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Front entrance of the Yuma Proving Ground demonstration house, a 2004 White House Closing the Circle Award winner.
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The U.S. Army Yuma Proving Grounds in southwestern Arizona normally tests weapons, but just a few years it ago played host to an experiment in energy-efficient home design. Construction of a 1,750 square foot Building America demonstration home began on the base in February 2002. Long since completed, it stands out sharply from the 1950s homes that provide the rest of the base housing.
While its appearance is the most noticeable contrast, the significant improvements to energy efficiency are what make the home truly exceptional. The one-story, three-bedroom house not only outperforms the old army housing, but it also represents significant improvement over the homes of today. IBACOS (Integrated Building and Construction Solutions) helped to design and engineer the home in order to achieve a performance goal of 70% greater energy savings in space conditioning and domestic water heating than specified by the 1993 Model Energy Code.
In order to meet this goal, a number of high performance features were implemented in the home including a structurally insulated panel system (SIPS) used to create the building envelope. Constructed with a polyurethane core, the panels not only provide excellent insulation but also make substantial contributions to building air-tightness. The project used 4.5" thick SIPS panels in the walls and 6.5" thick SIPS panels in the roof in order to achieve thermal performance ratings of R-28 and R-42 respectively.
In addition to the SIPS, the Yuma home puts shade to excellent use. Windows, even after upgrading to high performance models, account for the single largest share of cooling or heating (space and water) energy. By shading the windows throughout the architectural design, the home achieved a 78% reduction in this component of energy use.
The home's efficiency was further improved by a solar water-heating system and a duct system that is completely sealed and located within the conditioned space. It also includes sustainable features such as recycled building materials and water-efficient fixtures. Some fixtures, such as the low-flow showerheads, even surpass the standard for savings recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Building America, through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), has been monitoring the home's energy use since June 2003, and the results have been impressive. The performance data indicate that the home requires only about one-third the amount of energy of a "typical" Arizona home, and at least half of these savings come from reducing the building's cooling load through energy-efficient features.
However, the home is not just energy-saving; it also is award-winning. At the 2004 White House Closing the Circle (CTC) Awards, it was one of two winners in the Sustainable Design/Green Building category. The CTC honors successes for outstanding work in environmental stewardship that serve as examples for other Federal facilities to follow. This recognition confirms what the NREL tests had already suggested: This high-performance home has definitely earned its spot on the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Grounds.
This information is provided by the Department of Energy's Building America program. Building America is a private/public partnership that develops energy solutions for new and existing homes. The Building America program combines the knowledge and resources of industry leaders with the DOE's technical capabilities. Together, they act as a catalyst for change in the home-building industry. For more information, visit www.buildingamerica.gov.
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