U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Building Technologies Program – Building America
Cold and Very Cold Climate Publications
On this page, you will find case studies and the Best Practices handbook from the Cold and Very Cold climate zone. See publications in other U.S. climate zones. These publications are available as Adobe Acrobat PDFs.
Best Practices Series Handbook
This guide is a resource to help builders construct high quality, energy-efficient homes in the Cold and Very Cold climate zone in the United States.
New Construction Case Studies
Colorado
Project: Burlingame Ranch Phase 1 – Aspen
Builder: Shaw Construction
Profile: 84 multi-family affordable units score HERS of 54-62 in extreme cold climate with spray foam wall, ceiling, and subslab insulation, hydronic baseboard heat preheated by solar thermal panels.
Project: Net Zero Demonstration Home – Boulder
Builder: Ecofutures Building, Inc.
Profile: Builders Challenge demonstration home with superior insulation and 8.9 kW photovoltaics (PV) achieve -3 HERS score.
Connecticut
Project: Hamilton Way – Farmington
Builder: Nelson Construction
Profile: 10 single-family homes score HERS 53-54 with polyiso sheathing, spray foam critical seal at rim joists and attic plus R-50 blown fiberglass in attic, 6 inner-city infill single-family homes raise property values in rundown neighborhood, score HERS 51-55 with blown fiberglass R-24 walls, R-49 attics, precast concrete insulated basement walls, high-effic HVAC and ducts in conditioned space.
Indiana
Project: The Gem Prototype - Burns Harbor
Builder: Treasure Homes Inc.
Profile: Insulated concrete form basement walls, SIPS above-grade walls, spray-foamed rim joists and attic for 95 AFUE furnace in conditioned space scores HERS 46 without PV.
Massachusetts
Project: Colrain House – Turner Falls
Builder: Rural Development Inc.
Profile: Builders Challenge spotlight on prototype home incorporating energy efficiency and PV to reach HERS index score of 21.
Project: Wisdom Way Solar Village – Greenfield
Builder: Rural Development Inc.
Profile: 20 multi-family affordable homes achieve HERS 8-18 with single-family homes score HERS 53-54 with stud-framed double walls cellulose-insulated to R-42, R-50 attic, triple pane windows, solar water heating and PV, sealed combustion gas space heaters.
Michigan
Project: Vision Zero Project - Sagina
Builder: Cobblestone Homes
Profile: Demonstration home scores -4 on HERS index with double layer of rigid foam wall insulation plus spray foam wall and ceiling insulation, and ground-source heat pump heating, cooling, and water heating.
Pennsylvania
Project Name: East Liberty – Pittsburgh
Builder: S&A Homes and East Liberty Development Inc.
Profile: 6 inner-city infill single-family homes raise property values in rundown neighborhood, score HERS 51-55 with blown fiberglass R-24 walls, R-49 attics, precast concrete insulated basement walls, tight seal, 96% AFUE, 14 SEER HVAC.
Project Name: Summerset at Frick Park – Pittsburgh
Builder: Kacin Homes
Profile: Development of highly efficient homes on former industrial site; prototype home achieves energy savings of 38% over benchmark.
Utah
Project: CDC Utah – Magna
Builder: Community Development Corporation of Utah
Profile: Builders Challenge spotlight on affordable energy-efficient homes achieving 32% energy savings over the Building America benchmark.
Washington
Project: Mediterranean Villas – Pasco
Builder: Devoted Builders LLC
Profile: 230 high-end Built Green-certified duplexes and triplexes score HERS 54-68 with insulated concrete form walls, heat pumps, low air leakage of 0.8 to 2.0 ACH50, heat recovery ventilation.
Wisconsin
Project: Net Zero Demonstration Home – Waukesha
Builder: Tim O'Brien Homes
Profile: Builders Challenge demonstration home achieving -3 HERS score with enhanced insulation, geothermal heat pum, PV and solar hot water heating system.
Retrofit Case Studies
New York
Project: Newburgh Historic Row House Retrofit – Newburgh
Builder: Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newburgh, Inc.
Profile: Using cold-climate, high-performance retrofit strategies, this project created affordable, energy-efficient homes for low-income families.
Pennsylvania
Project: Depression-Era Demonstration Retrofit – Pittsburgh
Builder: Asdal Builders, LLC
Profile: The retrofit of this 1930s-era bungalow resulted in a HERS score of 65 and 80% reduction in overall energy use.
Washington
Project: System Retrofit Package Design – Wapato
Builder: Yakama Nation Housing Authority
Profile: This project used a "system retrofit package" to improve efficiency of 25 single-family homes on the Yakama Indian Reservation, cutting energy use in half and creating a model for replication across 4,300 homes built on U.S. reservations.
The Building America publications listed below offer energy-saving guidelines applicable to every climate zone in the United States.
Following Building America-sponsored research, this guide focuses on planning energy-efficient improvements for historic houses while preserving the home's historic features, being aware of and adhering to regulations related to historic designations, and addressing health and safety issues.
This guide provides information for contractors and homeowners to identify ways to seal unwanted air leaks in homes, while ensuring healthy levels of ventilation and avoiding indoor air pollution.
This publication provides an introduction to current photovoltaic and solar thermal building practices, and features more than a dozen builder case studies
This guide outlines 29 requirements and recommendation criteria that builders must meet to qualify for the Builders Challenge, and provides guidance for meeting the criteria.
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