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Rising energy prices, coupled with increased public awareness, have fueled demand for more energy-efficient homes. Many builders have responded by qualifying their new homes for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star label. Others have gone beyond Energy Star standards and qualified their new homes for Guaranteed Performance labels, such as Environments for Living. Advanced Energy's Research and Diagnostics group recently completed two studies examining the effectiveness of these programs in saving energy and meeting the needs of homeowners.

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Knowing what consumers want and what works is important for improving existing programs and designing new approaches for even greater energy efficiency. Today's average home uses 10,000 kilowatt hours annually, but it will take new products, materials, designs and building practices to achieve a net zero energy home — a house that generates as much energy as it uses.

Advanced Energy’s Applied Building Science team works to change the home construction industry by using building science techniques that builders can adopt in wide scale practice. Advanced Energy's Research and Diagnostics group measures and verifies changes in construction that builders are capable of building and homebuyers want.

Overview
Do guaranteed performance home programs work? Has energy use actually been reduced? Have homeowners been satisfied with the performance of these program homes? Advanced Energy addressed these issues in parallel studies that were published in 2006. The Phoenix Home Energy Efficiency Study, sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, studied the actual energy consumption of more than 7,000 new homes in Phoenix, Ariz. The Phoenix Homeowner Satisfaction Survey was sponsored jointly by the U.S. Department of Energy and by state-based partners and surveyed the satisfaction of more than 700 new homebuyers.

Energy Star homes
In Phoenix, Energy Star® homes are up to 16 percent more energy efficient than comparable baseline, or code built homes.

Guaranteed Performance homes
Guaranteed Performance homes use the least amount of energy. In the past five years, private companies and utilities have begun to sponsor Guaranteed Performance programs across the country.

In Phoenix, Environments for Living is the leading Guaranteed Performance program. Environments for Living homes sell with energy consumption and comfort guarantees. These homes use more stringent construction and testing techniques, and contractors go through rigorous training.

Guaranteed Performance homes are the most energy efficient homes in the study. They consume up to 33 percent less energy than comparable baseline homes and up to 20 percent less than comparable Energy Star homes.

Both Energy Star and Guaranteed Performance homes use less energy, and the Phoenix studies demonstrated that investments in energy-efficiency home construction are beneficial. The homeowner saves on energy bills, and the builder sees increased customer satisfaction.

Homeowner satisfaction
Guaranteed Performance homeowners are more satisfied with their new homes. The Phoenix Homeowner Satisfaction Survey found that performance is not just about energy efficiency, but also about comfort, reliability and health. They are more satisfied with each aspect of their home’s HVAC performance. For example, 49 percent said they were completely satisfied with their home's "ability to keep them comfortable year round" compared to 35 percent of Energy Star homeowners and only 27 percent of baseline homeowners.

Future research
Advanced Energy’s research and diagnostics group continues to test, verify, initiate, demonstrate and deliver practical knowledge of high-performance buildings in the marketplace.

Long term, the group aims to create a practical bridge between buildings and occupant health and to demonstrate building practices that deliver reduced building-related illnesses.

Partnerships
In addition to the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the following provided cash or in-kind support to Advanced Energy’s buildings research:

36 Builders, American Aldes, Audubon General Contractor, Dow Chemical Corp., E3 Energy, Empire Communities, Grounded Electric, Habitat for Humanity, Baton Rouge, Hatch Plumbing, Hilti Corp., Hurlock Building Products, HVAC installer in Baton Rouge, National Institute of Environmental, Health Sciences, National Pest Management Assoc., Palm Harbor, Pest Management Systems Inc., SmartVent, Sostram Corp., Therma-Stor, Trotter Co., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma and Lung Biology

To view the results of this research:

Measuring Public Benefit From Energy Efficient Homes - 2005 [PDF]

Phoenix Homeowner Satisfaction Survey - 2006 [PDF]