University of Nevada Zero Energy House Project

Rick Hurt, Robert Boehm, and Yahia Baghzouz, Center for Energy Research, University of Nevada at Las Vegas
Abe Cubano, Consol
Mary Jane Hale, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Keywords

Abstract

New housing development in the desert southwest is causing an increasing demand for energy. To mitigate this demand the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV) with other participants have developed and built a nearly “zero net energy” (ZEH) house as a model home in a tract house setting. Recently, construction on the ZEH and a conventionally built adjacent home was completed. Both homes were subjected to thermal analyses to evaluate options during the design phase. The homes have the same but inverted 1610 square foot floor plan with a 410 square foot attached garage. The ZEH was constructed using T-MassTM walls, spectrally selective windows, foundation insulation, radiant barrier roof sheeting, and added attic insulation. The air-conditioning for the ZEH uses a highly efficient evaporative cooled condensing unit with the ductwork located in the conditioned space. The heating is provided by a hydronic fan coil unit. Water heating is accomplished by a solar hot water heater with integrated storage and a tank-less on-demand gas-fired unit. The house has ENERGY STAR® appliances and uses compact fluorescent lamps. For power generation the home uses a roof-integrated photovoltaic panel system rated at 4.8 kWe peak power. Both homes, which are open to the public, will be heavily monitored with a great deal of detailed instrumentation for 18 months, and during this period comparative studies will be made to determine the relative performance of the ZEH. These studies will be used to calibrate the numerical models for the thermal analysis applied during the design phase.