Zero energy home final report

The League of Extraordinary Engineers :Scott Whiteman

Dominick D’AngeloJason Ellis

04/21/23

Project Overview• Goals: – To design a zero energy home that encompasses many different

eco-friendly concepts and appliances.– Design a modern day home that is efficient and effective that

doesn’t require many sacrifices for everyday living.

• Basic Specs:Location (city, state) Indian Lake, Pennsylvania

House size (floor area in square feet) 2,600Number of floors 3Number of occupants 3Number of bedrooms 3Type of heating system (forced air, hydronic, radiant floor, heat pump, etc.

Heat pump

Main heating fuel (electricity, natural gas, wood, oil, etc.)

electricity

Size of photovoltaic system (kilowatts) 8.5Solar water heater (yes or no) yesR-value of wall insulation 19R-value of ceiling insulation 40Ventilation air heat recovery (yes or no) no

Project Overview cont.

• Important features:– Photovoltaic system, Sharp nD-208ui, 208 w, 215 sq. ft.– Solar water heater– 22.65% of south facing wall is made of windows; 10% of

other walls are also windows.– There is a retractable awning to control sunlight in the

house.– Large open 1st floor that assists passive solar heating in

the house.

Research Summary

• Important Lessons (From other Designs)– Some important lessons we learned from other designs

were…• That most of the houses were around 2,000 sq. ft. which we

looked at when designing our home which was 2,600 sq. ft.• We saw that one floor works best, but it can still work with

more, so we realized we could still achieve zero energy with our three story residence.• We noticed in our research that the R-value in the walls and

ceilings needed to be higher than standard, so we applied R-19 to the walls and R-40 to the ceilings in our home.

Research Summary Cont’d(Data Summary)

• All homes featured a photovoltaic system, averaging 5.2 kW of output. The average size, in square feet, was 2369 ft^2. Nearly all of the homes featured ventilation air heat recovery systems, and insulation of R-value above code. Heating systems were powered either by geothermal energy or electricity. All homes were built for single family occupancy. Despite their similarities in all of these areas, each home has its own unique characteristics, making them efficient and distinct.

Key Decisions

• Envelope:– We decided to go with R-values of 19 for the walls and 40 for

the ceiling because in a zero energy home the R-values need to be higher to keep the house better insulated and allow less air to leak out. However, there has to be enough air leakage so the residents do not suffocate.

– Also, we went with the double low-e windows so that the air leakage would be minimal out of the window gaps. This provides for a more efficient home.

– The material we decided to use for the outside of our home was brick on the first floor, for look and tightness. The upper two levels we decided to make cladding siding, for visual appeal and durability.

Key Decisions Cont’d

Appliances: – After much research on televisions we decided that we

would select the Vizio VO320E. Our reasoning for this was that it was reasonably inexpensive for a TV of its caliber, and its energy usage was lower compared to its competitors.

Key Decisions Cont’d• -When looking at refrigerators, we came

upon a few models that we liked, but we ended up choosing the Frigidaire® 18.2 Cu. Ft. Top Mount Refrigerator ( stainless steel). Our reasoning for choosing this model was similar to our mindset towards our other appliances; we compared multiple options and came to the conclusion that the most cost-effective and efficient model was the Frigidaire®.

•

Key Decisions Cont’d

• We also needed at dishwasher in our home so after much research and thought, we chose the Maytag JetClean® Plus 24 In. Our reasoning was very similar to that of our other appliances, we looked at the most efficient and cost effective model and that happened to be the Maytag JetClean® Plus 24 In.

Key Decisions Cont’d• HVAC: – We decided to go with a solar water heating system in our home

because it produces savings in natural gas or electricity. Also, it will pay for itself within four to eight years. Solar water heaters last between 15 and 40 years, as well, which is the same as conventional systems. Thus, after the initial payback time, the luxury of hot water is basically free.

– Also, in our home we strove for minimal air leakage. This was achieved by higher R-values in the ceilings and walls. Our values were R-19 in the walls and R-40 in the ceiling. Our reasoning was to increase the efficiency of our home and for comfort.

– The type of heating we chose for our home was an electric heat pump. We chose this option because it is efficient and cost effective compared to other options.

Key Decisions Cont’d

• Solar Technologies:– Photovoltaic system, Sharp nD-208ui, 208 w, 215 sq. ft.• We chose this system because it fit our roof well and was the

correct amount of energy. We needed an 8.5 kW system to create a zero energy home. This system was both powerful enough and had a reasonable kw$ return.

– Solar water heater• The solar water heater information was mentioned in the last

slide

Key Decisions Cont’d

Behavior:•The three residents of our home would have to be conscience of their electric use, such as turning off the appropriate appliances at the appropriate time.•Also, they would have to attempt to rely as much as possible on the passive solar elements of the home, in order to maximize energy use per dollar.

Key Decisions Cont’d

• Looking back to what we learned in class played a role in our key decisions of our home.

• Such as…– The styrofoam container scale model informed us on air

leakage and air changes per hour(50-80).– A house loses heat through transmission and air leakage.• Transmission is based off of surface area and inversely on R-

value (Engineers can predict transmission well).

SketchUp ModelMarch 21st

June 21st

September 21st

December 21st

First floor

Basement/ garage

Second floor

Physical Model

Summary of Design• Favorite Features…– Scott- My favorite part of the home was the back deck

and all of the southern facing windows, overlooking the lake. Also the sitting area under the deck for relaxation near the fun first floor.

– Dominick- My favorite feature of our zero energy home would have to be how there is a great lookout from the second floor deck to the lake.

– Jason- My favorite feature is the overhang on the front of the house that gives additional shade and looks great.

Summary of Design• Most Important Aspects:– Some important aspects of our home include the effective use of

space and windows. Our well-designed home makes it easy to achieve zero energy. Also, the southern majestic lake view makes our house unique. The well placed, visually appealing solar panels puts our house above the rest.

• Greatest Challenges: – Some of the greatest challenges we faced during this project were

based from the fact that we had three members in our group. It was sometimes difficult to find a time when we could all meet to work on the project and we had to split up the work meant for four into three. Our model took us a while to make and we finished at 11 pm on the final day of the project. We found that communication was also a sticking point for our group, trying to communicate between the physical model and SketchUp.

Reflection• There are many take-away lessons from this project

including…– We can calculate photovoltaic systems needed for a zero

energy home.– We learned how the R-value effects a home along with the

air leakage and is important in designing a home.– We learned and applied lessons from SketchUp that seemed

to be easier and more intuitive than other 3D designing programs.

– We learned that we need to reduce our energy and waste outputs in order to conserve resources for the future.

– Zero energy homes are a lot more feasible to build than we previously believed and do not require a ridiculous amount of restrictions to succeed.