling of the unit because it is preset to operate for these 7 hours ONLY; the system coasts the remainder of the day and night. The home is so well insulated and sealed that in Tucson’s  current summer temperatures of 110 degrees there is ONLY a 3 degree rise for the entire day. And,remember, the temperature is constant and consistent (within the 3 degree spread) WITHOUT the intermittent cold air blasts from a forced air unit trying to mix with the existing warmed air (thus, no hot and cold areas).