2019 Residential New Construction Baseline/Compliance Study (MA19X02-B- RNCBL) Final April 1, 2020 SUBMITTED TO: The Massachusetts Electric and Gas Program Administrators SUBMITTED BY: NMR Group, Inc. 50 Howard St, Somerville, MA, 02141 Figure 1 Summary of Equipment in Non-Program Homes MA19X02-B-RNCBL - DRAFT Summary of Shell Measures in Non-Program Homes MA19X02-B-RNCBL - DRAFT MA19X02-B-RNCBL - FINAL Table of Contents ACRONYMS ..................................................................................................................... SECTION 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................. 1 1.1 STUDY PURPOSE .................................................................................................... 1 1.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ........................................................................................... 2 1.3 KEY EFFICIENCY AND COMPLIANCE FINDINGS ........................................................... 2 1.4 KEY BUILDING PRACTICES FINDINGS ........................................................................ 5 1.5 RECOMMENDATION ................................................................................................. 5 1.6 CONSIDERATIONS ................................................................................................... 6 1.7 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................... 7 1.8 KEY LIMITATIONS & SOURCES OF UNCERTAINTY ....................................................... 8 SECTION 2 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 9 2.1 PURPOSE AND GOALS ............................................................................................. 9 2.2 BACKGROUND ...................................................................................................... 10 2.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ......................................................................................... 11 2.4 REPORT ORGANIZATION ........................................................................................ 11 SECTION 3 METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................... 12 3.1 SAMPLING PLAN ................................................................................................... 12 3.2 RECRUITING ......................................................................................................... 13 3.3 SAMPLE COMPOSITION ......................................................................................... 14 3.4 ON-SITE INSPECTION METHODOLOGY .................................................................... 15 3.4.1 On-site Data Collection Inputs ........................................................................ 15 3.4.2 On-site Data Collection Procedures ............................................................... 16 3.5 WEIGHTING SCHEME............................................................................................. 17 3.6 SIGNIFICANCE TESTING ......................................................................................... 18 SECTION 4 COMPARISONS .......................................................................................... 19 4.1 PREVIOUS BASELINES ........................................................................................... 20 4.1.1 Envelope and Duct Tightness in Non-program Homes ................................... 21 4.1.2 Shell Measures in Non-program Homes ......................................................... 21 4.1.3 Mechanical Equipment and Water Heating in Non-program Homes ............... 21 4.2 NON-PROGRAM VERSUS PROGRAM HOMES ........................................................... 24 4.3 NEW STRETCH CODE VERSUS PREVIOUS STRETCH CODE ...................................... 26 4.4 BASE CODE VERSUS STRETCH CODE..................................................................... 28 MA19X02-B-RNCBL - FINAL 4.5 CUSTOM VERSUS SPEC-BUILT HOMES ................................................................... 29 SECTION 5 CODE COMPLIANCE ................................................................................... 30 5.1 CODE COMPLIANCE METHODOLOGY ...................................................................... 30 5.1.1 Estimating Non-Program and Program Home Compliance ............................. 31 5.1.2 Estimating Program Penetration Rates ........................................................... 31 5.1.3 Calculating Average Compliance .................................................................... 32 5.2 COMPLIANCE ESTIMATED WITH MA-REC ............................................................... 32 5.2.1 Detailed REM/Rate and Ekotrope MA-REC Results ....................................... 34 5.2.2 Measure-Level Compliance ............................................................................ 35 5.3 COMPLIANCE WITH CODE REQUIREMENTS NOT ESTIMATED WITH MA-REC .............. 36 SECTION 6 BUILDING SHELL ....................................................................................... 38 6.1 AIR INFILTRATION AND VENTILATION ...................................................................... 39 6.2 ABOVE GRADE WALLS .......................................................................................... 39 6.3 FLAT CEILINGS ..................................................................................................... 40 6.4 VAULTED CEILINGS ............................................................................................... 40 6.5 FLOORS OVER UNCONDITIONED BASEMENTS ......................................................... 41 6.6 FOUNDATION WALLS ............................................................................................. 41 6.7 FENESTRATION ..................................................................................................... 42 SECTION 7 MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT .......................................................................... 44 7.1 HEATING EQUIPMENT ............................................................................................ 44 7.2 COOLING .............................................................................................................. 47 7.3 THERMOSTATS ..................................................................................................... 48 7.4 DOMESTIC HOT WATER ........................................................................................ 48 7.5 DUCT SYSTEMS .................................................................................................... 50 7.6 RENEWABLES AND ELECTRIC VEHICLES ................................................................. 51 SECTION 8 LIGHTING AND APPLIANCES ........................................................................ 53 8.1 LIGHTING ............................................................................................................. 53 8.2 APPLIANCES ........................................................................................................ 55 SECTION 9 FINDINGS AND CONSIDERATIONS ................................................................ 56 9.1 KEY EFFICIENCY AND COMPLIANCE FINDINGS......................................................... 56 9.2 KEY BUILDING PRACTICES FINDINGS ...................................................................... 59 9.3 CONSIDERATIONS ................................................................................................. 59 APPENDIX A ENERGY MODELING AND CONSUMPTION ..................................................... 62 MA19X02-B-RNCBL - FINAL A.1 HERS INDEX SCORES FROM REM/RATE VERSUS EKOTROPE ................................. 62 A.2 ENERGY USE INTENSITY ....................................................................................... 64 APPENDIX B DETAILED DATA ......................................................................................... 65 B.1 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS................................................................................. 65 B.2 AIR INFILTRATION AND VENTILATION ...................................................................... 65 B.2.1 Air Infiltration .................................................................................................. 65 B.2.2 Ventilation ...................................................................................................... 66 B.3 BUILDING SHELL CHARACTERISTICS ...................................................................... 66 B.3.1 Walls .............................................................................................................. 66 B.3.2 Ceilings .......................................................................................................... 68 B.3.3 Floors ............................................................................................................. 70 B.3.4 Foundation Walls............................................................................................ 71 B.3.5 Slabs .............................................................................................................. 72 B.3.6 Windows ........................................................................................................ 73 B.4 MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT ..................................................................................... 74 B.4.1 Heating ..........................................................................................................