Issue #10
July 2008

Visit the Affordable Energy New Archive at www.h-m-g.com/multifamily/AHEEA/Newsletter

In this issue...

Passive Cooling Strategy

Nightbreeze Technology and Rebates

Multifamily Buildings:  High Performance Design Training

AHEEA Handbook:  Your Guide to Energy Efficiency in Affordable Housing

Energy Efficiency Incentives and Programs

Passive Cooling Strategy

If California is to cut energy consumption from the residential sector in half by the year 2010, a key strategy is to design and build homes to a certain comfort level without the need for air conditioning.   Today, the use of refrigerated air conditioning has come to be seen as a necessity for all, regardless of what the local climate might allow.  Decades worth of ill-conceived housing have reinforced this perception and created defacto models for future development.  There are alternatives.  Throughout California , even in the hottest of climates, the implementation of passive design strategies can approach mechanized strategies in keeping buildings cool, offering substantial first cost savings, and reducing long term operating costs and energy consumption.

There are two primary steps to successfully designing a passively cooled building.  The first is to understand the local climate.  Climate Consultant is a comprehensive analysis tool, and is available free on-line (www.aud.ucla.edu/energy-design-tools).  Climate Consultant Graphically displays climate data (for each of California’s 16 Climate Zones) in dozens of ways useful to designers and builders including temperatures, wind velocity, sky cover, percent sunshine, psychometric chart, timetable of bioclimatic needs, sun charts and sun dials showing hours when solar heating is needed and when shading is required. The psychrometric analysis recommends the most appropriate passive design strategies, and lets users quickly determine if passive cooling is possible for their project.

Next, the homeowner, designer, or builder needs to describe conceptual assumptions about the proposed building within their local climate.  For single or multifamily buildings, HEED (Home Energy Efficient Design) is available free on-line (www.aud.ucla.edu/heed) and is a great tool for this process (it comes with pre-loaded climate data for all 16 California Climate zones).  HEED allows users to measure energy and money savings by making various design or remodeling changes to your home through an easy-to-use program interface. You can draw in the floor plan of your own house, then click and drag your windows to their correct location. You can select from lists of typical wall and roof construction.   HEED also offers a graph displaying the effects of passive cooling showing total demand for the air conditioner (hours per year).  For advanced users there are more detailed design data input options and output display graphics.    Experimenting with alternatives, users will quickly discover that simple strategies – like adding thermal mass, adding high performance glazing, and night flushing the building (ventilation with a whole house fan) - can often match the output of a conventional air conditioning system.  In doing so, users will see a dramatic impact on both their wallets, and on the environment.

NightBreeze Technology and Rebates

The NightBreeze Energy Efficiency Incentive Program is, a Southern California Edison program, implemented by Intergy Corporation.  The program introduces a superior home cooling system to the new residential construction market and offers a $1,500 incentive for each unit installed.

So what is NightBreeze?

In a nutshell, NightBreeze is an advanced version of a whole house fan.  Like a whole house fan, the unit takes advantage of cool (and free) outside air to cool a house down instead of relying on air from an A/C unit.  NightBreeze’s advantage is that it brings in cool air all evening long through the duct system already installed in the house, and unlike the whole house fan which requires the opening of windows to bring in the air.  Homeowners who own a whole house fan are usually forced to close their windows when they go to sleep at night, turning off their whole house fan and kicking on the A/C! Not a very smart system.

NightBreeze is an integrated night ventilation cooling system with intelligent adaptive controls that optimize security, cooling comfort and energy and demand savings.  Key to its operation is a control system that anticipates hot weather through an outdoor sensor and automatically ventilates with cool night air.  If outdoor air is warmer than indoor air, the A/C will turn on.  Both in heating and in cooling, a quiet, efficient variable speed blower provides the right amount of airflow needed. 

NightBreeze was designed to eliminate the need for air conditioning in mild climates and reduce the size of air conditions in hotter climates.  The unit is ideally suited for California climates. 

Additional product benefits include:

• Saves energy, lowers utility bills.  Energy savings of as much as 50 percent (Documentation and studies available)

• Healthier indoor environment by providing filtered, fresh outdoor air year round.

• Convenient and secure.  No need to open windows, easy to use thermostat

• Variable speed furnace minimizes drafts and noise

• Marketing advantage for seller

• Decreased liability from mold and other ventilation-related claims

NightBreeze EE Program Incentive

Under this program, builders and now existing homeowners can get $1,500 for installing a NightBreeze unit.  This incentive covers the cost of the unit and helps pay for the installation cost.  

For more information visit www.intergycorp.com/nightbreeze or contact Mabell Garcia Paine at (626) 256-0526 extension 227 or email: mabell.paine@intergycorp.com

Program expires December 31, 2008 or earlier if all allocated funds are depleted before the end date.

Multifamily Buildings: High Performance Design Training

The Multifamily Buildings: High Performance Design Training session provides a comprehensive introduction on a variety of multifamily building issues. The training is Power Point slide show based, designed to be very interactive, and augmented by examples of equipment, materials, and building analyses. Training topics will include:

· Affordable Housing Energy Efficiency Alliance (AHEEA) program overview and access to a free Energy Efficiency Handbook for multifamily owners and developers

· California New Homes Program (CANHP) program overview, with focus on making participation easier

· 2005 California Building Energy Standards (Title 24) overview

· Multifamily energy efficiency design concepts

· Overview of energy efficiency measures (Site, HVAC, envelope, DHW, verification/inspections, etc)

· Case Studies

· Cost/benefit analysis approaches

· Financing for multifamily buildings: Utility, CEC, DOE, EPA, TCAC, Enterprise Communities and other possible funding

· Energy efficiency resources list

Sign up now, space is limited and is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Bring your AIA membership card to the workshop to obtain up to 5 AIA learning units.

AHEEA Handbook:  Your Guide to Energy Efficiency in Affordable Housing

Download a free color copy today at www.h-m-g.com/multifamily/AHEEA/Handbook, or send an e-mail request to aheea@h-m-g.com for a black and white hard copy.

Energy Efficiency Programs and Incentives

For information on SCE's multifamily affordable housing incentive programs, please see programs and contact information below:

New Construction: For information on SCE's California New Homes Program, please visit www.h-m-g.com/multifamily/CANHP or contact Colin Jessop at 760-436-7005 or

Rehabilitation of Existing Buildings: For information on SCG/SCE's Designed for Comfort Program, please visit www.DesignedforComfort.com or contact Elizabeth McCollum at 760-436-7001 or

Affordable Housing Design Assistance and Charrettes: For more information on SCE's Affordable Housing Energy Efficiency Alliance, please visit www.h-m-g.com/multifamily/aheea or contact Julieann Summerford at 760-436-7002 or

Este programa es financiado por los usuarios de las compañías de servicios públicos de California y es administrado por Southern California Edison Company bajo los auspicios de la Comisión de Servicios Públicos de California mediante un contrato con Heschong Mahone Group. Los contribuyentes de California que decidan participar en este programa no están obligados a comprar ningún servicio adicional ofrecido por el contratista. Las marcas registradas usadas aquí son propiedad de sus dueños respectivos. SCE se reserva el derecho a modificar o interrumpir este programa a su criterio o a pedido de la CPUC.

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Heschong Mahone Group, Inc.

144 West D Street, Suite B, Encinitas, CA 92024