Issue 5 Volume 5

May 2007

ENERGY STAR Policy For Attached Housing

Attached housing is defined as one dwelling that shares a common floor, ceiling, or wall with one or more adjacent dwellings. Common examples include condominiums, apartments, townhomes, and duplexes.

This sector of housing has certain characteristics that make it unique with consideration to energy policy. First, the common surfaces are generally adiabatic, making the homes more efficient than an equivalent detached home. Second, due to fewer windows, smaller conditioned floor areas, and the common surfaces, HVAC loads are typically small, making high-efficiency HVAC systems less cost-effective.

To address these unique characteristics, EPA has developed the following modified performance and prescriptive path for qualifying such homes with the ENERGY STAR mark.

ENERGY STAR Attached Housing Performance Requirements:

To qualify an attached house in the performance path, the house must meet the minimum requirements specified in the ENERGY STAR New Homes National Performance Path Requirements, with the one following exception — all dwellings on the same level and within the same structure may be qualified if the following conditions are met:

1. The dwelling with the highest percentage of exposed wall area meets the required HERS index, and;
2. The other dwellings have equal or lesser window area to floor area ratio, and;
3. The other dwellings use the same, or more stringent, energy efficiency features as the dwelling identified in item 1, and;
4. All dwellings are verified in accordance with EPA verification requirements for ENERGY STAR Qualified Homes.

This policy is effective as of January 1, 2007. The exception noted in the performance path will be revisited if modifications to the HERS guidelines render it unnecessary.

For more information visit ENERGY STAR

Best of Building Science .Com LIVE
is a Huge Success!

Nearly 200 registrants crowded into the Construction Trades Building at Francis Tuttle's Rockwell campus on May 3rd to hear presentations by Sam Raskin (EPA), Hank Rutowsky (Manual J author) and Justin Wilson (EEBA Applied) on a verity of building science topics. Our own Donney Dorton and Curtis Maxwell gave presentations as well. This event, the first ever hosted by GWS, was a great success.

Visit the Best of Building Science web site.

Energy Efficiency Global Forum
and Exposition

November 11-14, 2007 at the Washington, D.C. Convention Center

The Alliance to Save Energy's inaugural conference will serve as the premier gathering and showcase for the energy-efficiency industry. EE Global will attract industry professionals, academics and policy makers from around the world to promote the efficient use of energy through a curriculum aimed at sharing best practices and unifying the public and private sectors. Please visit www.eeglobalforum.com for more information.