We’re not just building houses. We’re changing lives.
SystemVision™ is the nation’s only affordable housing guarantee program. It provides training and technical support that lead to improved health, safety, durability, comfort and energy efficiency of affordable homes in North Carolina. It is based on finding practical solutions to aid affordable housing organizations in designing, constructing and certifying energy-efficient homes. Once completed, each home receives two guarantees, one for energy use and the other for comfort. SystemVision is made possible by the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency.
About
Benefits
We’re Making It Easy to Build Better Homes
The SystemVision process is tried and true. We’ve simplified the standards, training, feedback and verification processes for affordable housing developers and builders and provide ongoing support throughout the design, construction and marketing of SystemVision homes.
We’re Not Just Building Homes, We’re Changing Lives
SystemVision provides training and support to improve the safety, durability, comfort and energy efficiency of affordable homes. Energy use and comfort guarantees ensure homeowners will always be able to afford and enjoy living in the homes they’ve worked so hard to buy.
Let’s Get Started
To learn how you can enhance the quality of affordable housing in your area, contact Advanced Energy’s SystemVision team at 919-857-9000 or systemvision@advancedenergy.org, or Vedera Mimms, NCHFA senior community partner coordinator, at 919-877-5655 or vcmimms@nchfa.com.
Guarantees
SystemVision offers homeowners peace of mind that they will be able to afford and enjoy living in the home they’ve worked so hard to buy. Each home receives two guarantees that Advanced Energy monitors for two years:
Comfort Guarantee
This guarantee ensures that the center of each room will not differ from the thermostat setting by more than 3 degrees. If comfort issues arise, Advanced Energy works to diagnose the problem to keep homeowners comfortable.
Heating and Cooling Energy Use Guarantee
Knowing what to expect on utility bills helps homeowners budget. The average cost to heat and cool a typical SystemVision home is around $33 per month! Furthermore, each home receives a monthly heating and cooling energy use guarantee based on the actual house plan. If a home exceeds its guaranteed energy usage, Advanced Energy pays the difference to the homeowner.
The heating and cooling energy use guarantee does not cover the entire utility bill, only the heating and cooling portion. Your total utility bill includes your base load, which is electricity usage for appliances, lighting, electronics and water heating.
Process
The SystemVision program works — we guarantee it! From financing and planning to building and evaluation, our team will guide you through the process with ease. Click here to learn more about the steps involved in building a SystemVision home.
Standards
All SystemVision homes are third-party verified and performance-tested for the following:
Air Tightness & Framing
- A tight home can reduce energy bills and control comfort and air pollutants. SystemVision builders block all attic bypasses, seal all top plate connections and ensure that the home’s shell will be continuous.
Ventilation & Moisture Management
- All SystemVision homes have performance-verified spot ventilation in the bathrooms and kitchen, and a performance-verified whole-house ventilation system.
Insulation & Windows
- The installation of insulation in SystemVision homes is verified to be in complete and continuous contact with the building shell with no gaps, voids, misalignment, compression or wind intrusion.
HVAC Sizing/Installation & Duct Tightness
- Duct leakage can be no more than 3 percent — more than six times as tight as standard North Carolina homes according to a 100-house benchmark analysis. Tight ducts mean less energy waste, fewer comfort issues and better indoor air quality.
Pressure Balancing
- Pressure balancing ensures that the pressures created by delivering air to each room in a SystemVision home are in balance with the others — key to the success of our comfort guarantee.
Combustion Safety & Appliances
- All SystemVision homes are built with combustion safety in mind. Those with combustion equipment include safety features like direct-vent models and carbon monoxide detectors.
Impact
The SystemVision process is built on solid building science, is easy to implement and gets results.
SystemVision has helped developers and builders of affordable housing in North Carolina transform the way homes are built. When the program started, the initial five homes certified to the SystemVision standards were “diamonds in the rough.” Today, SystemVision has certified more than 6,000 homes.
15% More Efficient
SystemVision homes are at least 15 percent more energy-efficient than code-built homes.
Advanced Energy has been able to achieve such a significant transformation through partnerships with the NCHFA and, previously, the North Carolina Community Development Initiative. Technical training and field support are provided to more than 100 affordable housing developers statewide who voluntarily participate in the program, as well as their builders, contractors and raters.
Less Energy = More Savings
A typical 1,700-square-foot house uses approximately 17,056 kWh of energy each year, equaling utility costs of $1,431. SystemVision homes use approximately 14,579 kWh of energy with utility costs of only $1,223 per year.
Homeowners
SystemVision offers homeowners peace of mind that they will always be able to afford the home they’ve worked so hard to buy. With efficient features like foam insulation and Low-E windows, SystemVision homes have cleaner air, are more comfortable and are more affordable to live in.
Under the program, Advanced Energy issues two two-year guarantees, one for heating and cooling energy usage and the other for comfort. The heating and cooling guarantee is based on the actual house plan. If a home exceeds its guarantee (usually about $33 per month), Advanced Energy pays the difference.
If you are concerned about your home energy bills, submit a copy of your bills for a minimum of 12 months to systemvision@advancedenergy.org or mail them to the address below. Please include a description of your questions and concerns.
Attention: SystemVision Program Manager
909 Capability Drive, Suite 2100
Raleigh, NC 27606
The comfort guarantee ensures that the center of each room will not differ from the thermostat setting by more than 3 degrees. If comfort issues arise, Advanced Energy works to diagnose the problem to keep homeowners comfortable.
Tools
Latest Program Updates
SEER 2
- January 1, 2023, onward, the SEER rating will be replaced by the SEER2 rating.
SEER2 rating is about 4.5% lower than SEER rating. - Replacement of SEER rating by SEER2 rating. Example: 15 SEER unit is now 14.3 SEER unit.
- In Southeast states, the minimum SEER rating in 2023 will be increased from 14 SEER to 15 SEER for AC units with below 45,000 BTU cooling output.
- We do have to keep in mind that the minimum SEER rating is not the same as the minimum SEER2 rating because SEER is not the same as SEER2.
- A 15 SEER rating is now a 14.3 SEER2 rating. SEER2 rating is 4.7% lower than the SEER rating.
HSPF2
- With the introduction of HSPF2 (as well as SEER2 and EER2), DOE has devised a new metric that more adequately determines the real-life energy efficiency of heat pumps.
- Years 2023 and onward: Minimum HSPF rating is 8.8 HSPF
- Minimum HSPF2 Rating = 8.8 HSPF × 0.85 = 7.5 HSPF2
- DOE is making these two changes as far as the minimum HSPF rating requirement for heat pumps from 2022 to 2023:
1. Increase of HSPF rating from 8.2 HSPF (established in 2015) to 8.8 HSPF.
2. Changing HSPF test conditions and thereby introducing a new HSPF2 rating (that is 15% lower than the standard HSPF rating).
Construction Resources
- How to Air Seal Plumbing and Wiring Penetrations
- How to Install Baffles and Insulation Dams
- Aging in Place/Visitability: Blocking in Bathrooms
- Gutter Terminations
- Radon-Ready House / Passive Mitigation Crawl Space Detail
- Radon-Ready House / Passive Mitigation Slab Detail
- Managing Crawl Space Moisture During Construction
- ERV HRV Design Considerations
