The Net Zero Home

At AltBuild Conference, Nick Lehnert said the building industry needs to produce buildings and structures that are easy to live in. The goals of universal design include body fit, comfort, awareness, understanding wellness, social integration, personalization and appropriateness.

 
Photo Credits: Larry Shield

Since green building practices are the wave of the future, why not see what that future holds in the housing industry? Monitor electricity usage for a green-built home in Walnut, Calif., collect data and open doors for the building industry.

This was the topic of a seminar, "The Net Zero Home, a Look at the Future that Exists Today," held at the 10th annual Alternative Building Materials & Design Expo, at the Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, Calif. on May 10.

"At first the home building industry was reluctant to commit to anything, but the needle is starting to move as they've seen moor and more green projects," said Nick Slevin, publisher of Peninsula Publishing. "This high performance home is an example of what can be done with products that can be purchased at your local hardware store."

After all the permits were gathered, it took a team of contractors and high school volunteers only 83 days to build the model home, said Slevin.

John Morton, project manager for Southern California Edison said the goal was to write and run an energy efficient program, from a housing and community point of view. In 2008 he developed a long range efficiency plan with aggressive goals.

"It got me into Net Zero efficiency goals," said Morton. "This partnership fell into my lap, so I talked to someone about the house's features. We like to come in from a programming perspective with conceptual, schematic and design development."

Morton said SCE worked with KTGY in conjunction with IPDA. Using BIM modeling software, they were able to do integrated design. Phase II of the project was sealing all exterior walls so the difference between the interior house and attic was only 1 or 2 degrees. Phase III was people touring the home and SCE monitoring electrical usage.

"The universal design for this home was more practical, sensible and intuitive," said Nick Lehnert. "We should be designing these homes for all ages because it makes sense. It doesn't cost any more."