NY-08-028 — Performance Results from a Cold Climate Case Study forAffordable Zero Energy Homes

The design of this 1280 square foot, 3-bedroom Denver zero energy home (ZEH) carefully combines envelope efficiency, efficient equipment, appliances and lighting, a photovoltaic (PV) system, and passive and active solar thermal features to exceed the net zero energy goal. In January, 2006 a data acquisition system was installed in the home to monitor its performance over the course of a year. This paper presents full year of energy performance data on the home.

From April 2006 through March 2007 the homeÃ¢Â€Â™s 4kW PV system produced 5127 kWh of AC electricity. Only 3585 kWh of electricity and 57 therms of natural gas were used in the home during this period. On a source energy basis, the home produced 24% more energy than it used. The energy used for space heating, water heating, and lighting have been dramatically reduced through superinsulation, passive solar tempering, solar water heating, compact florescent lights and other efficiency measures. The energy used in the home is now dominated by appliance and plug loads determined by occupant choices and behavior. These loads constitute 58% of all the source energy used in the home. Because these loads are generally outside of the control of the home designer and vary considerably with different occupants, sizing a PV system to achieve zero net energy performance is challenging.

This case studies demonstrates that it is possible to build efficient affordable zero energy homes in cold climates with standard building techniques and materials, simple mechanical systems, and off-the-shelf equipment.