This October 12 Rachel Wagner will join Pat Huelman and Michael Resech to present a full-day continuing education seminar hosted by MN Green Path.
We just received a HERS score of 34 for this new house in Wisconsin with no renewable energy systems (yet). I couldn’t be happier about this, for a couple reasons. First, of course, is the fact that this passive solar designed, super-insulated home is predicted to use 66% less energy than a new home built to current WI code would use. And second, because the HERS score provided through the Wisconsin Focus on Energy Program confirms the estimations of our own in house energy modeling efforts.
So, for those of you (still) reading who are not energy geeks, you may be wondering what a HERS rating is, and why all the fuss? The HERS index is a nationally recognized rating system for single family homes that “rates” the predicted energy consumption of a new home relative to a baseline home (of the same design in the same location). A HERS score is obtained with a third party rater, who not only enters the building design and systems specifications into an energy model, but also makes periodic site visits during construction to verify the levels and quality of insulation, assembly details, products used, and air tightness of the building.
The lower the HERS score, the lower the predicted energy consumption of the home. A HERS score of zero indicates a home expected to be net zero energy (like the Echo Lake Home we designed, featured in Green Building Advisor). A score of 100 would indicate a home built to the current energy code. A score higher than 100 indicates a home less efficient than a new home built to code.
Our friends at Unity Homes in New Hampshire wrote a great blog piece explaining the HERS rating system:
We’ll write more in another post about the Rice Lake Farmhouse, once the owner has finished decorating and lets me back in for final photographs. The house isn’t just low energy, it is also a beautiful, modern home that takes its inspiration from the tradition of the Swedish farmhouse.
In the meantime, enjoy this photo taken on June 21, the Summer solstice. And note the shading across the south facing windows!
Check out the story in Growler Magazine about soon-to-open Hoops Brewing.
Wagner Zaun Architecture is proud to be part of the team that made this project a reality.
Wait – High heating bills in winter aren’t a given. You can learn about reducing and managing building energy use at the annual Energy Design Conference at the DECC, February 20, 21 and 22.
Wagner Zaun Architecture has been a proud participant in this conference for the past 12 years. This year, staff energy geeks Rachel Wagner and Elden Lindamood will give presentations about design and construction, including two case studies of recently completed super-efficient houses.
We hope to see you there (because sometimes you have to come in from the cold)!
Check out https://www.duluthenergydesign.com/
Work is well underway on the super-efficient Rice Lake Farmhouse. We designed this low-energy home with the owner’s vision of a modern interpretation of the iconic and durable Swedish Farmhouse. The house sits on a 6.5 acre old homestead, surrounded by working farms. The house is nearly closed in, awaiting the delivery of windows, and you can easily see the iconic farmhouse form. We’ll continue to post as construction proceeds.
South Elevation
WZA’s energy geek Elden Lindamood shares more about this own house on Green Building Advisor. Elden has been sharing the background and the foreground about the design, construction, performance and operation of his own low-energy house.
You can read his 4th (and the other 3) blog installment here:
Sustainable building continues its move into the general public. In the June, 2016 issue of Business North, writer Kitty Mayo interviewed Rachel Wagner to learn more about the concepts of the Passive House building standard and energy efficient design in general. Rachel is a certified Passive House designer, and she was happy to share the principles and philosophy behind Passive House and her firm’s embrace of an integrated approach to reduce the environmental impact of building construction and operation.
Click here to read the full article: Passive House Movement Catching on Locally
