Duwe/Paulsen House
10507 Eastlawn Drive
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We wanted our house to be low maintenance and low operating cost.Designed by architect Armando Cobo and featured on the 2017 Modern Mile Home Tour, our Zero Energy Ready Home is highly energy efficient, allowing our SunPower PV system to provide about 60% of our total power consumption during its first year of operation - including operating a 60’ lap pool and a high powered home theater system. Overall, we love our home and are very happy with the energy efficient elements we incorporated into its design. |
Renewable energy features
Solar PV
kW: 9.81 kW
Installation Date: December 2016
Installer: The Energy Shop, Inc.
Equipment
SunPower E20 327 W PV modules
2 - SMA SB-5000-TL-US-22 Inverters
Retail Electric Provider
Green Mountain
Green features
- Zero Energy Ready Home (cert pending) and Energy Star
- Standing seam metal roof
- Drip irrigation system and drought tolerant ornamental grasses, zoysia lawn
- Mostly LED, CFLs in a few lamps
- Tankless water heaters
Host Comments
Aside from having the benefit of the 30% federal tax credit on the PV system, we wanted our house to be low maintenance and low operating cost. Our SunPower PV system produced about 60% of our total power consumption which includes operating a 60’ lap pool and a high powered home theater system during its first year of operation. Our architect/designer, Armando Cobo designed the home to qualify for Green Built Texas, NAHB Green, LEED for Homes, and DOE’s Energy Star and Zero Energy Ready Home programs. The home was designed to have a very tight building envelope to achieve 1ACH50 (1 air exchange at negative 50 Pascals), reduce the energy loads to a minimum, and achieve a low HERS40 score (60% more efficient than a code house without PV) as primary goals.
The attic is conditioned space with 1.5” R10 rigid foam above the roof decking to avoid condensation and 8” R32 open cell foam under the roof decking for a total R42 attic insulation. All duct work is contained within the conditioned envelope. We also have mechanical ventilation to achieve ASHRAE 62.2 guidelines. The wall assembly is 2x6 @ 24” oc filled with R21 dense pack cellulose and 1/2” R3 rigid foam to avoid thermal bridging, and rain screens for water management, giving us a total R24 insulation for our exterior walls. These measures greatly reduce heating and cooling loads, allowing us to keep the home comfortable year-round using a reduced tonnage, high efficiency HVAC systems. Our natural gas bills are relatively low considering the high volume 4,770 sq. ft. floorplan. The reflective metal roof with 3’ eve overhangs and Low-E thermal windows throughout allow ample natural light with minimal energy loss. Extensive use of drip irrigation also keeps water bills reasonable. Overall, we love our home and are very happy with the energy efficient elements we incorporated into its design.