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Second, Third Near-Zero Energy Research Houses Constructed with SIPs in Loudon County, TN.
GIG HARBOR, Washington – Despite challenging weather conditions, construction recently began on two new SIP
research homes
in Loudon County, Tennessee. The homes were assembled by volunteers through a partnership between
SIPA, Habitat for Humanity, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the Department
of Energy Building America Program and a number of other building industry sponsors including FischerSIPs, Inc.,
Insulspan, Inc., Andersen Windows, Archbold Container Corp., Ashland Specialty Chemical, Design Basics, Falcon Foam,
the Metal Roofing Alliance, NOVA Chemicals, Rohm and Haas, Weyerhaeuser, American Geothermal, Big Frog, Nextek
Power Systems, and IBACOS, a Building America team.
Construction began in conjunction with a ceremony involving the first near net-zero energy home, built in Loudon
County in the fall of 2002 with panels provided by Pacemaker/Plymouth Foam. Sparking much public attention and media
coverage, the ceremony attracted a standing room only crowd for TVA’s introduction of their Green Power Switch
Generation Partners Program, which encourages homeowners or small businesses to install a solar or wind-power generation source. TVA, the
nation’s largest public utility, will pay homeowners and small businesses 15 cents for every kilowatt-hour they produce from homegrown wind
turbines or solar collectors. The owners of the first net-zero energy home anticipate receiving approximately $300 a year for the electricity
coming from the 48 solar panels on the roof of their home. They were pleasantly surprised to find that their August electric bill was negative
$0.87.
At the same time, the second and third near net-zero energy research homes were at very interesting stages of construction for
touring, showing the integral parts of how SIP homes are built. The SIP house with 6” wall and 10” roof panels, manufactured by
Insulspan, Inc. using 1 lb. density EPS foam, was left exposed showing roof and wall panels. The SIP home with 4-inch wall and 6-inch roof
panels, produced by FischerSIPs, Inc. with 2 lb. density EPS foam provided by Falcon Foam, was wrapped with weather barrier and had the
energy efficient Andersen windows installed. About 30 people, including several builders and architects, took an in depth tour of each
home on Tuesday, August 5th and another 35 turned out for a builders workshop held on August 20th, 2003.
ORNL will be monitoring these two new SIP houses for a one-year period. It is anticipated that they will save 60% compared to a
code compliant benchmark house. The potential has been illustrated by the first near net-zero energy home recording an average energy
cost of $0.87/ day from mid November 2002 until August 20, 2003. On the day of the recent Northeast Blackout the house actually
produced 8.4 kwh and, during the hour leading up to 4:11 PM, generated a kwh .The critical first step is a well-insulated airtight envelope,
which SIPs are providing. The three homes will continue to provide SIPA and the SIP industry with the research necessary to produce
even more energy efficient and affordable homes to all segments of the housing market. For more information about these projects,
please contact SIPA. |
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