design process study for the demonstration homes - Architectural ...

Introduction
Executive Summary
As California’s population steadily rises—along with the number of new homes built to meet
the population’s needs—the state’s ongoing problems related to the cost and production of
electrical power to meet demand, and especially the summer peak demand, continue to
intensify. To help address the issue of growing energy use and demand, the California Energy
Commission under the Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) Program has initiated a Zero
Energy New Home (ZENHome) Program, which includes four projects.
Purpose
One of the projects under the PIER ZENHome Program is the Utility-focused Market Model for
Zero Energy New Homes (Utility-focused Market Model for ZENHomes). The overarching goal
of this project is to develop a sustainable market model for building new zero energy homes,
which are intended to provide even greater energy reduction than those provided by 2005 Title
24 standards and to produce only 1 kilowatt (kW) of electricity demand during the summer
peak. This business model is based on integrating innovative energy efficient electric
technologies with on-site electricity generation from photovoltaic (PV) panels and on creating a
larger role for electric utilities in marketing sustainable homes. To help guide implementation of
this project, this report documents best practices from other high-efficiency residential design
projects, such as the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Building America (BA) Program.
Project Objectives
• Evaluate case studies of highly efficient residential design projects with PV systems built
under the Building America program and assessing the elements that contributed to
their successes and failures
• Assess lessons learned from the BA Zero Energy Homes (ZEH) program—in areas such
as construction protocols and practices, avenues to acquire incentives to lower builders’
cost, marketing and media exposure, collaborative partnerships, competitive sales, and
enhanced reputation and positive exposure—to facilitate and improve upon the concept
of ZENHomes under the Utility-focused Market Model for ZENHomes project
• Provide recommendations to the Energy Commission to modify the goals of the Utilityfocused
Market Model ZENHomes project as needed to ensure success within the
context of real-world constraints
Project Outcomes
After assessing five case studies, the project team developed these findings:
• Federal and utility energy efficiency rebates that lower the cost to builders to construct
Zero Energy Homes are essential and should be continued.
• Market activities from the ZEH support team resulted in national media coverage that
generated hundreds of thousands of dollars of free publicity for builders—which they
perceived as a major benefit.
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