Building America

Building America is a public-private partnership funded by the Department of Energy to conduct research that will lead to substantial improvements in the energy efficiency of new residential buildings. The Building America goal is to develop marketable homes that approach zero net energy use by the year 2020.

Davis Energy Group has been a partner in the Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB), one of the six Building America teams, since 2002. CARB is led by Steven Winter Associates of Norwalk, Connecticut. Builders DEG has teamed with under Building America include Centex Homes, The Grupe Company, Monley-Cronin, Clarum Homes, Dale Homes/DSCI, and Meritage Homes. Annual energy savings of over 40% (relative to the Building America "Benchmark") have been achieved, and many of these homes incorporate photovoltaics to approach 70% overall energy savings.

Building America applies a systems integration approach that includes researching components and systems, evaluating them in research and prototype houses, and conducting community scale evaluations of the integrated systems. In addition to applying commercially available technologies to reduce energy use, DEG has implemented some of the emerging technologies it has developed, such as ventilation cooling, evaporative cooling, and radiant floor cooling, to achieve enhanced energy savings and peak load reduction under the Building America program.

DEG is currently working with homebuilder Granite Bay Holdings to design and build a true net zero energy home. This prototype production home, to be built in the Winters Highlands development in Winters, is projected to generate more electrical energy than it requires for heating, cooling, lighting, and all other household needs, on a net annual basis. This home will also be the first production home to achieve a LEED Platinum rating.

For more information on Building America please contact David Springer or Davis Energy Group.