RJ Walter Homes has teamed up with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to design and build the Sacramento area's first LEED Platinum Home - "SMUD's Home of the Future".
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design known as LEED for Homes is a rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council that promotes the design and construction of high-performance green homes. LEED measures green homebuilding performance on eight categories and has four levels of certification with Platinum representing the highest level achievement
Print the Home of the Future Brochure for more information. Part 1Part 2
A HOME BUILT WITH BRAIN POWER
This home has been designed and built through collaboration and consultation with leading experts in high performance and sustainable home construction. Some of the organizations that contributed their expertise to the design decisions that went into the home's systems include:
- Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD)
- National Renewable Energy Lab
- Building Science Consortium
- U.S. Green Building Council
- Davis Energy Group
In addition, several local contractors and suppliers lent their expertise and skills to the project.
GOALS OF THE PROJECT
The building of this home had some ambitious objectives from the start that all focused around constructing a house in an environmentally conscious, energy efficient way. The primary goals included:
- Build a Home that Produces as Much Energy as it Uses Amazingly, compared with a comparably sized home built to California's Title-24 energy standards, SMUD estimates that the home will consume 80% less energy, produce more electricity than it uses and have a combined average utility electric and gas bill of approximately $22.00 per month.
- Be Certified as the First LEED Platinum Home in the Sacramento Region By evaluating the design decisions againist the LEED for Homes rating system and how it measures the performance of the home in eight comprehensive categories, the team continually pushed the envelope to search for technology, materials, and techniques that would produce the best results in energy efficiency, comfort and sustainability for the future homeowner.
- Design a Mid-priced Home that Will Fit into Folsom's Historic District The craftsman style bungalow home's architecture and size are in keeping with the style of homes in the city's unique and historic residential district that dates to the 1850's. The home priced at $675,000 is 1950 square feet with a 720 square foot cottage apartment over an alley access 3-car garage.
- Construct a Home That Uses Half as Much Water as the Typical Home Working with the City of Folsom Water Conservation team we've been able to deliver a home whose plumbing features, landscape design and irrigation design treat water as a truly precious resource.
ENERGY EFFICIENT AND ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE FEATURES:
SMUD's Home of the Future includes an extensive list of advanced, state-of-the-art, and energy efficient and environmentally friendly features.
Solar Energy and Solar Lighting Systems
- 3.85 kW PAC BP Solar Energy System with battery back up.
- Solar assisted hot water and space heating.
- Day-lighting with an automated skylight and sun-tubes.
Heating and Cooling Systems
- Solar-assisted hot water and space heating with an advanced, single-tank 97% efficient water boiler that saves time and money
- Aqua Chill state-of-the-art water-cooled evaporative air conditioner with a 15 SEER rating.
- Tank-less water heater ("granny flat") - produces up to 8.5 gallons of hot water per minute, saving up to 30% in energy costs per year.
- A ductless, mini-split heat pump with a SEER 20 air conditioner and 10 HSPF heating rating to cool and heat the "granny flat."
- A ducted night ventilation system that automatically brings in cool night air to pre-cool the home during the summer.
Efficient Energy Utilization Features - Advanced Framing - 2X6 advanced stacked framing (uses less wood and more insulation), panelized off-site to reduce waste, with blown cellulose insulation (recylcled material) and two layers of icynene foam on the outside of the studs to create an R-30 wall. Then we applied 10" of sprayed-in, closed-cell foam (R-38) insulation on the underside of the roof, which put the HVAC equipment and ducts in a conditioned space.
- An advanced home automation system allows the homeowner to monitor energy use and solar production, water use, and control lighting, window shades, heating, and air conditioning. It also has a "green switch" that empowers the homeowner to turn off pre-programmed light switches and wall plugs when leaving the home.
- Spectrally selective glass for windows - dual pane windows with specially coated "Thermaflect" low "e" glazing with .30 U-Value and .26 SHGC to reduce radiant heat gain and loss.
- Energy Star appliances - money saving clothes washers, refrigerators, and dishwashers
- Energy saving window coverings
- Energy Star Advanced Lighting Package throughout - Flourescent and advanced LED fixtures that last ten times longer and use 75% less energy than standard lighting.
Water Efficiency - Water Efficient-flow showers, faucets and toilets - saves much water over the lifetime of the home.
- Water efficient landscaping and irrigation reducing water use approximately 50%.
Read more about the SMUD Home of the Future Sustainable Landscape.
Indoor Environmental Quality - Smart Vent Fresh air system - automatically circulates flitered (MERV 13 air filters) outdoor air throughout the home with all the doors and windows secure.
- Low VOC paints
- Central Vacuum throughout with sweeper vent in kitchen
- Cabinets constructed locally with FSC-certified wood with no urea formaldehyde resins.
Environmentally Friendly Recycled Materials and Techniques - Built on recyled land; the city demolished a house on the lot and then sold the lot.
- Approximately 90% of the construction waste was recycled.
- The home is constructed with several recycled products - the cellulose insulation is made from recycled newspaper, the counter tops are recycled glass and recycled paper, the flooring and carpet contain recycled material, recycled glass in the patio.
- Rescued claw foot tub - the vintage tub was refinished.
- Cabinets constructed locally with FSC-certified wood that contain no urea formaldehyde resins.
- The foundations concrete mix includes 30% fly ash.
- We worked hard to use local contractors and as many local suppliers and materials as possible.
For more information about the SMUD’s Home of the Future and "LEED Platinum Home" built by RJ Walter Homes, contact:
Bob Walter
RJ Walter Construction, Inc
147 Iron Point Road, Ste. A
Folsom CA 95630
(916) 351-0219
bob@rjwalterhomes.com
Mike Keesee
SMUD
6201 S. Street
Sacramento CA 95817
(916) 732-5244
mkeesee@smud.org
