EEBA's High Performance Home Blog

Posts From May, 2018

Younger Homes - January Builder of the Month

Younger Homes - January Builder of the Month
This Austin, Texas, project embodies sustainable luxury through its two connected residences: a main home with a HERS of negative 30 with PV and a guest home with a HERS of 54, both EPA Indoor airPLUS certified. Thoughtfully designed, these residences merge elegance with energy efficiency, showcasing how sustainability enhances, not limits aesthetics. At the core of this property is a beautifully designed 30,000-gallon rainwater harvesting system, capable of capturing up to 6,000 gallons per inch of rainfall from the main residence, supporting irrigation, potable use, and gardens on the eleven-acre property. Solar energy is generated by discreetly positioned ground-mounted photovoltaic (PV) panels, designed to meet the homes’ energy demands while minimizing their carbon footprint. For energy independence and resilience, the home integrates its own well for fresh water, the option to use city water, and a Generac generator to provide backup power during emergencies. Stepping... read more
 
Posted by Merielle McLaughlin Tuesday, January 7, 2025 2:48:00 PM
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Leading From the Ground Up

The Innovation Summit at EEBA’s High Performance Home Summit offered attendees a greater opportunity for meaningful discussion.
Leading From the Ground Up
Industry events can, at times, be predictable. Same speakers, same topics, same format. And while presenters are grasping for an opportunity to create an atmosphere of authenticity in their presentation, there’s rarely enough time left for a good discussion afterwards. Last year’s conference in Atlanta not only offered PechaKucha, but also the first EEBA Innovation Summit. Assembling a panel packed with diverse backgrounds and expertise, Colby Swanson and Calvin Trumbo of Momentum Innovation Group, joined forces with Mike Hess of Panasonic CityNow, and Aaron Holm of Blokable to give attendees a taste of project and product innovation happening within the industry. Hess explained how Panasonic is utilizing technology to build the smart city of tomorrow. Holm, an ex-Amazon exec, described the housing issues they are trying to help solve at Blokable, and Swanson and Trumbo went into detail about areas inside and outside the industry that are pushing the boundaries of... read more
 
Posted by Heather Wallace Friday, May 18, 2018 12:44:00 PM
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Upcoming HERS Associate Courses

The HERS Associate course will provide attendees with a greater understanding of what it takes to design a high performance, energy efficient home.
Upcoming HERS Associate Courses
EEBA will be offering the new HERS Associate course ("An Introduction to the HERS Index & IECC Compliance") in Atlanta and Raleigh during the month of May, and in June in Denver. The class is geared towards (but not limited to) builders, realtors, designers, architects, new home salespeople, manufacturing representatives, and sustainability students who are not certified HERS Raters. Mike Barcik, Technical Principal at Southface Institute, will lead the day-long, 3-part course introducing attendees to the HERS Index and exploring how it’s used to comply with the building code. "I really enjoy teaching this class. It covers the basic content of the energy code and demonstrates methods of compliance," says Barcik. "It also demonstrates how the HERS index is determined and how the Rating industry can help builders achieve code compliance and receive credit for beyond-code measures." Each class will begin with basic Building Science principles and how they relate to the... read more
 
Posted by Heather Wallace Wednesday, May 9, 2018 2:24:00 PM
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High Performance Homes in Under 7 Minutes

Less is more when it comes to PechaKucha at EEBA's High Performance Home Summit
At this year’s High Performance Home Summit in San Diego, we'll be bringing back the highly rated PechaKucha. Last year's standing room only session gave attendees a chance to get a quick glimpse of multiple presentations. PechaKucha is a style of presenting aimed at quickly and creatively conveying a message. Presenters have under seven minutes to keep the audience engaged through 20 slides while being as concise and informative as possible, and ending with a short Q&A. Luis Imery presents during PechaKucha at the 2017 High Performance Home Summit in Atlanta (Click to View Video) Winners from the Department of Energy's Housing Innovation Awards have participated in the last two PechaKucha events at EEBA's High Performance Home Summit. Facilitator and EEBA Board Member, Alex Glenn, hopes to see more industry leaders and innovative thinkers get involved this year. "I like PechaKucha for many reasons, including how many ideas can be presented in such a short amount of... read more
 
Posted by Heather Wallace Friday, May 4, 2018 10:36:00 AM
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