Evaluation of the U.S. Department of Energy Challenge Home Program Certification of Production Builders
- Building Science Corporation, Somerville, MA (United States)
The purpose of this project was to evaluate integrated packages of advanced measures in individual test homes to assess their performance with respect to Building America program goals, specifically compliance with the DOE Challenge Home Program. BSC consulted on the construction of five test houses by three cold climate production builders in three U.S. cities and worked with the builders to develop a design package tailored to the cost-related impacts for each builder. Also, BSC provided support through performance testing of the five test homes. Overall, the builders have concluded that the energy related upgrades (either through the prescriptive or performance path) represent reasonable upgrades. The builders commented that while not every improvement in specification was cost effective (as in a reasonable payback period), many were improvements that could improve the marketability of the homes and serve to attract more energy efficiency discerning prospective homeowners. However, the builders did express reservations on the associated checklists and added certifications. An increase in administrative time was observed with all builders. The checklists and certifications also inherently increase cost due to: adding services to the scope of work for various trades, such as HERS Rater, HVAC contractor; and increased material costs related to the checklists, especially the EPA Indoor airPLUS and EPA WaterSense® Efficient Hot Water Distribution requirement.
- Research Organization:
- Building Science Corporation, Somerville, MA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Building Technologies Office
- OSTI ID:
- 1220308
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/GO-102014-4482; 6897
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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