Executive Summary

Background and Scope

This report covers the 6th budget period (April 1, 2004 - March 31, 2005) and includes significant material from the first five budget period annual reports (September 1, 1999 - March 31, 2004) for a comprehensive account of the Building America Industrialized Housing Partnership (BAIHP) work to date.

The BAIHP team is one of five Building America teams competitively funded by the US Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy-Building Technologies program. BAIHP began work on September 1, 1999 with a focus on improving energy efficiency, durability, and indoor air quality of new industrialized housing.

Industrialized housing includes manufactured housing (built to the HUD code), modular housing (factory built housing modules assembled on site), production housing (site built housing produced in a systematic manner). Figure E-1 shows 2004 U.S. home production by sector.

Figure E-1 2004 census data shows 1.9 million housing starts (site built) and placements (manufactured). Note: total exceeds 100% due to disagreement among sources on total starts. Sources of Housing Starts Statistics: -Multi Family: http://www.census.gov/const/startsan.pdf -Site Built, Modular: http://www.census.gov/const/C25Ann/sftotalconstmethod.pdf -Manufactured Housing Placements: http://www.census.gov/const/mhs/mhstabplcmnt.pdf

BAIHP’s work during the 6th budget period included:

• Technical Assistance
• Field and Laboratory Research
• Training and Education
• Collaborations
• Project Management

BAIHP Technical Assistance

The BAIHP team provided technical assistance to HUD Code Home manufactures, modular home manufacturers, and site builders including Habitat for Humanity International and its affiliates throughout the nation. Site builders receiving technical assistance are located primarily North and Central Florida.

BAIHP also collaborates with suppliers and non-profit organizations See Table E-1 for a list of BAIHP Industry Partners.

Systems engineering forms the core of the Building America approach. BAIHP industry partners evaluate the integration of their construction standards and consider improvements that enhance energy efficiency, durability, indoor air quality, and health.

In providing technical assistance BAIHP generally recommends improving equipment efficiency and reducing conditioning loads while taking durability and health issues into consideration. Some examples include:

Improving Equipment Efficiency

• High efficiency, correctly sized heating and cooling equipment
• Water heating efficiency
• Duct system design and construction
• Appliances
• Lighting efficiency

Reducing Conditioning Loads

• Orientation, shading, and window characteristics
• Surface heat gain (roof finish)
• Thermal, moisture, and air barrier envelope

Durability and Health Issues Considered

• Fresh air ventilation
• Moisture control and dehumidification
• Pressure balance and return air flow
• Materials selection
• Maintenance

It is the combination of these improvements that enables the BAIHP industry partners to achieve high performance homes like those documented in Table E-2, Homes Built in Partnership with BAIHP.

BAIHP tracks Industry Partners production in 4 categories:

• Category A: Homes meeting the Building America program goal of saving at least 30% of whole house energy use compared to the 2005 Building America benchmark, incorporating fresh air ventilation, and including superior durability and health features. HERS Score results are greater than 88.6.
• Category B: Homes meeting the EPA Energy Star criteria for saving 30% of heating, cooling, and water heating energy use.
• Category C: Homes with energy efficiency improvements falling slightly short of the EPA Energy Star criteria for saving 30% of heating, cooling, and water heating energy use. HERS score of approximately 85. Also homes designed and built to this level or higher but not specifically rated and tested by BAIHP.
• Category D: Manufactured homes built with substantially leak free ducts (Qn OUT £ 0.03). This category may include some Category B and C homes.

Since inception, BAIHP has assisted home builders and manufacturers to construct:

• 15,656 homes built to Energy Star level or better (Category A and B, Table E-2)
• 13,067 homes built 30% to 50% better than the HUD code - approx 5% below Energy Star (Category C, Table E-2)
• ~79,300 manufactured homes with airtight duct systems (Category D, Table E-2)

These homes are estimated to save over $14 million annually in reduced energy bills for their owners.

BAIHP Research

BAIHP’s ongoing research strives to identify the strategies and technologies that will enable Industry Partners to reach the Department of Energy’s 2010 goals for energy savings. By systematically evaluating the savings potential technologies and construction techniques, research provides the home building industry with vital information needed to meet this challenge. BAIHP Research presented here is grouped into three categories: Manufactured Housing Research, Site Built Housing Research, and Field and Laboratory Building Science Research.

Manufactured Housing Research

BAIHP has found that using the systems engineering approach to help Industry Partners solve building science related problems develops a strong working relationship and increases the likelihood of the Partner incorporating concepts central to achieving Building America goals such as sealed and tested ducts, right sizing air conditioning, and moisture management. BAIHP’s work with the manufactured housing industry illustrates this principal.

BAIHP conducted research for manufactured homes in both field and laboratory which is reported in the following summaries:

• Building Science and Moisture Problems in Manufactured Housing
• BAIHP Field Visits to Moisture Problem Homes
• Manufacturers Participating in Building Science Research
• Side By Side Study Of Energy Use And Moisture Control Comparing Standard Split System Air Conditioning And A Coleman® Prototype Heat Pump, Bossier City, LA
• WSU Energy House
• Zero Energy Manufactured Home (ZEMH)
• Manufactured Housing Indoor Air Quality Study
• Manufactured Housing Laboratory – Ventilation Studies
• Manufactured Housing Energy Use Study, North Carolina A&T
• Portable Classrooms
• Duct Testing Data from Manufactured Housing Factory Visits
• Crawl Space Moisture Research for HUD Code Homes

Site Built Housing Research

Industry Partners rise above “business as usual” production to strive toward the Building America program goals of saving 40% of total energy use while improving durability, indoor air quality, and comfort. BAIHP assists the builders, much as described in Section II, Technical Assistance, but goes on to instrument and collect relevant data to validate the approach.

BAIHP conducted research for site built housing which is reported in the following summaries:

• Building America Prototype, Cambridge Homes
• Unvented Attic Study, Rey Homes
• Sharpless Construction, Hoak Residence Energy and Moisture Studies
• Eastern Dakota Housing Alliance (EDHA), Applegren Construction
• Zero Energy Affordable Housing, ORNL and Loudon County Habitat for Humanity
• Apartment Ventilation and Humidity Study, Sandspur Housing
• Hurricane Retrofit Study

Field and Laboratory Building Science Research

BAIHP builds on a 20 year foundation of basic building science research at the Florida Solar Energy Center. This research generally focuses on issues important in hot-humid climates similar to Florida’s but is relevant to our understanding of building science concepts manifest in all climatic regions. BAIHP has conducted field and laboratory building science research in these areas:

• Air Handler Air Tightness Study
• Air Conditioning Condenser Fan Efficiency
• Reflective Roofing Research
• Return Air Pathway Study
• Heat Pump Water Heater Evaluation
• NightCool - Building Integrated Cooling System

BAIHP Training and Education Summary

BAIHP research is communicated to public and industry audiences through the BAIHP web page, conference papers and presentations, and various media coverage. Training events are listed in reverse chronological order, divided by budget period.

BAIHP has presented research findings and Building America systems engineering concept to a variety of audiences including architects, builders, HUD Code home manufacturers, and housing decision makers; construction trades and realtors; attendees at building science conferences; portable classroom producers and decision makers; energy raters and green home certifiers, and college students in academic venues.

The BAIHP web page offers access to any interested parties with presentation of case studies, research, and publications.

BAIHP Collaboration

BAIHP researchers collaborate with a variety of entities in the homebuilding industry and the energy efficiency and research realm including DOE National Labs, Code and Standards Bodies, and Industry/Professional Organizations, Universities, and Product Suppliers.

BAIHP Project Management

BAIHP project management includes participating in Building America program reviews/meetings and preparing monthly and yearly reports for project activities as well as managing all project tasks (see Sections 1-6) and subcontracts. In the 5 th Budget Period, BAIHP also held a Project Review Meeting at FSEC in January 2004 to give interested parties an opportunity to give feedback to the project management team. In the 6 th Budget Period, BAIHP began participating in DOE’s Peer Review process which was completed during the 7 th budget period.

Project Contact