1 Year Assessment

I've been living in this prototype home now for 1 year and it's been a great experience! A year ago I knew that I had designed a home that should perform very well, was built with quality materials, and had achieved the Energy Star Tax Credit and Gold Level for NC Healthy Built Homes. But many questions still needed to be answered, like: how well would it really perform? how much would it ultimately cost? how successful would this blog be? and what changes would I make if I were to do it all over again? I now have those answers.

As for what changes I would make, I've broken it down into a few categories: aesthetics, functionality, performance and costs.

As for aesthetics, I would only change the front porch roof to a gable and extend it out to meet the sides of the house and change the front windows to match accordingly. This would increase the size of the front porch by 4 feet, but I could reduce trim materials and go to a stick framed roof instead of the shed trusses, keeping the costs about the same. This change would make it more challenging to flash properly, but overall, I feel it would add some additional curb appeal to this prototype. I could also tie in the gutters from the front porch to the two down spouts of the main roof and not only make the rain runoff more efficient to manage, but ultimately collect more rain water when I install my rain barrels.

As for functionality, the main change I would make is to move the hybrid hot water heater to the attic which would open up the laundry room and make the space more efficient. Moving the water heater to the attic could also boost performance of the water heater as the attic tends to be the warmest space in the home due to the stack effect. This would make it more difficult to access the water heater to change settings (like vacation mode or high demand for example), but I don't mind the extra 30 seconds to do this. I would also make minor changes like room and closet sizing, but most people would never notice, so I won't take the time to explain.

As for costs, this is the most challenging one to answer. Unfortunately, I did not have a builder that was paying attention to the costs or the budget as well as offering solutions to reduce expenditures while still maintaining performance and quality. For example, he ordered a $300 (2x2) insulated crawlspace door for a closed (not conditioned) crawl space. This is just one of many examples as it did not need to be an insulated door. I would also change the pocket doors (which are attractive) to standard doors, as pocket doors are very expensive. And lastly, but probably my biggest issue, was the amount of waste. Once again the builder just didn't give a damn and all I could do was express my frustrations and think about how to change this for future projects. It can be a delicate line to walk when your builder is not meeting your expectations and tells you one thing, but does another. Burning that bridge can sometimes result in more headaches than what it ends up being worth. I've learned a lot and I am still very blessed for what I have and where I am at today!

As for the success of this blog, to date this blog has been visited 4280 times. I truly hope that the information on this blog has been helpful to others and received positively, while also creating a dialogue that encourages better building practices.

As for the performance. My 12 month total for utility bills is $563.19 which averages out to $46.93 per month. The code (built) based model home that this prototype is compared too was expected to have a 12 month total of $2,100.00 or $175.00 per month. The total monetary savings = $1,536.81. With an average monthly savings of $128.07, the math works out to a 73.2% reduction in utility costs. With today's mortgage rates (based on excellent credit), an additional $128 a month that could go into your home would result in being able to borrow about $25,000.00 more. Now of course the appraisers and lending institutions won't properly value this (as I've talked about in a previous post) but hopefully we will see this change to a direct added valuation in the future.

Lastly are the costs of this prototype. I've estimated, without cost savings that I could extract if I were to build it again, that my cost per square foot = $105. My goal was to see if I could build a very high quality, socially responsible, healthy, safe, strong and Net-Zero Energy home for under $100 per square foot. Well, I've done the math and with the available tax credits and utility rebates, installing a 4+kW PV system on this prototype would easily achieve Net-Zero Energy status for under $110 per square foot.  Not quite $100 per square foot, but overall an amazing low price compared to other green certified homes in my market area.

Although I plan to continue updating this blog with posts, my posts will not be as frequent. My organic gardens are almost complete and I will take pictures and write about this in the future. I also plan to do a post on the future PV system that will be installed, but that most likely will not be until the beginning of next year...I've heard that the best time to have PV systems installed is right after the new year as the tax credits are less attractive as most homeowners have to wait until the following year to use the credits.

Best wishes and thanks for stopping by!

Craig Payne

Hot Summer

Boy has it been hot! Asheville, as well as many other places in the country, has experienced a much warmer than normal summer. This has led to an increase in the cooling demand and my prototype home is no exception, well except for the energy bills. I wrote in my last blog entry that my home was experiencing an issue with trapped humidity and that I was going to start running the A/C to remove this moisture. Running the A/C obviously helped to alleviate the situation, but because of the hot and humid weather over the last month, I just kept the A/C on indefinitely. My June utility bill, which did not involve running the A/C much was only $34.15, but since the A/C has been turned on for the entire last month, I was very curious how much this would increase my energy costs. Well, the most recent utility bill was $51.51 with the thermostat set at 74-75 degrees. I was hoping it would be lower, but this total utility bill is still 70.5% less than the code based model home.
I decided to ask my neighbor, whose home was built just 3 months prior to my prototype, what his energy bill was for the last month. His home is 300 square feet smaller and his bill was about $140 total. Although they have a nice home, it was only built to meet the minimum code requirements and is a good example for comparison sake. It is just another example of how a quality built home/shelter actually pays for itself immediately.
My organic gardens are still taking shape as I continue to develop and change the plans as I move forward.
I do have some really good news on the work front. Eco-Panels was selected to be used to build the Blue Ridge Parkway's new Communications Center in conjunction with the National Park Service. I will post some photos on this blog as the building is being erected.

9 Month Energy Evaluation

I recently received my 9th energy bill and the total was $31.31. My total energy costs for the previous 9 months is $435.62 and I am averaging 430 kw/month and $48.40 per month. In comparison, Energy Star's model code based home should be averaging about $175 per month or a total after 9 months of $1575.00. Simple subtraction means that I have already saved an estimated $1,139.38 or $126.60 per month. To date this prototype is using 73% less energy than the code based model home. Once again, I have no PV, Solar Thermal, Wind or Geothermal systems installed.

I did notice a problem though with my attempt to save energy this past month+. By opening the windows in the evening and overnight to let the home cool down and then closing the windows during the day, I was trapping quite a bit of moisture in the home. Even though the ERV can help to control the humidity level, it is never intended to be a dehumidification system. It became obvious the RH was too high in the house and that some of the materials were being affected--most notibly the floor boards. When I bought my HVAC system I decided against spending the $425+ to have a dehumidification system installed and I'm not sure whether I am regretting that decision. Now that I have turned on the AC full time, I will see how this affects my total energy usage and report back when I receive the next energy bill. The RH is now stable and the heat pump really doesn't even run that often. I am also running the dehumidifier in the crawl space more often to make sure the dew point is not reached in the crawl space.

Overall the home is performing very well and exceeding my expectations. I am starting to build my organic raised bed vegetable garden and I hope to have pictures by my next post.

June Update

I've received another utility bill and the total was $31.45--so far the lowest to date. We've had quite a heat wave here in the mountains with highs in the low 90's and upper 80's, but the home is performing exceptionally well. I've only had to turn on the A/C for about 2 hours on 2 seperate occassions (on the upper floor/zone) over the last week as the home stays very cool during the hottest parts of the day. Two days ago, the temperature reached 92, but my indoor temperature on the main floor only got to 75. This way only a 4 degree difference from the early morning to the early evening. I will calculate the total savings % for the 1st 9 months on my next post when I receive that utility bill.

The pictures on this post show the berry bushes to the right and what will be an additional parking area to the left of the driveway. The berry bushes are already producing quite a bit of fruit and it also will serve another purpose--as a natural fence/boundary marker for the lot next to me. The parking area will be all gravel as it is permeable and accepted by the HOA. I hope to have made some significant progress on the raised bed organic gardens by the end of June.

Last Utility Bill

I didn't realize that it's been over a month since my last post. Eco-Panels is keeping me quite busy. My most recent utility bill was $34.45, which continues to reflect the impressive performance of this prototype. I am working on planting my organic gardens and so far I have planted blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries. Even though I haven't had much time to focus on the organic raised bed vegetable gardens, I am researching possible options that will help me build these gardens safely and affordably. Once I get more information and the time to build the raised beds, I will do a post on this topic.

Simple Economics of Energy Efficiency

I've been working in the residential building field now for 8+ years and the market still isn't quite sure how to properly value energy efficiencies. One of my best friends is a very experienced residential appraiser and he says that, even though the governing bodies for appraisers have/are working on this issue, there is still no standard value added formula to adjust the appraisal of a home based on how energy efficient it is. The Department of Energy back in the 90's did a study and came up with the 1:20 ratio rule: for every $1 of energy saved that equals $20 of added value to the home. That sure seems like a lot at face value, but after some simple calculations, I feel that the experts that performed these tests and released this study were pretty close in their valuations. Let me explain.

So far I have received 5 montly utility bills for this prototype. The total = $292.38 or an average $58.48 per month. The code based model home that this prototype is compared to was expected to average $175 for each monthly bill. 5 X $175 = $875. If these figures were to stay consistent for an entire year, my prototype home's yearly energy bill total would be $701.76 and the code based model home would be $2,100.00. Because Asheville has more heating degree days than cooling, it would be safe to assume that these costs should be even higher for the model home, but I'm trying not to make too many assumptions. Ok, back to the math. Subtracting $701.76 from $2,100.00, I get $1398.24. Divide this # by 12 (months) and this prototype home is averaging a savings of $116.52 each month on energy costs. A well qualified buyer, at today's interest rates, that adds $116.52 to their mortgage, instead of paying the local utility, would be able to borrow about $23,000.00 more. Using the 1:20 DOE rule, this prototype should be worth an additional $27,964.80 ($1398.24 X 20)--so not too far off my prototype figures. Please understand that these #'s are based on my KW/HR rate of $.10. Savings could be higher or lower depending on your utility rates. Also, it is very likely that utility rates will continue to increase in the future. Would you rather put the money into your home or pay the utility company? Easy question right?

Now the issue of payback. "What is the payback?" is a question I hear often. Although this prototype is a great example of the true monetary value of energy efficiencies, the cost factor is difficult to calulate. I put in a fair amount of sweat equity and also worked very hard to find quality materials at an affordable price. So I will use a more simplified example: If a homeowner added $20,000 in improvements to their home to be more energy efficient and those improvement saved $150 a month in energy costs, at today's interest rates there would be an immediate payback. The reason is because your total month expenditures would be less the very 1st month you live in the home. $20,000 added to a 30 yr mortgage would add about $105 to your monthly mortage payments, but you are saving $150 a month is utility costs.

I've written about alternative and renewable energy options/costs in previous posts, but a really good blog entry discussing the return on investment (ROI) for solar (PV) is available at Eco-Panels website. Not only does this prototype home save me quite a bit of money in energy costs, this home is also stronger, healthier, safer and lower maintenance than the vast majority of new homes built today. How much are these added benifits worth? That's a question that's impossible to put a price on!

Last Two Energy Bills Comparison

My mid-January to mid-February utility bill was so far the highest to date at $79.01. I wasn't surprised that it was $6 higher than my previous months bill as I was out of town for the Christmas holiday reducing my energy demand for 5 days. $79 was still about a 62% reduction in energy use compared to a code based modeled home.

Today I received my mid-February to mid-March utility bill and WOW what a difference 12 degrees makes. What I mean by 12 degrees, is that the average daily temperature has been about 12 degrees warmer over the past month significantly reducing the amount of time my heat pump is running on auxillary or strip heat. It still gets into the 30's every night with several frosts and even some snow showers on a few occasions, but considering my heat pump is set to go to auxillary heat below 35 degrees, it wasn't using strip heat nearly as much. This months total utility bill was $45.73. That's a savings of around 74% compared to a code based home. 74% reduction in total energy costs is significant considering this prototype home has no other alternative source to produce energy--just an air-to-air heat pump with an ERV. This reduction has to do with many factors that have been discussed in other posts, but it just reinforces how satisfied I am that I chose to use Eco-Panels as my wall system. My next post will talk about the economics of energy savings!