In an effort to stay ahead of advancing model energy codes,
the EPA Energy Star for Homes program released its draft of a
proposed new specification this spring. Slated to take effect
in 2011, the new spec goes beyond previous Energy Star
upgrades. While earlier moves to toughen the program focused on
lowering the Home Energy Rating System (HERS) score required to
earn the label, the draft 2011 standard takes a different
approach, introducing a new set of prescriptive checklists for
particular building components and systems.
Program director Sam Rashkin says the new prescriptive rules
are intended to build on the program’s existing
success in transforming building industry practices. In markets
like Houston, he says, where as many as 40 percent of new homes
have received Energy Star labels in recent years, building
trades have improved their practices even on non-Energy Star
projects. “Once Energy Star comes on the scene and the
hvac contractors visually see the difference from doing better
ductwork, they just start doing good ducts everywhere. Trades
don’t want to do inferior work, so the duct systems in
all the homes start getting better. The air-sealing in all the
homes starts getting better. People start expecting low-e
windows on all the homes, so builders don’t order
low-e windows for the Energy Star subdivisions and
lower-quality windows for the non-Energy Star
subdivisions.”
System checklists. The program already includes one
detail checklist: The “Thermal Bypass
Checklist” was introduced in 2006 and requires energy
raters to verify quality insulation and air barrier
installation at specific locations (such as behind tubs and
showers, or in attic kneewalls). Now program managers are
proposing five more lists: a framing checklist calling for
2-foot on-center stud spacing, two-stud corners, single top
plates, and reductions in window and door stud and header
framing; a “water managed construction”
checklist encompassing items like exterior flashing, wall
drainage plane details, and site grading; an air-quality
checklist for the home’s ventilation system; and two
checklists relating to hvac installation quality (one for the
hvac contractor to complete and one for the home energy rater).
The spec calls for special attention to air-sealing details,
including a requirement to caulk behind drywall at the top of
wall plates beneath unconditioned attics (intended to minimize
air leakage into the attic from conditioned space below). But
the air-sealing inspection can be skipped if a blower-door test
is conducted instead.
According to Rashkin, the comprehensive attention to critical
details will significantly improve the quality as well as the
energy performance of buildings. Instead of relying on a HERS
index target to ensure high performance, he says, “we
want a complete building science approach that delivers
complete systems. The thermal envelope system will be complete,
and therefore it will work. The hvac system will be complete,
and therefore it will work, at rated levels. The water-managed
construction system will be 100 percent complete, and therefore
the homes will be protected. The ventilation systems will be
complete and tested, and so we will be assured of proper air
exchange in high-performance homes. And the energy-efficient
components will be comprehensive.”
Critical reception. Initial reaction to the new
approach from builders and energy raters already working with
Energy Star, however, has been sharply negative. In formal
comments submitted to the EPA, raters complain that they lack
the expertise to take responsibility for framing details or
exterior components and finishes. By the same token, they
argue, third-party raters should not have to try to supervise
or overrule licensed trade contractors such as hvac installers.
For their part, builders worry about the cost of the required
practices. And raters and builders alike wonder who will pay
for all the trips to the job site needed for multiple
inspections of various building systems.
Rather than accelerating market transformation, critics argue,
the new changes will set progress back. “The timing of
these changes is not right,” commented one rater.
“With the economy in a downturn and builders going out
of business, additional requirements and costs will cause
builders to say the heck with the Energy Star
program.” Non–energy-related issues like
water management are better left to other programs, say such
detractors. Another rater said, “I can see that all of
these new items have very good intent. However, many far exceed
energy as an overriding factor, and all of them drive the cost
of the program up. Is Energy Star trying to become
Sustainability Star?”
A worthwhile risk. By the time 2011 rolls around, of
course, the home-building economy may no longer be in such dire
straits. And with energy efficiency high on the current
administration’s priority list, budgets may include
financial incentives for builders who embrace programs like
Energy Star and for the rating industry that supports them. Sam
Rashkin, at any rate, seems unperturbed so far by the outcry
provoked by his agency’s new spec. “We will
lose numbers, initially,” he acknowledges.
“But the value proposition is so superior for what
we’re doing, I think the growth on the back end will
be much greater. It’s quite a risk we’re
taking — but you know, the quote I’m using in
all my presentations is from Wayne Gretzky: ‘Great
skaters skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it
is.’ And we’re just convinced that where you
have to be if you’re going to be a relevant builder in
the next four or five years is where these specs are
going.” — Ted Cushman
Asphalt Roofing Prices
Defy Downturn
While the slowdown in the construction industry and
declining fuel costs have lowered the cost of most building
materials, prices for asphalt shingles continue to rise. Back
in 2008, Atlanta-based KTM Roofing reported that its cost per
square for three-tab asphalt shingles rose from $30 to $46
between January and June. By February 2009 — as gas
prices fell from more than $4 per gallon at midsummer to less
than $2 per gallon — KTM’s shingle prices had
climbed to more than $60 per square. Nationally, asphalt
shingle prices rose almost 60 percent from March 2008 to March
2009, according to the Producer Price Index.
And they’re unlikely to drop any time soon, says KTM
president Tim McLoughlin — even though higher shingle
prices have led to a drop in demand for asphalt roofing.
“Unlike the price of oil, once the cost of shingles
goes up, it historically stays at that level,” said
McLoughlin in a recent company statement. “Asphalt
shingle prices do not fluctuate like oil prices
do.”
According to Jim Haughey, chief economist with Reed
Construction Data, asphalt shingle prices are more closely tied
to the price and availability of asphalt — which he
calls an “inconvenient by-product” of the
refining process — than they are to the price of crude
oil and other primary petroleum products. Oil companies have
learned to squeeze more high-value products like gasoline, jet
fuel, and diesel from the bottom of the crude-oil barrel, he
notes, so when those products are in demand, refineries produce
less asphalt, driving up its price. However, when demand for
gasoline and other light products falls and asphalt supplies
rise, shingle prices don’t necessarily start to drop
— a phenomenon Haughey attributes to delays in price
adjustments along the supply chain; a complicating factor this
year is that the economic stimulus package — with its
emphasis on road construction and infrastructure repair
— places yet another competing demand on asphalt
supplies.
Haughey expects refinery production to increase as the economy
recovers, yielding more asphalt and steadying asphalt shingle
prices through next year. But other analysts point out the
impact that weather can have on shingle prices: Hurricanes,
tornadoes, and hailstorms can drive demand up rapidly. Bill
Good of the National Roofing Contractors Association says he
doesn’t expect any big increases in the cost of
asphalt shingles in the coming months. “But
we’re also not seeing any big price drops,”
he says. — Andrew Wormer
Offcuts
Construction on the New American Home 2010, a model home
scheduled to debut at the 2010 International Builders’
Show in Las Vegas, has slowed while the builder struggles to
obtain financing to complete the project. News reports indicate
that Las Vegas builder Domanico Custom Homes can’t
find a bank willing to finance the final draw needed to finish
the 6,000-square-foot house, which is about 60 percent
complete.
Among window and patio-door manufacturers, Pella earned the
highest grades in the 2009 Windows and Patio Doors Satisfaction
Study. The consumer survey is conducted by J.D. Power and
Associates. Rounding out the top five are Andersen, Milgard,
Marvin, and Weather Shield.
About 3,000 Ridgid model R4511 10-inch table saws sold through
The Home Depot between January and July 2009 have been recalled
because the arbor shaft can fail when used with a stacked dado
set. For a free on-site repair or for more information on the
recall, contact the distributor, One World Technologies
(866/539-1710, ridgid.com),
or the Consumer Product Safety Commission recall hotline
(800/638-2772).