In 2008, The New American Home (TNAH) celebrated its 25th anniversary at the International Builders' Show in Orlando, once again displaying innovative building materials and the latest construction techniques providing home builders with inspiration for energy-efficient, durable and earth-friendly homes.

Built by Robertson Homes, Inc. and incorporating unique and innovative green features, TNAH '08 is a 10,963-square-foot house (6,725 sq. ft. living area), located in the beautiful Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, Florida.

Challenge

To ensure the home's energy efficiency and innovation, two U.S. Department of Energy Building America teams worked closely with NCHI (National Council of Housing Industry). IBACOS, Inc. provided design and engineering support, and the Industrialized

Housing Partnership provided performance testing. The biggest challenge for the TNAH task force was incorporating energy efficiency in this big home since the home was set to become certified "green" and Energy Star^® rated.

Solution

TNAH task force worked with representatives from the federal Building America and Energy Star^® programs as well as the Florida Green Building Coalition (FGBC) to incorporate energy and resource-efficient products and materials into this prime show home.

A breakthrough technology that highly contributed towards enhancing energy efficiency and reducing the carbon footprint of this home is Icynene^®.

Vern's Insulation and Specialties– an Icynene Licensed Dealer, sprayed Icynene^® on the underside of the roof deck at 5.5 inch thickness providing R-value of R-20. As an air-impermeable insulation with tenacious adhesion characteristics, Icynene^® adheres to the wood substrate becoming part of the insulated building enclosure. This application is popularly referred to as an unvented attic system in which the attic space becomes indirectly conditioned as a result of air leakage, heat transfer and vapor diffusion through the ceiling.

Air-sealing the Attic

The problems associated with traditionally ventilated attics in hot/humid climates are many. On hot summer days, the attic heats up far into the afternoon and draws in moisture during the cooler evenings.

Secondly, the inward moisture settles on HVAC equipment causing rust and mold challenges.

The attic in TNAH is unvented, air-sealed and indirectly conditioned — a particularly innovative approach to energy efficiency and durability in hot/humid climates such as Florida.

Because Icynene^® is a n ASTM tested air barrierⁱ; it helps control air (and airborne moisture) from moving across the building envelope while keeping the attic cooler.

Results

Air-sealing the home resulted in installing three, smaller, less expensive, high-performance mechanical systems. The heat pumps have a maximum of 16.6 SEER performance and each unit and its associated ductwork are placed within the conditioned space — a relatively simple change in construction techniques that more builders are adopting. This change in construction technology helped save TNAH 62% in heating and cooling energy consumption compared to a house of similar size in hot/humid climate zone.ⁱⁱ  

As the NAHB National Green Building Standard is launched, TNAH will also hold the distinction of being the first show home built and certified to the program's scoring tool.

Icynene^® helped contribute certification credits/points towards energy-efficiency, resource conservation, use of sustainable or recycled products, and indoor air-quality protection. It is anticipated that the home will achieve a gold certification level.

To contact an Icynene Licensed Dealer in your area click here. 

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