The Building America Program was created in 1995 by the US Department of Energy (DOE). Conducts research on energy efficiency , focusing on the residential construction sector. The program has developed more than 100 innovations in energy efficiency technologies, which continually help deliver more efficient homes. Technologies provided by the program improve comfort, durability and air quality while reducing energy use and carbon emissions.
The Building America program has set the following goals by 2020:
- Deep, cost-effective energy savings of 60% on new homes and 40% on existing homes.
- Profitable savings of at least 5% in individual key technology areas.
Building America created a three-step strategy to achieve program goals:
- Step 1: Integrate innovative energy-saving technologies into test homes to demonstrate reductions in energy consumption.
- Step 2: Partner with leading developers to expand the use of energy-saving technologies and prove their market demand.
- Step 3: Accelerate market-wide technology adoption through voluntary programs and energy code moderation.
Some efforts undertaken by the Building America program are a solutions center, organized meetings, and research teams collaborating with national laboratories.
Make sure your building project is energy efficient.
Solutions Center
The Building America Solution Center is a source of information for construction professionals, including high-performance projects and other topics related to energy efficiency, such as air sealing and insulation . The solutions center also provides an extensive database of resources that includes the following:
- Hiring documents
- Installation Guidance
- Codes
- CAD drawings
- Multimedia: videos, reports and photographs
Dating
Building America hosts open meetings and webinars for construction professionals, industry partners and interested parties where topics related to residential construction research are discussed. In this way, the program creates a forum for the construction industry, while also contributing to the continued training of construction professionals.
Research Teams
Building America's research teams are comprised of experts in residential building science. These teams work with DOE research partners to advance innovations and technologies related to high-performance homes. The ultimate goal is to promote efficiency and reduce energy use. Some of the main research teams are as follows:
- Building Envelope Materials
- Building Science Corporation
- Center for Energy and Environment
- Institute of Gas Technology
- Home Innovations Research Laboratories
Building America research projects are conducted at US DOE national laboratories:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Building America brings research results to market, helping create building codes and supporting other energy efficiency programs. Some examples are EPA ENERGY STAR for new homes, Home Performance with ENERGY STAR, and the DOE Zero Energy Ready Home program.
Building the perspective of the America program
Building America is focused on developing zero-energy ready homes combined with renewable energy options at affordable prices. As an effort in this direction, the program addresses three main areas of housing technology:
- High-Performance Moisture Management Envelope Solution
- Ideal comfort systems for low-load homes
- Optimal ventilation and indoor quality solutions
A 5-year plan was created, containing a roadmap for each of the three technical challenges. These itineraries aim for the following purposes:
- Capture key industry and market stakeholders in the research process
- Provide practical, cost-effective, high-performance solutions
- Promote best practices and lessons
- Manage risks
- Achieve optimal performance
- Use code improvements as endpoints
As mentioned previously, Building America's main objective is to achieve cost-effective energy savings through the research and development of innovative solutions. The list of innovations delivered by Building America includes the following:
- Increased insulation in homes through alternative construction techniques.
- Improvements in heating and cooling systems, through the use of high-efficiency equipment and better air distribution.
- Improving indoor air quality in homes, through technical solutions and industry guidance (low-cost ventilation).
- Insulation and air sealing solutions for attics and basements.
- Framing systems and packages.
- High R-Value Walls
- Improved performance for furnace blowers
- Simplified duct system layouts
- Buried encapsulated pipelines
- Outside air ventilation controls
For developers who want to include the latest construction technologies in their projects, the best recommendation is to work with qualified engineering professionals. They can analyze the specific needs of each building and propose the combination of energy efficiency measures that produces the greatest savings. In the case of new construction, there is an excellent opportunity to design high-performance building envelopes that are more difficult to implement in existing buildings.
