My house uses 2 x 6 wood framing, which allows for a larger insulation cavity. To compensate for any thermal bridging, I specified rigid foam insulation on the exterior of the home.

Extra windows were added whenever possible to increase daylighting, with the result that, at any time of day, in any part of the house, you can read a book without needing to turn on a light.

I asked the builder to be especially careful during excavation of the site to preserve as much vegetation as possible. This will serve as a windbreak and will help to screen the sun in summertime.

Indirect fluorescent lighting is provided to both the living room and the TV room through careful use of energy-efficient commercial fixtures.

The region of Utah known as the Wasatch Front, which includes Salt Lake County, is experiencing a population boom, with an increase of more than 43,000 residents per year. That's one reason we at OES wanted to make extra efforts to raise the standard of energy efficiency in all new homes. It so happened that the start-up of the Utah ERH program and EEMs coincided with construction of my own home. So it made sense for me to include features that would qualify my home as Five Star (the highest rating) under the ERH program, and to include in the home's construction some of the green technologies that we hoped to add to Utah's ERH program. 

Thus, my home became the test case for the new program, testing the raters using their new home rating instruments, and testing our program's mortgage partnerships with local lending institutions. As a pilot to Utah's ERH, my new home would also serve as one model for a higher-efficiency home.

Next, I examined the plan with an eye to making energy efficiency upgrades that would take the home up to Five-Star status. I relied on my 20-year background administering DOE programs for retrofitting homes, schools, and hospitals. I also discussed the project privately with Dave Wilson at the Utah Energy Conservation Coalition and with Michael Johnson and Lynn Ballard of our staff. 

It didn't take long to come up with a list of several energy and environmental upgrades. The next step was to get bids from contractors. I got bids from three contractors for the base residence and separate bids from each contractor for the upgrades. Each bidder received a bid packet, and I met personally with each bidder to discuss the energy upgrades in detail. 

My final choice of a contractor was based not on cost, but on which builder would be most open to my ideas about upgrading the home. I chose Porter Compton Homes. Although this contractor was not experienced in doing energy improvements, he was willing to accommodate my desire to meet the Five-Star Home standards. The construction contract for the home totaled $173,000 with all the energy and conservation features. The special energy features that the contractor installed cost a little over $6,200; other energy and green measures that I installed myself added nearly $775 more (see Table 1). 

Summer heat can be a bigger problem than winter cold in much of Utah. To save as many existing trees as possible, including two trees on the south side of the lot, the building plan was flip-flopped on the lot before construction began. These mature trees now provide copious amounts of shade in summertime. Flip-flopping the design positioned the garage on the southeast corner of the lot, where it shades part of the home from late-morning summer sun. Although the north and south sides were of the home were reversed, the plan change had no effect on the passive solar design of the house other than to increase southern shading. 

When the subcontractor installed the fans for the three bathrooms, he used duct tape (which of course readily fails) to attach cheap plastic ductwork to the fan units, with the end of each pipe thrown loosely into the soffit area of the roof. The subcontractor saw nothing wrong with this "standard" approach. However, it did not meet my standards for durability and long-term moisture control. I had only a few days to correct the problem before the drywallers started their work. So I immediately began to fix the installation with insulated metal flex exhaust ductwork, aluminum tape, and screws to hold the ducts to the fans. I also added metal dampers to the ductwork to keep cold winter winds from backdrafting into the house. All but one of the fans we used were low-sone (the one fan that wasn't low-sone, which in the basement, is rather loud). 

The ventilation ductwork was just one of several energy upgrades that I chose to complete by myself. The contractor was very willing to provide me with credit against his total costs for my labor and for material furnished by me, and he allowed me a little time to complete each upgrade. Along with saving money, I also provided some on-site training for my contractor, who came away from my house with a lot of new experience under his belt. The other energy upgrades that I completed were:

• purchasing and siting an operable skylight oriented to maximize daylighting, minimize cooling load, and maximize heating gains in winter;
• installing six energy-efficient fluorescent fixtures with lamp and ballast upgrades;
• installing an indirect fluorescent lighting system for the living area; 
• insulating headers on theexterior walls;
• adding extra sealing and caulk;
• insulating the domestic hot water piping and tank; and 
• air sealing the furnace ducts with foil-backed tape. 

Unfortunately, fluorescent fixture upgrades are usually overlooked by residential builders--even in building for Five-Star construction. My upgrades to 4-ft fluorescent fixtures included T-8 lamps and electronic ballasts for indirect fluorescent lighting in the living rooms and for fixtures in the kitchen, laundry room, garage, and downstairs apartment. I found it cheaper to buy a standard fluorescent fixture with magnetic ballasts from a large home supply store, purchase electronic ballasts and T-8 lamps from a large commercial lighting warehouse, discard the new magnetic ballasts, and replace them with the electronic ones. The benefits of such upgraded fluorescent lighting in a residential setting is similar to the benefits experienced by progressive building managers in the commercial sector: The light is a more natural color; there are no flicker problems; there is a 20% lumens per watt increase over standard fluorescent fixtures; and the operating cost is about two-thirds that of a standard fluorescent fixture. 

Utah homes must be constructed for extreme cold and extreme hot weather. Salt Lake City's coldest day during my first year of occupancy was 8°F and the hottest day was 100°F with average annual heating degree-days of 5,765 and cooling degree-days of 1,047. Since April 1997, the total electrical and gas costs have averaged a modest $37 per month, including costs for the basement apartment. I estimate that my average annual savings compared to a home built only to meet the basic code is $475-$500.

Energy savings aside, what are my favorite upgrades? I am now converted to the use of low-e windows. The house design was upgraded to include more daylighting than is usual in most homes, and I like how this abundance of windows connects the indoors with the outdoors--with only a fraction of the heat loss from radiation that plagues standard windows. With the configuration of windows, there is no need for artificial light during the day throughout the home. I also enjoy the skylight, watching the progression of the sun throughout the year. Using information from the Sustainable by Design Web site at www.susdesign.com, I calculated an angle for the skylight that allows light and heat from the winter sun to enter the interior of the home, while the higher-angled summer sun is blocked out. After a hot summer day, the skylight is opened to release warm air from the house and pull in cool evening air. The set-back thermostat, a Honeywell Chronotherm III, helps me and my nephew, who lives in the basement apartment, to keep HVAC energy use down while making the house comfortable when our busy schedules find us at home.

I am also concerned about the rigid foam insulation under the stucco. Reports from the Pacific Northwest show moisture problems in this type of insulation, from both infiltration and condensation, that create dry rot. Although our climate here in Utah is dry, I have caulked all cracks around the exterior of the home in the hope of preventing similar problems. 

For another change, I would consider using a hot water boiler for both subfloor hydronic heating and domestic hot water, instead of my forced-air furnace, and I would supplement the heat for the subfloor coils with more exposure to the winter sun on the south side of the home.

The EEM that I got through Chase Mortgage (the first such loan processed by their Salt Lake office) really paid off, and it was as easy to get as a standard mortgage (the only extra requirement was a copy of my Home Energy Rating Certificate). I have refinanced twice since the home was built, and saved a total of $500 each time on closing costs--a special allowance from Chase Mortgage for homeowners whose homes are rated to Five Star. 

I am pleased with the overall energy savings and comfort in the new home and have felt a lot more self-reliant than my neighbors, given my much lower utility bills. Although the home was built and upgraded solely at my cost (no government subsidies or grants), it made me more confident of the recommendations and programs that our office provides for residences--they really wo

 Since the construction of my home, the Utah Energy Coalition and the Utah Office of Energy Services have worked hard to promote the ERH program. Thanks to their efforts, local builders now have some exposure to energy-efficient home construction. This means that citizens building Five-Star homes today have more contractors to choose from and can better rely on their contractors to meet the standards without a lot of coaching.

Michael Glenn is director of the Utah Office of Energy Services.

My house floor plan was purchased from a local plan shop and is certified to meet MEC 95. It is 2,550 ft2, which includes a basement with a finished one-bedroom apartment (not shown).

Table 1. Energy Upgrades and Green Features
Feature	Incremental Cost
1. 2 x 6 framed exterior walls with wet-spray cellulose insulation for better fill of wall cavities	$1,750
2. Airtight drywall approach (foaming and caulking) to reduce natural air leakage to less than .5 ACH	$30 *
3. Exterior foam sheathing for additional total wall insulation to R-26	$1,500
4. Two large deciduous trees on the south side of the home preserved for summer shading	No cost
5. Insulated and weatherstripped garage door	$189
6. TREX (a decking product made from recycled materials) used for decking material	$192 *
7. All hot-water lines insulated	$20 *
8. All wall and ceiling insulation made from recycled newspaper cellulose	No incremental cost
9. All garage walls insulated to R-13.	Included in # 1
10. 15%-20% reduction of site waste through reuse and recycling	No cost *
11. Low-e glass for all windows	$1,308
12. All stone for exterior stonework collected on site	No cost *
13. Sunglass tinting for west-facing windows	Included in # 11
14. Two large trees removed from building site were processed into landscaping chips on-site	$150 *
15. Compact fluorescent lamps used for all exterior lights on the front of the house and all interior lamps with on-time of more than 45 min/day	$70 *
16. Linoleum (made from natural ingredients with a 20-30-year life) used for flooring in lieu of vinyl in five rooms	No incremental cost *
17. Backyard fixture is photocell-controlled 34W high-pressure sodium (lighting output equivalent to 175 watts of incandescent light)	$58 *
18. Selected windows, cupboards, carpet, and light fixtures recycled from other projects	Savings of <$1,718>
19. Six 4-ft fluorescent fixtures upgraded to electronic ballasts and T-8 lamps	$148 *
20. Low-GPF toilets	No cost
21. Hallway night lights controlled by motion sensor	$28
22. Low-flow showerheads installed	$36 *
23. 26 in x 60 in skylight in main hallway for daylighting and ventilation, placed at an angle to the ceiling to prevent summer sun from entering house and to optimize winter solar gain	$650
24. Light-colored interior surfaces (carpet, linoleum, and walls) chosen for better light reflectivity and optimization of daylighting	No cost
25. Furnace room sealed to prevent backdrafting and migration of conditioned air to the furnace	Included in # 29
26. Hot-water tank includes exterior insulated jacket	$15 *
27. Air conditioner upgraded to 12 SEER	$550
28. Fireplace uses outside air for combustion	No cost
29. Furnace upgraded to 90% plus	$750
30. Area set aside near kitchen for recycling bins	No cost *
31. Temperature setback thermostat installed	Included in # 29
32. All attic hatches weatherstripped and insulated to R-38	$5 *
33. Crank timers installed on all bathroom fans	$28
34. All exterior doors foam core to R-10.	No cost
35. Dampers installed on bathroom exhaust ducts to prevent backdrafting	$35 *
36. Operable windows located to optimize high/low air flow for natural nighttime cooling	No cost
37. Six additional windows installed for daylighting	$330
38. All furnace ductwork checked and sealed to ensure minimum air leakage and maximum delivery of conditioned air	$15 *
39. Raised heel trusses used for better R-values and to prevent formation of ice dams	$645
40. New appliances purchased at lowest energy use per class and include a low-gpm horizontal-axis washer	$200 *
Total costs	$6,984
* I installed these measures myself; figures reflect material costs only.

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