the zero energy home project
TRANSCRIPT
The Zero Energy Home Project EDSGN100 Section 207
Team Number: 1 Submitted to 8/11/2015
Emails: Nick Lazzaro [email protected], Rob Kientzy [email protected], Emma Hedrick [email protected], Katelyn Schiffer [email protected]
The HLSK HomeBuilders from left to right, Row 1: Emma Hedrick and Katelyn Schiffer;
Row 2: Nick Lazzaro and Rob Kientzy
This is an isometric view of the northwest side of the zero energy home.
Index Executive Summary………………………………………………………………….…………...2
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….…………3
Mission Statement……………………………………………………………………….………..3
Customer Needs Analysis……………………………………………………………………...…3
External Research…………………………………………………………………….…………..4
Concept Generation………………………………………………………………….………...…5
Concept Selection…………………………………………………………………….…....…..…7
Cost Model………………………………………………………………………….…….….…...8
Design………………………………………………………………………………..………..…..8
Model……………………………………………………………………………………....…….10
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….…………14
References…………………………………………………………………………….………….15
1
Executive Summary:
The HLSK homebuilders have designed a home for under $140,000 that suits the needs
of a family of four while being a net zero energy home. This is a major step in the right direction
towards reducing the human race’s carbon footprint and creating a greener future. Through the
use of research on existing homes and through other techniques such as brainstorming or
patent searches, the team has designed a home that can achieve these goals and more.
2
Introduction:
Our team has decided on building an 875 sq. ft., single floor, ranchstyle home with four
windows and a sliding glass door lining the south facing wall and two windows lining the north
facing wall, which is the front of the house. The home contains two bedrooms, both 15’x10’, one
full bath that is 7.5’x10’, a washroom, which contains the washer/dryer combo, which is 7.5’x5’,
and an open floor plan with a kitchen and living area. There are fifteen 1200mm x 600mm solar
panels lining the south roof and a concrete slab in front of the sliding glass door. All of this
costing around $139,402.
Mission Statement:
To create a pleasing home for a family of four that can produce enough energy to run
itself, and put back into the grid.
Customer Needs Analysis:
In order to begin a zero energy home project, the team must have a customer for which
they wish to design. In this case, the HLSK HomeBuilders are building for a family of four with
a very broad list of statements. These customer statements tell the team what they have to
consider when creating the project, but first HLSK HomeBuilders converts statements to needs.
Needs that the customer imply include the following:
The home will produce its own energy usage over the course of the year and have excess
to charge a vehicle with some excess put into the grid.
The home needs to be solarpowered, and work in the Commonwealth.
The home uses green building principles, and has sustainability.
The home is a useful product that satisfies the customer without harming the community.
3
Consider the health and welfare of all affected by project.
The home needs environmentally friendly products that will use renewable resources.
The product's wastes and outputs are safe.
The product is practical and wanted.
List possible developments and make sketches.
The home will work for a family of four.
The home needs to save resources for the future.
Function and beauty are prominent throughout the house.
Using materials, construct a 3D model of the design.
The product is aesthetically pleasing.
The big picture in mind is the sustainability of the home. The customer cares deeply
about their carbon footprint and hopes to better the world by not contributing pollution and
toxins into the atmosphere. The only other concern lies in the function and image of the house.
The HLSK HomeBuilders must make the product sustainable, functional, and appealing to the
customer.
External Research:
The team researched existing zero energy homes in order to aid in the concept generation
phase and to be able to benchmark their ideas. Four homes were researched and the team
determined that the most important wall of the house was the south facing wall. This wall
provides much of the natural lighting, the passive solar heating and will be where the PV system
is for the house. The team heavily used this information in the design of the house and continued
their research with the cost calculator which allowed them to see how different layouts could
4
affect the cost of the house and its efficiency. This research led to the idea of having no
windows on the east and west walls. The reason for this is that even with triple lowe windows,
they can cause massive inefficiencies when heating and cooling. By not including the windows
and having just the 2x4 and 10” foam, the team was able to increase the size of the house and
stay under the $140,000 budget.
Concept Generation:
It is helpful to know that concept generation is a process that helps the brainstorming of a
project, which leads to the development of the project. There is a two step process that is
included with concept generation. The first step is to identify the problem, and the second step is
to make a diagram to help fix the problem.
The problem with a zero energy home project is to develop an energy efficient home
under $140,000 that can handle the drastic Pennsylvania weather. To help fix this problem, the
diagram will include the main three components that go into a zero energy home. These three
components are energy, water, and heating and cooling. The first main component to the home
was energy. The home must be able to store and accept energy somehow. This will enable it to
be a functional home. Not only does the home have to be able to store the energy, but it also has
to be able to convert it into usable energy, like heat and electricity. This usable energy can then
be applied to run the home, and also have the leftover energy be saved for later use.
The next component to a zero energy home is water. The home must have a way to get
water, but also have a way to get rid of waste water. This is an easy part to the project since all
that was involved was plumbing. However, the home also needed a way to heat the water for
showering and other everyday conveniences. The easiest way for this to take place is by using
5
heat and electricity. The heat and electricity was also in easy decision, but the hard part was
trying to figure out how to create it. Creating it is connected to the heating and cooling of the
house. For this, a zero energy home needs to have efficient systems installed. One system used
was the concrete slab. This was placed by a big sliding glass door. Because of the slabs
placement, it could get heated by the sun in the winter to produce heat for the home. Another
system used was solar panels. Solar panels created the electricity used to run the home, but also
heat the water for that shower. The last system used was an overhang that was placed over the
windows. For HLSK, they used a roof to create that overhang. An overhang provides a shadow
to keep the sun from coming in the summer, which keeps the house cool, while allowing sun to
come in the winter to help keep the house nice and cozy.
All three of these components are used to produce energy apply that energy to run the
home. They all also save energy by being energy efficient. To go back to the problem of the
home being under $140,000, the HLSK HomeBuilders used the right systems to maintain under
that budget, while proving to be sustainable even in the harsh conditions that Pennsylvania can
have.
Concept generation diagram
6
Concept Selection:
Our team used concept selection in making various decisions for our home, like the home
size, to have a 2car, 1car, or no garage, and which brand of clothes washer/dryer to purchase.
Concept scoring matrix for washer
For the washer/dryer combo, our team was deciding between three brands ( LG, GE,
Whirlpool). The selection criteria consisted of whether it stayed within the budget, how long it
takes to payback, how much energy it uses, and how much water it uses. Each was rated based
off of importance to accomplishing the ultimate goals. Budget had 20%, payback time had 25%,
energy use had 30%, and water use has 25%. LG scored the highest with a total score of 4 while
GE had 2.65 and Whirlpool had 2.05.
7
Cost Model:
The ZEH Calculator
The house comes in at $237 under budget and is also a very livable 875 sq. ft. while
meeting all the needs of a family of four. Most of the energy costs come in the form of major
appliances with a close second being miscellaneous electric loads. Having less windows has
helped the cost come in under budget and careful selection of appliances all aid in the team’s
goal.
Design:
In this model there are many features that allow the home to produce all of its own
energy. To start, solar panels are placed on the south facing roof at an angle of 33.6 degrees.
This allows for optimal sun exposure for the Philadelphia area. Secondly, the south facing wall
has four triple low e windows, which are very efficient, and a sliding glass door. These not only
let light into the house, but also heat in the winter. Another great feature of the home is the two
8
foot overhangs located on either sides of the roof. These create shade from the sun when it is
high in the summer while still having exposure when it is low in the winter. One last aspect of
the home is it is a ranch style home. These are much easier to heat due to the fact that heat rises
and it would have no where else to go besides the first floor with proper insulation. The
insulation in the walls is R60, an above average value for high efficiency.
Model:
9
Isometric view (roof)
10
Top view
11
Front view
12
Isometric view (no roof)
13
Conclusion:
The resulting zero energy home meets all of the needs acquired from the customer
statements. The house meets the $140,000 budget while providing for the needs of a family of
four. The house produces its own power over the course of the year through its PV system while
also having enough to charge an electric car and put excess into the grid. The house is both
effective and aesthetically pleasing using an open floor plan and a modern style. This house
helps to serve as a beacon towards a greener future. It helps prove that sustainability can in fact
be achieved while also proving that to be sustainable you do not have to live in a mud hut. With
energy consumption at an all time high and the global warming crisis drawing closer, a change
needs to occur and a great start is with home like this.
14
References:
Charlotte Vermont house. (2015). Retrieved August 11, 2015, from Whole Building
Design Guide website: http://www.wbdg.org/references/cs_ch.php
Doe zero energy home™. (2015, May). Retrieved August 11, 2015, from U.S.
Department of Energy website: http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2015/06/
f22/DOE_ZEH_JohnHubert_092014.pdf
Doe zero energy ready home™. (2015, May). Retrieved August 11, 2015, from
Energy.gov website: http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2015/06/f22/
DOE_ZEH_Caldwell_Johnson_Afford_092014.pdf
First solar pv modules. (2015). Retrieved August 11, 2015, from First Solar
website: http://www.firstsolar.com/Home/TechnologiesandCapabilities/
PVModules
U.S. Department of Energy. (2011, 12 12). Net zero house Charlotte, VT.
Retrieved August 11, 2015, from Zero Energy Buildings website:
http://zeb.buildinggreen.com/overview.cfm?projectid=1019
15