Energy Retrofit Field Study and Best Practices Hot-Humid Climate

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Energy Retrofit Field Study and Best Practices Hot-Humid Climate Energy Retrofit Field Study and Best Practices in a Hot-Humid Climate J. McIlvaine, K. Sutherland, and E. Martin Building America Partnership for Improved Residential Construction March 2013 NOTICE This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States government. Neither the United States government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, subcontractors, or affiliated partners makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States government or any agency thereof. Available electronically at http://www.osti.gov/bridge Available for a processing fee to U.S. Department of Energy and its contractors, in paper, from: U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information P.O. Box 62 Oak Ridge, TN 37831-0062 phone: 865.576.8401 fax: 865.576.5728 email: mailto:[email protected] Available for sale to the public, in paper, from: U.S. Department of Commerce National Technical Information Service 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield, VA 22161 phone: 800.553.6847 fax: 703.605.6900 email: [email protected] online ordering: http://www.ntis.gov/ordering.htm Printed on paper containing at least 50% wastepaper, including 20% postconsumer waste Energy Retrofit Field Study and Best Practices in a Hot-Humid Climate Prepared for: The National Renewable Energy Laboratory On behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America Program Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy 15013 Denver West Parkway Golden, CO 80401 NREL Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308 Prepared by: J. McIlvaine, K. Sutherland, and E. Martin BA-PIRC/Florida Solar Energy Center 1679 Clearlake Road Cocoa, FL 32922 NREL Technical Monitor: Stacey Rothgeb Prepared under Subcontract No. KNDJ-0-40339-00 March 2013 iii [This page left blank] iv Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................... xi List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................ vi List of Tables ............................................................................................................................................. vii Definitions ................................................................................................................................................. viii Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................... ix 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background ..........................................................................................................................3 1.2 Stakeholder Need .................................................................................................................4 1.3 Analysis Tools and Methods ................................................................................................4 2 Dataset Characterization and Retrofit Trends ................................................................................... 6 2.1 Dataset Overview .................................................................................................................6 2.2 Thermal Envelope Components ...........................................................................................7 2.2.1 Exterior Wall Construction and Insulation ..............................................................7 2.2.2 Exterior Wall Solar Absorptance .............................................................................8 2.2.3 Windows ..................................................................................................................9 2.2.4 Roof........................................................................................................................12 2.2.5 Ceiling Insulation ...................................................................................................14 2.3 Building Infiltration ...........................................................................................................16 2.4 Mechanical Space Conditioning Systems ..........................................................................19 2.4.1 Mechanical Equipment Efficiency, Pre-Retrofit ....................................................20 2.4.2 Mechanical Equipment Size ..................................................................................24 2.4.3 Air Handler Unit Location and Configuration .......................................................24 2.4.4 Duct Heat Transfer .................................................................................................28 2.4.5 Duct Airtightness ...................................................................................................29 2.4.6 Outside Air Ventilation ..........................................................................................31 2.4.7 Thermostats ............................................................................................................32 2.5 Domestic Hot Water ..........................................................................................................32 2.6 Appliances..........................................................................................................................33 2.7 Lighting and Ceiling Fans ..................................................................................................34 2.8 Conditioned Area Reductions ............................................................................................34 3 Whole-House Improvement and Cost Effectiveness ...................................................................... 36 3.1 HERS Index Improvement .................................................................................................36 3.2 Composition of Deep Energy Retrofit Improvement Packages .........................................38 3.3 Cost Effectiveness of Energy Retrofit Improvement Packages .........................................41 4 Gaps and Challenges ......................................................................................................................... 45 5 Best Practices ..................................................................................................................................... 46 6 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................ 51 References ................................................................................................................................................. 52 Appendix A: 30% Energy Efficiency Solution Package ........................................................................ 54 Appendix B: Deep Energy Retrofit Packages ........................................................................................ 58 Appendix C: Draft Current Best Practices .............................................................................................. 65 Appendix D: Sarasota NSP Energy Conservation Standards .............................................................. 70 v List of Figures Figure 1. Mean HERS Index at pre-and post-retrofit by decade vintage ............................................... x Figure 2. U.S. Census Bureau historical housing starts by decade ...................................................... 1 Figure 3. U.S. Census Bureau regions ...................................................................................................... 1 Figure 4. Building America climate zone map ......................................................................................... 2 Figure 5. Study homes of typical character with ranch style floor plans, slab-on-grade foundations, concrete block exterior walls, low sloped roofs, and 8-ft ceiling heights ............... 3 Figure 6. Vintage of the 70 home dataset spanned 49 years .................................................................. 6 Figure 7. Conditioned floor area for the pre-retrofit dataset .................................................................. 7 Figure 8. Typical wall construction of light color paint on stucco finish over concrete block .......... 8 Figure 9. Typical awning-style window type ............................................................................................ 9 Figure 10. Pre-retrofit awning window in its most closed position is still slightly open as indicated by the pitch of the red line. ................................................................................................................ 12 Figure 11. Roof pitch plotted by vintage displays trend of older homes with shallower pitch n = 70 ...................................................................................................................................................
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