Skip to content

Engineering topics

Arena, Lois

Publications and source records attributed to Arena, Lois.

11 records

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

DOE OSTI2016

EcoVillage: A Net Zero Energy Ready Community - Ithaca Crawlspace

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Building America team, Consortium for Residential Buildings (CARB), is working with the EcoVillage cohousing community in Ithaca, New York, on the Third Residential EcoVillage Experience neighborhood. This community-scale project consists of 40 housing units-15 apartments and 25 single-family residences. Units range in size from 450 ft2 to 1,664 ft2 and cost from $80,000 for a studio apartment to $235,000 for a three- or four-bedroom single-family home. The community is pursuing certifications for DOE Zero Energy Ready Home, U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold, and ENERGY STAR for the entire project. Additionally, seven of the 25 homes, along with the four-story apartment building and community center, are being constructed to the Passive House (PH) design standard.

Array↗

DOE OSTI2015

Analyzing Design Heating Loads in Superinsulated Buildings

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America research team Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB) worked with the EcoVillage cohousing community in Ithaca, New York, on the Third Residential EcoVillage Experience neighborhood. This communityscale project consists of 40 housing units—15 apartments and 25 single-family residences. Units range in size from 450 ft2 to 1,664 ft2 and cost from $80,000 for a studio apartment to $235,000 for a three- or four-bedroom single-family home. For the research component of this project, CARB analyzed current heating system sizing methods for superinsulated homes in cold climates to determine if changes in building load calculation methodology should be recommended. Actual heating energy use was monitored and compared to results from the Air Conditioning Contractors of America’s Manual J8 (MJ8) and the Passive House Planning Package software. Results from that research indicate that MJ8 significantly oversizes heating systems for superinsulated homes and that thermal inertia and internal gains should be considered for more accurate load calculations.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2015

Analyzing Design Heating Loads in Superinsulated Buildings

Super-insulated homes offer many benefits including improved comfort, reduced exterior noise penetration, lower energy bills, and the ability to withstand power and fuel outages under much more comfortable conditions than a typical home. While these homes aren't necessarily constructed with excessive mass in the form of concrete floors and walls, the amount of insulation and the increase in the thickness of the building envelope can lead to a mass effect, resulting in the structures ability to store much more heat than a code built home. This results in a very low thermal inertia making the building much less sensitive to drastic temperature swings thereby decreasing the peak heating load demand. During the winter of 2013/2014, CARB monitored the energy use of three homes in climate zone 6 in an attempt to evaluate the accuracy of two different mechanical system sizing methods for low load homes. Based on the results, it is recommended that internal and solar gains be included and some credit for thermal inertia be used in sizing calculations for super insulated homes.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2013

Moisture Research—Optimization of Wall Assemblies

In this project, the Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB) team evaluated several different configurations of wall assemblies to determine the accuracy of moisture modeling and make recommendations to ensure durable, efficient assemblies. WUFI and THERM were used to model the hygrothermal and heat transfer characteristics of these walls. Wall assemblies evaluated included code minimum walls using spray foam insulation and fiberglass batts, high R-value walls at least 12 in. thick (R-40 and R-60 assemblies), and brick walls with interior insulation.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2013

Evaluating Ventilation Systems for Existing Homes

During the course of this project, an affordable and high performance ductwork system to directly address the problems of thermal losses, poor efficiency, and air leakage was designed. To save space and enable direct connections between different floors of the building, the ductwork system was designed in such a way that it occupied interior or exterior frame wall cavities. The ductwork system satisfied building regulations for structural support when bridging multiple floors, the spread of fire and smoke, and insulation to reduce the heat flow into or out of the building. Retrofits of urban residential buildings will be the main focus for the application of this ductwork system. Highly reflective foils and insulating materials were used to aid in the increase of the overall R-value of the ductwork itself and the wall assembly. It is expected that the proposed system will increase the efficiency of the HVAC system and the thermal resistance of the building envelope. The performance of the proposed ductwork design was numerically evaluated in a number of different ways. Our results indicate that the duct method is a very cost attractive alternative to the conventional method.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2013

Evaluating Ventilation Systems for Existing Homes

In an effort to improve housing options near Las Vegas, Nevada, the Clark County Community Resources Division (CCCRD) performs substantial renovations to foreclosed homes. After dramatic energy, aesthetic, and health and safety improvements are made, homes are rented or sold to qualified residents. This report describes the evaluation and selection of ventilation systems for these homes, including key considerations when selecting an ideal system. The report then describes CCCRD’s decision process with respect to ventilation.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2012

Retrofitting Air Conditioning and Duct Systems in Hot, Dry Climates

This technical report describes CARB's work with Clark County Community Resources Division in Las Vegas, Nevada, to optimize procedures for upgrading cooling systems on existing homes in the area to implement health, safety, and energy improvements. Detailed monitoring of five AC systems showed that three of the five systems met or exceeded air flow rate goals.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2012

Retrofitting Air Conditioning and Duct Systems in Hot, Dry Climates

This technical report describes CARB's work with Clark County Community Resources Division in Las Vegas, Nevada, to optimize procedures for upgrading cooling systems on existing homes in the area to implement health, safety, and energy improvements. Detailed monitoring of five AC systems showed that three of the five systems met or exceeded air flow rate goals.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2012

Evaluation of Boulder, CO, SmartRegs Ordinance and Better Buildings Program

Under the SmartRegs ordinance in the city of Boulder, Colorado, all rental properties in the city must achieve an energy efficiency level comparable to a HERS Index of approximately 120 points or lower by the year 2019. The City of Boulder received a $\$$12 million grant from the DOE's Better Buildings initiative to create and incentivize their EnergySmart Program. In this report, the Consortium forAdvanced Residential Buildings (CARB) describes its work with the program, including energy audits of rental properties, developing training programs for insulators and inspectors, and conducting interviews with property owners.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2012

Evaluation of Boulder, CO, SmartRegs Ordinance and Better Buildings Program

Under the SmartRegs ordinance in the city of Boulder, Colorado, all rental properties in the city must achieve an energy efficiency level comparable to a HERS Index of approximately 120 points or lower by the year 2019. The City of Boulder received a $12 million grant from the DOE’s Better Buildings initiative to create and incentivize their EnergySmart Program. In this report, the Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB) describes its work with the program, including energy audits of rental properties, developing training programs for insulators and inspectors, and conducting interviews with property owners.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2010

The Consortium of Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB) - A Building America Energy Efficient Housing Partnership

This final report summarizes the work conducted by the Consortium of Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB) (http://www.carb-swa.com/), one of the 'Building America Energy Efficient Housing Partnership' Industry Teams, for the period January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2010. The Building America Program (BAP) is part of the Department of Energy (DOE), Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Building Technologies Program (BTP). The long term goal of the BAP is to develop cost effective, production ready systems in five major climate zones that will result in zero energy homes (ZEH) that produce as much energy as they use on an annual basis by 2020. CARB is led by Steven Winter Associates, Inc. with Davis Energy Group, Inc. (DEG), MaGrann Associates, and Johnson Research, LLC as team members. In partnership with our numerous builders and industry partners, work was performed in three primary areas - advanced systems research, prototype home development, and technical support for communities of high performance homes. Our advanced systems research work focuses on developing a better understanding of the installed performance of advanced technology systems when integrated in a whole-house scenario. Technology systems researched included: - High-R Wall Assemblies - Non-Ducted Air-Source Heat Pumps - Low-Load HVAC Systems - Solar Thermal Water Heating - Ventilation Systems - Cold-Climate Ground and Air Source Heat Pumps - Hot/Dry Climate Air-to-Water Heat Pump - Condensing Boilers - Evaporative condensers - Water Heating CARB continued to support several prototype home projects in the design and specification phase. These projects are located in all five program climate regions and most are targeting greater than 50% source energy savings over the Building America Benchmark home. CARB provided technical support and developed builder project case studies to be included in near-term Joule Milestone reports for the following community scale projects: - SBER Overlook at Clipper Mill (mixed, humid climate) - William Ryan Homes - Tampa (hot, humid climate).

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗