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Abstract

This article for HomeEnergy Magazine, a trade magazine on energy efficient home construction, retrofitting, remodeling, and research, describes retrofit projects by Grupe Homes of Sacramento, California, a production builder who has worked with DOE's Building America program on energy-efficient home demonstration projects. In this project, The article is a case study of Grupe's decision to enter the energy efficient remodeling market when new home sales lagged due to the economic slowdown starting in late 2007. The article also describes an energy-efficient retrofit of of a 22-year-old, 3-bedroom home in California’s Central Valley done in 2009 by Grupe. The home is Grupe's first retrofit and was done according to the criteria of Home Performance with ENERGY STAR, a national program from the EPA and DOE that promotes a comprehensive, whole-house approach to making energy-efficiency improvements. Grupe's staff were trained through the California Building Performance Contractors Association and passed the Building Performance Institute test to learn how to conduct extensive energy audits of existing houses as well to perform the energy efficient retrofits. In the retrofit home, they did extensive air sealing, replaced and added insulation, and replaced inefficient HVAC equipment and leaky can lights. They cut air leakage from 2478 to 1115 cfm 50, a 55% reduction. A Building America case study on this project was distributed at the EEBA (Energy and Environmental Building Alliance) Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado, Sept 28-30, 2009. The Home Energy article was published in the March/April 2010 issue.