Custom Residence, Civano North Ridge, Tucson Arizona
Arizona Daily Star Article-From ground up, new home is model of energy efficiency....By Dan Sorenson Arizona Daily Star
At first glance, there's nothing about this new 2,000-square-foot house in Civano, other than a rooftop solar panel, to suggest it's unusual. But an occupant would get the picture, in vivid green, when the laughable utility bills arrived.
The ultra-energy-efficient home uses state-of-the-art materials and techniques to cut energy consumption to one-fifth that of a new home built to current building codes, according to Richard Barna, director of building sciences and green building for Pepper Viner Homes.
Known as the Pepper Viner/BASF High-Performance Home, it is a collaboration between the local home builder and BASF, an international chemical and building materials firm. It combines state-of-the-art insulation, solar water and space heating, building materials that don't give off noxious gases, a vapor barrier under the slab, recycled tile, and graywater and rainwater conservation systems.
The house on Tucson's southeast side will be open for a public tour at Civano North Ridge today. But many of the features are not readily apparent.
The house's SIPS (Structural Insulated Panels) modular-wall construction system virtually eliminates leaks and attains a near R-30 insulation rating, according to Barna. The modular system uses large sections of polystyrene sandwiched between sustainable wafer board for exterior walls. Window and door openings are pre-cut at the factory to builder specifications. But Barna said the SIPS walls look like ordinary 2x6 stud walls.
One of the two new types of BASF foam insulation used in the demonstration house may soon offer a solution for old desert houses with inadequate roof insulation, Barna said.
The spray-on insulation has a hard surface — hard enough to walk upon — and a soft open-cell interior. So it could be sprayed on top of an old flat roof, instead of removing the old roof and installing four or six inches of new insulation between the joists or rafters. It would save the cost of removing and replacing the old roof, and provide better insulation, Barna said. It is not yet available locally.
The house also uses all nontoxic materials — adhesives, sealants and wood composites for cabinets — and will meet the new federal interior air standards.
The floors are all polished and dyed concrete. The concrete uses roughly twice the normal amount of fly ash, a recycled material used to replace cement in concrete.
Outside the house the landscaping uses a rainwater collection system hooked up to an automatic watering system that is tied into a weather network that bases watering times and amounts on weather conditions. Trees are watered using an active graywater system that pumps water from drains and sinks to a network of pipes two to three feet underground, to deep-water trees. The graywater isn't collected and held, eliminating storage problems, but is used as soon as it is detected in the system, Barna said.
Bill Viner of Pepper Viner said some of the technologies and building materials are already in use, and that he expects more will be in demand, and supplied, when the housing industry picks up after the recession.
"Not only will there be greater demand, but I think the builders will do it because it's the right thing to do," Viner said.
He wouldn't estimate the house's value, or what it would cost to reproduce it, but he said a similar floor plan house in Civano North Ridge development sells for $299,900.
And he said other houses in the development already use some of the methods to meet a standard based on heating and cooling costs-savings of at least 50 percent of that of a conventional home.
Viner said the demonstration home is under consideration for the top (platinum) rating in the national green building certification system, LEED. And he said it was already awarded the Pima County certification system's top (emerald) rating.
Custom Residence, Civano North Ridge, Tucson Arizona
Arizona Daily Star Article-From ground up, new home is model of energy efficiency....By Dan Sorenson Arizona Daily Star
At first glance, there's nothing about this new 2,000-square-foot house in Civano, other than a rooftop solar panel, to suggest it's unusual. But an occupant would get the picture, in vivid green, when the laughable utility bills arrived.
The ultra-energy-efficient home uses state-of-the-art materials and techniques to cut energy consumption to one-fifth that of a new home built to current building codes, according to Richard Barna, director of building sciences and green building for Pepper Viner Homes.
Known as the Pepper Viner/BASF High-Performance Home, it is a collaboration between the local home builder and BASF, an international chemical and building materials firm. It combines state-of-the-art insulation, solar water and space heating, building materials that don't give off noxious gases, a vapor barrier under the slab, recycled tile, and graywater and rainwater conservation systems.
The house on Tucson's southeast side will be open for a public tour at Civano North Ridge today. But many of the features are not readily apparent.
The house's SIPS (Structural Insulated Panels) modular-wall construction system virtually eliminates leaks and attains a near R-30 insulation rating, according to Barna. The modular system uses large sections of polystyrene sandwiched between sustainable wafer board for exterior walls. Window and door openings are pre-cut at the factory to builder specifications. But Barna said the SIPS walls look like ordinary 2x6 stud walls.
One of the two new types of BASF foam insulation used in the demonstration house may soon offer a solution for old desert houses with inadequate roof insulation, Barna said.
The spray-on insulation has a hard surface — hard enough to walk upon — and a soft open-cell interior. So it could be sprayed on top of an old flat roof, instead of removing the old roof and installing four or six inches of new insulation between the joists or rafters. It would save the cost of removing and replacing the old roof, and provide better insulation, Barna said. It is not yet available locally.
The house also uses all nontoxic materials — adhesives, sealants and wood composites for cabinets — and will meet the new federal interior air standards.
The floors are all polished and dyed concrete. The concrete uses roughly twice the normal amount of fly ash, a recycled material used to replace cement in concrete.
Outside the house the landscaping uses a rainwater collection system hooked up to an automatic watering system that is tied into a weather network that bases watering times and amounts on weather conditions. Trees are watered using an active graywater system that pumps water from drains and sinks to a network of pipes two to three feet underground, to deep-water trees. The graywater isn't collected and held, eliminating storage problems, but is used as soon as it is detected in the system, Barna said.
Bill Viner of Pepper Viner said some of the technologies and building materials are already in use, and that he expects more will be in demand, and supplied, when the housing industry picks up after the recession.
"Not only will there be greater demand, but I think the builders will do it because it's the right thing to do," Viner said.
He wouldn't estimate the house's value, or what it would cost to reproduce it, but he said a similar floor plan house in Civano North Ridge development sells for $299,900.
And he said other houses in the development already use some of the methods to meet a standard based on heating and cooling costs-savings of at least 50 percent of that of a conventional home.
Viner said the demonstration home is under consideration for the top (platinum) rating in the national green building certification system, LEED. And he said it was already awarded the Pima County certification system's top (emerald) rating.