Welcome to CARB-SWA: Leaders in Advanced Residential Building Research & Design
The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Building America Program is a partnership between researchers and the various facets of the residential building industry to develop cost effective solutions that reduce the energy use of residential housing. Since 1995, the focus has been on new construction, but in the coming years, the focus will switch to existing homes. The goal remains to improve the quality and energy efficiency of homes, but has expanded it to include all housing types (existing, new, single-family, multi-family, attached, detached, etc.). “These partnerships will research and deploy new technologies and demonstration projects, and provide systems engineering, quality assurance, and outreach for retrofit projects throughout the country.”
The Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB) is one of fifteen residential research teams (and one of the original six teams) that is funded through this program, with Steven Winter Associates, Inc. (SWA) as the lead team member. The CARB team will focus on innovative market delivery and cost-effective demonstrations of high performance retrofits and new homes. The primary focus of SWA’s research is systems optimization and the integration of new technologies into existing homes, all with the ultimate goal of dramatically improving the energy efficiency of American homes.
We invite you to take a look at our case studies and newsletters to learn more about our homes and projects that have been a part of this research program.
Featured Resources
A Low-Energy Community in Greenfield, MA: RDI Wisdom Way Solar Village
In 2010, Rural Development, Inc. (RDI) completed construction of Wisdom Way Solar Village (WWSV), a community of ten duplexes (20 homes) in Greenfield, MA. RDI was committed to very low energy use from the beginning of the design process throughout construction. Key features include:
• Careful site plan so that all homes have solar access (for active and passive);
• Cellulose insulation providing R-40 walls, R-50 ceiling, and R-40 floors;
• Triple-pane windows;
• Airtight construction (~0.1 CFM50/ft2 enclosure area);
• Solar water heating systems with tankless, gas, auxiliary heaters;
• PV systems (2.8 or 3.4kWSTC);
• 2-4 bedrooms, 1,100-1,700 sq. ft.
The design heating loads in the homes were so small that each home is heated with a single, sealed-combustion, natural gas room heater. The cost savings from the simple HVAC systems made possible the tremendous investments in the homes’ envelopes. CARB monitored temperatures and comfort in several homes during the winter of 2009-2010. In the Spring of 2011, CARB analyzed the utility bill information from 13 occupied homes and found that most homes had a net credit from the electric utility over the course of a year. Read More...