Net Zero Energy Home Wins Best in Show at COBA Tour of Homes
2481 nw drouillard ave, nw crossing, bend, or
Built by: SolAire Homebuilders
This beautiful home, located in NW Crossing features a great variety of energy saving techniques, including a Net Zero certification—meaning that this home produces all of the electricity that it consumes in a year! It also just happened to take home a few awards from the COBA Tour of Homes including the Green Building Award, Best Architectural Design, Best Kitchen, Best Interior Finish, and culminated with Best of Show in their price range!
This house also features:
- Single level Prairie style home on South facing lot
- Universal Design
- Great room, dining room & kitchen are open & light
- Passive solar,super insulated home shell
- Bamboo hardwood and tile flooring throughout
- Contemporary kitchen design with alder cabinets
- Stainless steel Energy Star appliances
- Spa-like custom tiled master shower & vanity
- High tech LED lighting & triple pane windows
- 8100 Watt photovoltaic system
- Healthy home finishes & ERV clean air filtration
- Useful storage-flex room
- Oversize covered porch and cantilevered rear deck
- Earth Advantage Platinum & NET ZERO & ENERGY STAR Certification
Achieving net-zero is not an easy task, it takes careful attention to detail and intelligent design. All of this home’s energy is produced on-site by an 8,100 Watt solar array. In order to get to net-zero, every energy-consuming feature has to be carefully considered, from the light bulbs to the heating and cooling systems to the windows and insulation. You will learn about energy-saving techniques around every corner in this home.
These are some of the features that this home utilizes to get down to zero energy consumption:
Capturing the Power of the Sun
Every angle and orientation of the home and within the home must be thoughtfully considered in order to allow for the optimal sun exposure.
This home is oriented from east to west, with primary living spaces on the south and the garage on the west and north side. The extra bedrooms and closets must be on the north and the large windows on the south side. There are thoughtful calculations for the depth of the eave to help promote shade in the summer and sun in the winter. And of course, the southern facing roof must be able to accommodate PV panels to reach the goal of net-zero.
Building an Incredibly Insulated, Air Tight, Durable Home Shell
In order to build a net-zero home, the house must be insulated extremely well and have air tight seals around the entire house so cold air doesn’t escape in the summer and warm air in the winter.
The walls are constructed to reduce thermal bridging and insulation was increased to R-48. The subfloor must be constructed to accept extra insulation—this home has R-48 insulation in the floor. Raised trusses accept R-60 loose fill fiberglass. The windows are triple pane, U-0.18 to U-0.20 and reach an air tightness of 2.0 ACH or less.
Reduce Energy Consumption in the Home
Of course, in order to obtain a net-zero home, you must take control of your energy use within the home. There are many simple tasks you can do in any home so be sure to check out our Quick Tips/DIY tips or our Simple Saturday activities to reduce your energy use in your own home
In this SolAire home they ensured that the mini-split ductless heat pumps are sized appropriately with the Energy Performance Score model and Manual J modeling. Also, the hot water heater and the energy recovery ventilator are located in conditioned space inside the home. Furthermore, this homes uses 100% LED lighting and Energy Star Appliances – saving the environment and saving you money.
Model for PV System Size: “Icing on the Cake”
This specific home needs 7975 kW of solar electric panels to reach Net Zero Energy. In Bend, Oregon this translates to 9465 kW hours of estimated total annual production.
If you’ve ever considered going solar before, this is a great opportunity to learn about the tax credits and incentives that can help make your solar dream home a reality; whether it’s on your current home or a new home!
Sign up for a solar assessment while here on the Tour and get $200 off of your installation from our partner and friends and Sunlight Solar.
