ZEBRAlliance research homes featured on DIY Network

At 8pm on August 26, the DIY Network series This New House will feature four side-by-side research homes constructed by the Zero Energy Building Research Alliance (ZEBRAlliance) in Knoxville, Tennessee.  Alliance members, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), built four 2,800 sq. ft. homes with identical designs and different building envelope systems to get real world data on the most cost effective technologies for zero energy homes.

Jeff Christian, the Director of the Buildings Technology Center at ORNL, spoke with Knoxville’s WBIR news team in April on the energy monitoring of the homes using simulated heat cycles, showers and even appliance use over the next two years.   When the study is complete, it will provide the building industry with concrete energy and cost data of how SIPs compare to advanced framing, EIFS, and cellulose insulation laced with phase change material.

For more information, visit the ZEBRAlliance website

University of Colorado receives grant for BioSIP demonstration project

Students at the University of Colorado Boulder College of Architecture and Planning will soon start construction on a demonstration project with BioSIPs, structural insulated panels (SIPs) cores of engineered molded fiber.  Professor Julee Herdt began experimenting with the material in the early 90s, and successfully manufactured BioSIPs for her own home.  The university’s Solar Decathlon team won the competition in 2005 using BioSIPs, prompting Herdt to found BioSIPs, Inc. to bring the technology to market.

In a recent interview with the University of Colorado newsletter, Inside CU, Herdt said, “We recently completed structural testing at CU’s engineering lab and BioSIPs have met or exceeded all SIP structural requirements.  The product that we currently have is almost ready for the marketplace. Our goal for five years from now is fiber-based products that can be completely exposed to the elements.”

Now, with grant funding from the Heimbold Foundation and the State of Colorado, Herdt and her team will construct an 18’x10’ test building in conjunction with Boulder’s ReSource, a local company offering salvaged building materials.

Read more at Green Building Elements

Energy Efficient Codes Coalition readies for 2012 IECC hearings

In a guest column in National Cities Weekly, Energy Efficient Codes Coalition (EECC) Executive Director William Fay appealed to city building officials to attend the International Code Council’s Final Action Hearings in October and vote for a comprehensive proposal to increase energy efficiency requirements in the 2012 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC).  After having portions of their proposed 30 Percent Solution adopted in the 2009 IECC, the EECC is once again pushing for building envelope improvements and other  measures to increase the efficiency of new homes by 30 percent.

Here’s a snippet from the article:

This October, city and county building code officials from across the nation will gather in Charlotte, N.C., to cast one of America’s most significant energy, environmental and climate policy votes of 2010. Odds are it’s a vote that you’ve never heard about; ironically, its outcome is in the hands of your city’s employees.

At stake is a comprehensive proposal developed by our broad-based organization — the Energy Efficiency Codes Coalition (EECC) — to boost the 2012 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) by more than 30 percent over its 2006 counterpart.

Cities in more than 40 states use the IECC to set baseline energy efficiency standards for residential construction.  It is also the only model residential energy code recognized in federal law and its adoption was linked to states’ receipt of State Energy Program funding under the $800 billion stimulus package enacted last year. The IECC is also the basis for legislation setting national efficiency improvement targets of 30 percent and 50 percent that has passed the full House of Representatives and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Read the full article at National Cities Weekly

SIP industry grows market share despite retreating housing market

Despite four years of declining U.S. housing starts, the structural insulated panel (SIP) industry has avoided the full force of the economic recession, according to a recent survey conducted by the Structural Insulated Panel Association (SIPA).  Results indicate that the industry experienced a 12 percent decrease in residential production volume in 2009, compared to a 28 percent drop in U.S. single family housing starts over the same time period.

2009 is the fifth consecutive year the industry has gained share in the residential market.  It is now estimated that the panelized building system accounts for between one and two percent of U.S. single family home starts.  SIPA Executive Director Bill Wachtler attributes much of the industry’s growth to the increasing popularity of green and energy-efficient homes.  SIPs are composed of insulating foam sandwiched between two structural facings, creating an effective thermal barrier that can save homeowners up to 50 percent on heating and cooling costs.

What you need to know about Energy Star 2011

Big changes are brewing in the Energy Star for Homes program.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a third version of the popular Energy Star for Homes standards to keep pace with more rigorous energy codes and the plethora of new energy-efficient technologies entering the marketplace. Energy Star 2011 is the EPA’s newest iteration of their elective standard for energy-efficient homes.

The new program requirements will go into effect on January 1, 2011 for single family homes in an abridged form labeled Version 2.5, in order to give the building industry adequate time to adjust to the new standards.  Version 2.5 is nearly identical to Energy Star 2011, with the exception that only the Air Sealing and Air Barrier sections of the new Thermal Enclosure Checklist (see below) will be enforced.  All other visual inspection checklists will be used but not enforced until 2012.

Ferrier Builders’ net-zero energy casita

SIPA member Ferrier Builders – Ferrier Custom Homes recently completed the Zero Energy Casita, a 1,015 sq. ft. net-zero energy home outside of Lake Worth, Texas.  Already the home is creating quite a buzz, and has been featured in EcoHome Magazine, Mother Earth News Radio and website, Natural Life magazine, Jetson Green, Builder Magazine and several local publications.

What makes this home so special?  Company President Don Ferrier has been constructing elegant and extremely efficient homes for over 25 years, and this project is no exception.

“This home’s uniqueness is a combination of cutting edge technologies and systems with some very intelligent and attractive reuse of 85- to 150-year-old building materials,” said Ferrier.

Siding for the home was reclaimed from an 85-year-old barn and the wood flooring came from a 100-year-old deconstructed chicken coop. The exposed timber beams are 150 years old and the homeowners selected several antique whiskey barrels for rain catchment.

Seattle company offers modern prefab home kits with SIPs

A recent article in the Seattle Times profiled a family that purchased a prefabricated kit home from PLACE Houses.  PLACE Houses is a relatively new partnership between PLACE Architects and DLH builders to offer four models of contemporary kit homes in the Pacific Northwest.

All the PLACE homes use structural insulated panels (SIPs) from Premier Building Systems as part of their mission to provide a home with low operating costs, low maintenance and fewer hassles.  Homeowners can customize their homes with different interior and exterior finishes—the Kirkland home above uses sustainable cork floors, formaldehyde free cabinetry and low-VOC paints.

Read more at the Seattle Times and Elle Decor

SIP cottage mixes historical design with sustainable goals

Former SIPA President and current board member Frank Baker is rebuilding his family’s cottage in Lakeside, Ohio after it was struck by a falling tree in June 2009.  The one-hundred year old cottage had been the beloved summer getaway of the Baker family for the past 15 years.  A thorough inspection determined that even the areas that didn’t take a direct hit were too compromised to be reused.

When the Bakers set out to rebuild the cottage, they wanted to use sustainable materials and an energy-efficient design strategy to reduce the environmental impact of the home.  As the founder of SIP manufacturer Insulspan and Riverbend Timber Framing in Blissfield, Michigan, Baker wanted to incorporate those products into his home.  SIPs were used for the above grade walls and roof to reduce air leakage and thermal bridging, while the exposed timber trusses add a historical feel to the home’s interior.

SIP manufacturers break down barriers with shared code report

On April 16, 2009, SIPA launched an effort to grow the structural insulated panel (SIP) industry by providing SIP manufacturers with a shared evaluation report through NTA, Inc.  Over a year later, the SIPA member manufacturers using the report are starting to reap the benefits of standardization.  On the production side, the manufacturers have a larger selection of materials and suppliers with lower cost than maintaining their own evaluation report.  On the demand side, they are seeing their products specified in more projects due to the streamlined specification.

The genesis of the SIPA evaluation report began with NTA, an inspection and certification agency based in Nappanee, Indiana.   NTA is one of the few product certification agencies certified under International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Guide 65 by the International Accreditation Service (IAS).  Under the ISO Guide 65 certification, NTA is responsible for developing the testing criteria, demonstrating code compliance and conducting ongoing quality assurance testing for the SIP manufacturers listed on the SIPA report.  According to NTA President David Tompos, this efficient approach enables SIP manufacturers to establish code compliance in just a few months.

USA Today Profiles SIP Home

USA Today editor Wendy Koch profiles an environmentally sustainable home every Friday in her column “Green House.”   On May 21, SIPA member Davis Frame held the spotlight with a  2,900 sq. ft. off the grid timber frame home in Sisters, Oregon.  The home uses salvaged lumber, energy-efficient structural insulated panels, low-flow plumbing fixtures, Energy Star appliances and a sizable 5.1 kW photovoltaic system.  It received a platinum certification from Earth Advantage, a nonprofit offering green home ratings in the Northwest.

Read the article at USA Today