http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/story?id=5... Three houses under construction in East Tennessee carry the story of "The Three Little Pigs" to an entirely new level and will become a model for the nation when it comes to determining energy efficiency.
While the first house isn't made of straw, it is a typical Energy Star "builder house" with an energy efficiency score of 85 Home Energy Rating System, or HERS. The second unit, called a retrofit house (see image of attic below), includes energy-efficient upgrades to the building envelope and mechanical equipment. This house has a HERS rating of 64 (the lower the better).
"The retrofit unit will provide a 20 percent energy savings from the builder house yet offers a package of technologies that are considered a reasonable upgrade for many homes in most of the United States," said Jeff Christian, a senior researcher in the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
The third unit is a high-performance house with a package of technologies, including windows with efficiency approaching common residential walls, that help push the predicted HERS rating to 30. This house, which includes solar panels mounted on the roof, will provide about 55 percent energy savings compared to the builder unit.
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