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Energy Value Housing Award

homedesign | Posted in Energy, Heating & Insulation on November 26, 2009 08:12am

I was heading over to this website to vote for my favorite builder from North Carolina….
http://www.nahbrc.com/evha/voting.aspx
Of course I took a look at the other entrants and almost concluded that #20 was indeed the best “Value”.
Then I saw a not-so-impressive looking house with some unbelievable specs.
Take a look at entry #5 ….
How the heck did they do that for $97/sf?
The blower door test and the HERS Index are off the charts.
I know the aesthetics could be improved and that the inside finish is likely sparse… but holy cow … that’s almost affordable Zero Energy.

 

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  1. homedesign | Nov 26, 2009 08:28pm | #1

    I am starting to think that entry #5 must be a charity project with donated materials and labor... If so it should have been noted? right?

    1. homedesign | Nov 26, 2009 08:38pm | #2

      Opps... I missed #14.... $49/ sf for Zero Energy?

      Something is out of wack on these prices.

      Does that price include the PV?

      1. homedesign | Nov 26, 2009 10:14pm | #3

        I did find this very similar house without pv.....$55/sf

        http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/homes/modest-new-house-proves-green-doesnt-mean-expensive

        so it does look like labor is free and cost of pv may be included in the $97/sf

        Since donated labor has skewed the claims.... I am going to vote for #20

        Kudos to ShelterNerd

         

        Edited 11/26/2009 2:27 pm by homedesign

        1. frammer52 | Nov 27, 2009 04:07am | #4

          I think without seeing interior finishs I can see how it is possible. 

        2. homedesign | Nov 29, 2009 08:17pm | #11

          Since donated labor has skewed the claims.... I am going to vote for #20

          Actually I have not voted yet...

          The big problem with this contest is that the winner will likely be voted according to friends and campaigning.

           

          1. Clewless1 | Nov 29, 2009 09:19pm | #13

            I see a hint that there is judging and then there is the people's choice awards. Not sure about the details and differences (in terms of awards). The judging uses the applications, I assume, and a panel of 'experts' that review. The results? Not sure.

            Can't tell you who I voted for ... it won't let me back in to see the list. Once voted, it locks you out of even viewing the list it looks like.

          2. homedesign | Nov 29, 2009 10:34pm | #14

            Here is another link...to other categories

            http://www.nahbrc.com/evha/winners.html

            I guess there is more than just peoples choice awards.

            Edited 11/29/2009 2:35 pm by homedesign

  2. Clewless1 | Nov 29, 2009 06:01pm | #5

    Some of those are a joke, IMO. Large houses that don't address orientation. Let's build a large house and make up for our inability to design efficiently by installing a PV system on the roof. Sorry for the cynical point of view. I'm surprised some of these are even in the running. ... I haven't finished looking, though. More later maybe.

  3. Clewless1 | Nov 29, 2009 06:11pm | #6

    I continue to be very skeptical about this award thing. The Texas house #8 ... custom house at $288/sf ... wow ... and with no heating or cooling system to speak of? Cooling is via the operable skylight?? In Texas?

    I, too question the construction costs ... were there guidelines for this? Is this lot and contracted construction? What if you put sweat equity into it? Then what is the cost?

    1. homedesign | Nov 29, 2009 09:17pm | #12

      The Texas house #8 ... custom house at $288/sf ... wow ... and with no heating or cooling system to speak of? Cooling is via the operable skylight?? In Texas?

      Yep.. I noticed that too.

      I'm gonna have to get one of those cooling skylights.

      I can imagine .. no heating load .. but no cooling!

       

  4. Clewless1 | Nov 29, 2009 06:30pm | #7

    An how do you get $101/sf using a geothermal heat pump? Not saying it couldn't happen ... but ... I'm still skeptical.

    They should provide for voting in each category rather than having one vote for all, IMO.

    First rule of mine in energy efficiency ... build small. Some of these entries ... and these are the finalists, remember, are quite large (I'm being polite, now).

    This EVHA idea is a GREAT idea ... I think they executed it poorly, however. This has been going on since '96?! Wow ... I am not very impressed. I'd like to see plan and orientation to be able to better judge a design. Also, a handfull of sometimes cryptical specs doesn't really give me much to go on in my vote.

    I've a feeling people (e.g. contractors, designers) use this to boost their marketability with little regard to really good design and/or construction.

    I'll be interested to explore this more to find out more about what it is all about. How do you get multiple 'gold' awards in one category. Are we just handing out awards to everyone or most of the entrants??

    1. Clewless1 | Nov 29, 2009 08:02pm | #10

      So ... have been reading more about the awards a little. I'd like a chance to vote on the best in each category. They give you 20 to vote on in all categories (both by category and climate) ... which means there will be 15 winners of the 20 available to vote on. hmmm

      But now I see ... there is voting ... and judging?? Not sure how that works. People's choice awards vs. professional judges (i.e. skilled). I obviously have a lot to learn about this program ... somehow it is also linked to the NAHB ... apparently they get their funding support through DOE.

      Generally, though, I consider this a marketing ploy geared towards raising awareness in general and not necessarily to 'strut the best' in the industry as may be construed by the casual person. Generally, IMO, the houses submitted are far from being the best examples of energy efficient designs/constructions overall. While good and nice and certainly representative of things that can be accomplished by typical builders out there, they are certainly (from the little I can see in their limited profiles), far from being e.g. in the top percentile of good energy efficient designs.

  5. Clewless1 | Nov 29, 2009 06:47pm | #8

    This is a DOE sponsored activity. I strongly think that this kind of thing, indeed raises the awareness of energy and building. It is very important to do that.

    That being said, I hope that people don't walk away from this awards thinking the entrants are the cream of the crop kind of designs/constructions. IMO this is like the local town stock car race as a precursor to the big nationally known races. Everyone can enter and have fun, but the overall quality is still local mediocre.

    I would hope that the EVHA can raise the bar on this activity. I get the feeling that it is largely using the DOE funding in less than an optimum manner. While it is really a good idea, I think they could do a lot better. Let's kick it up a notch ... as Emeril would say.

    1. homedesign | Nov 29, 2009 07:59pm | #9

      Rant on Clewless One

      I agree with everything you have said.

      Start with #1 what do you think?

      It is multifamily....that's kinda green

      Nothing special about design or orientation or shading....Specs are not impressive

      All ducts in conditioned space is good...lighting might be good

      No HERS rating...how did this one make finals? is it the certifications?

      do certifications mean anything about energy Value?

       

  6. Clewless1 | Dec 05, 2009 02:46pm | #15

    Wow ... did you see that one by Urbane Homes in KY that priced out at $36/sqft? Makes me wonder what the cost is about. I guess they have to provide some documentation, but in the description, that doesn't come out. Maybe it's a typo?

    Then there is the 'production' house in Richmond, VA that looks like it is a renovation of industrial property ... not sure how that fits into the 'production' category.

    Some of the statements are so generalized that I could be considered a green builder supporter by recycling my office paper.

    I need to restate for other readers, I think the EVHA concept is very good and what the industry needs. I tend to view things like this very critically. I think awards should be taken very seriously and that maybe this information (and possibly the program itself) should take it up a notch. They've been doing this a lot of years now and if they really want to do a service of reaching out to the public and handing out awards, and promoting this concept, they need to provide more information and avoid the general glitz statements that tend to come across a little as a bit of a cliche's of marketing.

    1. User avater
      shelternerd | Dec 11, 2009 10:39pm | #16

      Hi Y'all from NC. And thanks
      Hi Y'all from NC. And thanks to any who voted for #20. there is a whole section on it at GBA http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/green-homes

      Here's what I think I know about the EVHA awards:

      1 - It's administered by NAHB Research Center for DOE and is associated with the Builders Challenge program which is aimed at builders who consistently hit below HERS 70 and provide some additional indoor air quality and combustion safety criteria.

      2 - The application process is more arduous than you can believe. They ask for a huge amount of documentation, not just on the home but also on the builder, your companies business practices, green building outreach, training, and all sorts of "are you working to promote and educate about high performance building" questions, the house is only a part of it.

      3 - There are a whole host of awards. There are regional competitions for different climate regions, multi-family and affordable and custom and there are two awards in each category, gold and silver. There also is an EVHA "Builder of the Year" category. All of those are judged by a team of industry luminaries.

      4 - In addition there is the "Peoples Choice Award" where they put up a page of all the award winners and ask us to e-mail out to our friends and ask them to vote for us to help spread the word about the existence of this program. This is a pretty esoteric contest and it doesn't really get a lot of attention outside of the building science and affordable comfort crowd. Because this award focuses on innovations that improve energy performance at a modest cost there are not the type of glittery show-house entries that make for glossy magazine spreads so they have to do some guerrilla marketing to draw attention to it.

      5 - The application process is so grueling that they probably don't get as many entries as they would if it were not so arduous so the field is limited to builders who are super competitive and passionate about the concept of Energy and Value. So it's a big deal to win if only because the other players in the game are really, really into it. But it's more about the builders and their systems than about the houses. When they called to tell me that I was a finalist it brought tears to my eyes. I had put so much work into putting the entry together, and I really like the house we put in for it.

      6 - The prices are just whatever we want to tell them. I submitted a copy of the original signed contract and the final bill but there was no mandate that I had to do it that way. The house I put in was certified to NAHB green, local GHBT green, Energy Star, Builders Challenge and is on track to hit LEED gold if we can just straighten out all the documentation that is required for that (waiting on written documentation of the HVAC superheat and supercooling refrigerant charge tests) We're also setting up sensors to sub-meter the electrical usage of the whole house, the HVAC compressor, the HVAC air handler, the dryer, solar water pumps, radiant floor pumps, natural gas usage, and aggregated plug loads just because I want to do it to help me build a better house next time.

      7 - It helps to be a bit obsessive and compulsive to do this contest. And I think it took me over a week to compile all the documentation and I wouldn't have been able to pull it off if I wasn't already documenting so much for all those other certifications.

      8 - It helps that my wife has two careers and is out of the house a lot and that we only have one, very independent, kid at home so I can sit at my computer and obsess about refrigerant load documentation all I want. Beth's promised to go to Las Vegas on January 20th for the award ceremony which is a big deal too because she really hates Vegas and the International Builders Show.

      9 - Voting is open until January 12th and it's one vote per computer. Please vote for me on as many computers as you can. I really want to win this one.

      10 - The NAHB National Green Building Conference is in Raleigh NC this year and I'm hoping to find a way to get this house on their house tour so come on out to the Conference and check it out for yourselves. I think my band will be playing for the opening reception the night of the house tour and we'll be putting out some killer local pork barbeque and micro-brew since Texas had the green conference last year and served us all amazing brisket with some kind of lame lite beer and we are competitive when it comes to cooking and brewing as well.

      1. Clewless1 | Dec 12, 2009 08:48am | #17

        One problem is that after you vote, you can't go back and e.g. see "#20" to see which one you are referring to. Went to the other link you provided ... not sure which is yours. Also, now I can't recall which one I voted for in the first place, so I'm flying blind.

        1. User avater
          shelternerd | Dec 13, 2009 12:04am | #18

          Mine is the NC home with five certifications at GBA http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/green-homes

          There are more images at http://www.ChandlerDesignBuild.com as well as a blog post about the outrageous house were trying to get a CO on next week with the poplar bark siding and radiant floor tiled w tumbled travertine set in a heart pine basket weave and crazy articulated steel beams and sixty apricus tube collectors on the roof. A bit excessive for a certified green and Energy Star project but it kept us busy and happy when a lot of others were sucking air so I'll take it and smile.

          Thanks for voting for me. I got asked to help mentor the Appalachian State onstruction management team on their contest entry for the IBS so that should be a gas. It's a sweet program up there and I've really enjoyed the kids I've met through the green building classes that are studying there. Lots of modifying bicycles to run on weedwacker motors and odd ball electric vehicles being built up there.

        2. User avater
          shelternerd | Dec 13, 2009 12:07am | #19

          Mine is the NC home with five certifications at GBA http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/green-homes

          There are more images at http://www.ChandlerDesignBuild.com as well as a blog post about the outrageous house were trying to get a CO on next week with the poplar bark siding and radiant floor tiled w tumbled travertine set in a heart pine basket weave and crazy articulated steel beams and sixty apricus tube collectors on the roof. A bit excessive for a certified green and Energy Star project but it kept us busy and happy when a lot of others were sucking air so I'll take it and smile.

          Thanks for voting for me. I got asked to help mentor the Appalachian State onstruction management team on their contest entry for the IBS so that should be a gas. It's a sweet program up there and I've really enjoyed the kids I've met through the green building classes that are studying there. Lots of modifying bicycles to run on weedwacker motors and odd ball electric vehicles being built up there.

    2. User avater
      shelternerd | Dec 17, 2009 01:13am | #20

      Some of these guys must be quoting what it cost them to build the stuff without their labor or overhead and with a lot of donated materials i guess, I quoted what I charged the customer to build it with no subsidies from any suppliers, jsut hustling good prices as I usually do and charging the price that the market will bear for my work. So my prices look a lot higher than those others.

      I still think it's a great program and I assume the judges are savvy enough to see what the real deal is on the pricing given the reams of information we are required to send on the CD (I did send mine in on a re-usable USB drive)

      M

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