We start our full range of services with an Energy Code Plan Analysis. Before you finalize your plans for the new home, it’s extremely helpful to compare your options on the different ways in which you can satisfy the mandatory requirements set forth in the Energy Code.
Most home builders do not want to spend more than is necessary to build a comfortable, safe home for their buyer. To make sure that happens, you have to start with analyzing your blueprints with the Energy Code requirements in hand. Where is the best place to insulate? When does adding more insulation start to have less impact? We will answer those questions for you, based on experience and expertise.
We start by identifying your energy performance goals for the new home, and with that in mind we will explain the rules laid out in the Energy Code, show you the different construction materials or services you can use to comply with those rules, and decide on the right option for you. Every floor plan is different, so we take a close look at your unique model and recommend the best course of action for that model. With our Energy Code Plan Analysis, you will know how this home will efficiently heat and cool, even before you begin building it. Are your construction dollars better spent on the ceiling insulation, the sheathing, or the furnace? With our analysis, you will know for certain.
Energy codes are becoming more and more complicated to meet. In recent years the federal government has become more active in requiring the new home construction industry to reduce energy consumption. The Department of Energy has reported that buildings are the single largest user of energy compared to all other sectors.
To reduce this massive energy consumption, state and local governments are adopting stricter Energy Codes so that new homes are built smarter, reducing not only energy consumption and carbon emissions, but the cost to heat and cool your home. In just three code cycles — 2009, 2012, and 2015 — the Department of Energy beefed up Energy Code regulations and as a result reduced a new home’s total energy use by 50%.
D.R. Nelson & Associates will guide you through the maze of different options for Energy Code compliance — from permit submittals to compulsory new construction techniques, through testing and certification requirements — everything that you need to bring your project from the drawing board to the closing sale.
If you are building in Illinois or Michigan, you have the option to comply with the energy code by utilizing any one of the following four paths:
The Prescriptive Path
Taking the Prescriptive path is literally going by the book. Based on your climate zone, the Code prescribes what construction materials you must use based on the material’s R-Value or U-Value, which is that material’s strength of resisting heat flow. By using these prescribed insulation values, you meet the Energy Code requirements through the Prescriptive path.
The UA Alternative Path
The UA Alternative path requires that your total thermal envelope U-factor be the same or better than the Prescriptive Path, but it allows you more flexibility in how you get there. If the total U-Value of your construction materials times the Surface Area of the building is equal to or less than the total UA of the Prescriptive home, you can pick and choose what construction materials you use to get there.
That means you have more control over the cost of complying with the Energy Code. It is important to know, though, that the 2009 Energy Code introduced some important new restrictions on the UA Alternative method.
The Simulated Performance Path
This method is the by far the most flexible and cost-effective path to energy code compliance. D.R. Nelson & Associates has been a pioneer in this method since its introduction in the 1993 energy code. Although it is complicated and requires detailed documents, we will take you through the whole process starting with a plan analysis and ending with a Certificate of Occupancy.
This path’s primary concern is reducing the end user’s heating and cooling bills. We will analyze your home and inform you on the impact of insulating different areas of the home to demonstrate where and how to use each construction dollar in the areas that provide the biggest impact (lower heating & cooling bills). Value engineering at its finest.
The Energy Rating Index Path
The Energy Rating Index path (ERI) is a points-based “rating” of the home. Much like the UA Alternative path, there is an overall “rating” that must be achieved, based on the climate zone the home is being built in. All construction materials including appliances are factored when using the ERI path.
To reduce the amount of energy used heating and cooling their homes, most people focus on adding insulation. But controlling air infiltration is more important.” – Fine Homebuilding