Thursday, November 26, 2009
Oak
Ridge National Laboratory has announced plans to conduct a
series of deep energy retrofit research projects with the potential
to improve the energy efficiency in selected homes by as much as 30
to 50 percent.
|
| ORNL’s Jeff Christian points out the
insulating foam used to seal the attic in a deep retrofit
house. |
The projects will be supported by up to $1.4 million from the
Department of Energy's Building America Program, which has received
additional funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act.
Deep energy retrofits are renovations to existing structures
that use the latest in energy-efficient materials and technologies
and result in significant energy reductions. Jeff Christian, the
ORNL buildings technologies researcher heading the project, said at
least 10 homes across the region will be sought to participate. The
home selection process is yet to be finalized, and homeowners will
have to pay most of the costs-about $10 per square foot of living
space-and agree to allow their post-retrofit energy consumption to
be monitored. But Christian said costs can be recovered in as
little as 10 years, and energy bills potentially can be cut in
half. Most important, data from the project can provide huge
incentives for more deep retrofits across the region, he said.
"Deep retrofit is a fairly expensive upfront proposition, but
can be one of the best investments available to many homeowners,"
said Christian, who also is a board member of the East Tennessee
Quality Growth Council, which is helping lead the project. "We're
targeting homes that are 15-35 years old-homes that are ready for
new windows, heating and cooling units, appliances and maybe even
solar panels to push their homes closer to near-zero energy
consumption. Then we want to monitor these homes, analyze their
energy consumption and celebrate the progressive vision of this
region."
Christian said large efficiency gains via retrofitting were
proven feasible on a test house in Knoxville last year. ORNL
continues to collaborate with the Tennessee Valley Authority to
better quantify the impact of deep retrofits at the Campbell Creek
Energy Efficient Homes Research Project. The retrofits are part of
an energy-efficient systems approach that involves making the
building more air-tight; weatherizing the attic, crawl space and
windows; upgrading heating and cooling units, water heaters,
appliances and lighting; and installing solar panels.
"We're trying to look at what we can do with existing housing
stock to improve the efficiency and also how we can influence new
construction," said TVA researcher Bruce Rogers. "The deep retrofit
project will enhance our research findings with results from
additional homes in the Valley."
Christian explained many new two-story houses have a heat pump
for downstairs and another in the attic for upstairs. Much of the
cost of cooling conventional houses comes from the unit in the hot
attic operating very inefficiently. In a retrofit house, insulation
is removed from the attic floor. The roof and sides of the attic
are sealed with insulating foam, and a high-efficiency heat pump is
installed in the attic. The result: huge energy savings in heating
and cooling because the entire HVAC system is inside the insulation
layer.
Also, the system provides thermostats on both floors, but
instead of operating two separate heat pumps, a single smarter unit
directs heating or cooling where it's needed.
Christian said results of all of the retrofits will be available
online, showing detailed data on the costs and benefits of the
retrofits.
"This project connects our research to the surrounding
community," Christian said. "We're hoping that this demonstration
stimulates enough interest among members of the public that it will
become self-sustaining-growing the number of houses with deep
retrofits."
SOURCE