Gerber’s Build Green. Live Green home showcased in the Rochester Home Builders’Association’s 2008 Homearama combines multiple energy efficiency strategies that are expected to achieve approximately 60% whole house energy savings as compared to a home built to the 2007 New York Energy Conservation Construction Code. High Performance Housing with Gerber Homes Gerber’s Build Green. Live Green Home.

Basement Walls: A typical new NY home’s standard basement wall system can account for 27% of the home’s heat loss. The Build Green. Live Green’s advanced basement wall system is projected to save 14% of the entire home’s energy use compared to a standard basement wall system. To achieve a super-insulated basement, Superior Walls’ pre-cast concrete walls with integrated R-12.5 continuous insulation provided the support. Then Owens Corning’s high-density R-21 fiberglass insulation was installed in the wall cavities. Because the basement is unfinished, Owens Corning’s permeable house wrap, PINKWRAP®, was installed on the interior for its clean and non-abrasive surface.

Above Grade Walls: Energy losses through above grade walls account for about 14% of the heat load of a typical NY EnergyStar® home. To reduce expected heat loss, the first step was to reduce the amount of framing in the wall, by spacing the studs at 19.2 inches on center. Increased spacing means more insulation can be installed in the walls. The Gerber home has both continuous exterior insulation and interior wall-cavity insulation on above-grade walls. Two-inch Dow Styrofoam, rated at R-10, was installed on the outside of the OSB structural sheathing. To help provide a tighter wall assembly while increasing insulation, BASF Comfort Foam was sprayed in all cavities and along band joists, providing a cavity insulation R-value of 18.3. Together, these measures are projected to reduce the home’s total energy use by 4%. Improved air sealing resulting from these measures could increase the projected energy savings as much as 10% off of a baseline code compliant home.

Domestic Hot Water: Standard natural gas fired hot water storage tanks have inefficiencies associated with heating water in a tank—waiting to be used. Tankless water heaters eliminate these standby heat losses because tankless water heaters only heat water when needed. The Takagi TK3 tankless water heater was selected for this project to decrease energy consumption and costs. Energy savings are expected to be 3% of whole-house energy use.

Mechanical Ventilation: Tight, energy efficient homes need to have ventilation systems that ensure adequate indoor air quality is maintained. Fresh air ventilation systems that use heat exchangers use less energy than typical exhaust only systems. Broan’s HRV100 heat exchanging system was used in this home because it is extremely energy-efficient and satisfies the fresh indoor air quality needs of the home. Compared to a typical exhaust only system, the Broan HRV100 is expected to save 2% of the home’s total energy use.

CFLs for Lighting: Changing out inefficient incandescent lights for fluorescent lights can be one of the most cost effective methods for saving energy. The Build Green. Live Green home exclusively uses compact fluorescents and pin-based fluorescent lighting. This single measure is expected to reduce the home’s energy use by 2%.

Heating and Cooling: The minimum code compliant furnace in New York has an efficiency of 80 percent, while the minimum efficiency air conditioner is a SEER 13. The Gerber home uses a ground source heat pump to improve the home’s heating and cooling energy efficiency. Water Furnace’s high efficiency ground source heat pump is expected to provide a reduction of approximately 40% in total energy use from a baseline code compliant home.

Attic Insulation: For this high performance home, the attic’s insulation value is a remarkable R- 50, achieved with blown cellulose. This measure is very affordable and is expected to result in a savings in whole-house energy use of 2%.