ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 5, 1997 TAG: 9701070041
SECTION: HOMES PAGE: D-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: NICK HARDER KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
What if there was a new home on the market that had many unique design and energy saving features, yet wouldn't cost you that proverbial arm and a leg?
What if those energy-saving features could also save you as much as $600 a year in utility bills?
How you and other consumers respond to new housing innovations about to hit the Southern California market could begin to gradually but dramatically change the face of housing in America.
Soon this year, a home developer in Orange and San Diego counties in California will build 41 homes in Rancho Santa Margarita, 41 in Irvine and 100 to 115 in San Diego County. All will have unique design and energy characteristics.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect to potential buyers of these homes is the structural design of the interiors. To borrow a phrase from wedding tradition, it's a case of something old becoming something ``new.'' Each home will have a design popular in the 1950s - a split level.
Unlike the conventional one- or two-story designs, these homes will essentially be 21/2 or three stories - depending on how you view them - although split-level may be more accurate.
Among the unique energy-saving features in each of the homes are:
* An open-web truss floor system to accommodate air ducts of reduced length and size. (The longer the ductwork from a gas forced-air furnace through an air duct, the more heat will be lost in that duct.)
* Relocation of the air-handling unit (that's the furnace and air conditioning unit) to the interior rather than the attic or garage. (The air conditioning condenser is still outside.) All the ductwork also has been relocated inside what builders call the ``thermal shell.'' That's the insulation in the ceiling, walls and floor.
* An increased builder effort to reduce all air leakages in homes' exteriors. (These leaks are typically found at many electrical switch and outlet covers, at points where plumbing enters the house, around exterior doors and windows, etc.)
* Installation of windows with a low shading coefficient glazing instead of conventional clear glass. This will reduce ultraviolet penetration, thus minimizing heat/cooling loss as well as floor- and window-covering fade.
* Use of the most energy-efficient heating/cooling units possible.
The Southern California homes are part of a national effort by many builders, the Department of Energy and several major corporations to improve the quality of home-building and energy saving technology.
As part of the program, 10 test homes have been built, and more than 20 will be completed by the end of the year in a variety of climates.
Sara Farrar, an associate engineer with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, says the program is expected to affect 400 to 600 houses around the country in the next few years.
``We like to think of ourselves as turning the crank with these projects,'' Farrar says. ``That crank will get this technology going in other home projects around the country, but we'll look for other homes in the future to include even more advanced technology and technological systems.''
Among the other projects the program has on its schedule are sites in Grayslake, Ill.; Cambridge, Mass.; Frederick, Md.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Austin, Texas; Charlotte, N.C.; Las Vegas, Nev.; Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz.; and Orlando, Fla.
LENGTH: Medium: 65 linesby CNB