Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
Top Rated
The reNEWable Living Homeu2019s many certifications and benchmarks verify its performance
in a range of categories. They include:
Zero Energy Ready Home Meritageu2019s CR Herro says the U.S. DOEu2019s Zero Energy Ready Home program is one of the best third-party standards in the industry. The program requires the Energy Star label in addition to extra insulation and fenestration criteria; a higher performing duct system; more stringent water efficiency guidelines; all appliances, bathroom vents and ceiling fans to be Energy Star qualified; 80% of lighting to be Energy Star qualified; meet the EPA Indoor AirPLUS guidelines; and be PV ready.
Low HERS Index The buildingu2019s tight envelope works
with an efficient HVAC system and energy-efficient products to improve comfort, lower utility bills, and equate to a HERS index of 16. With that number, the reNEWable Living Home ranks among the top 1%
in the United Statesu2014the national average HERS score is 62. Of the nearly 1 million homes included in the RESNET Registry in the past five years, fewer than 60,000 have scored a HERS 50 or lower.
Indoor airPLUS EPAu2019s Indoor airPLUS certification demonstrates that the home provides comprehensive indoor air quality protection. This measure focuses on reducing indoor pollution to improve health by monitoring the use of moisture control systems, correctly sized HVAC equipment, combustion-venting systems, radon resistant construction, and low-emitting building materials.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
Kip Dawkins
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
EFFICIENCY REDEFINED
In light of the housing industry’s severe labor shortage, many builders are turning to prefabrication in order to become less dependent on traditional construction methods that require more hands on-site. The reNEWable Living Home showcases the HercuWall, an innovative, panelized wall system that pairs with high-performance windows and sealing to create an improved building envelope that installs quickly with fewer workers.
In addition, the home’s high-efficiency HVAC systems, home energy management system from Schneider Electric, and energy-efficient lights and appliances work together to conserve resources and save homeowners money on utility bills. All the systems and processes used in the reNEWable Living Home are designed to be replicable by builders across the country. A discovery and learning lab session at the home in January will demonstrate how to easily adopt these innovations into future projects. Here’s a breakdown of the home’s most important energy-efficient features:
Panelized Construction Recent natural disasters raise the question of whether standard construction methods are durable enough to keep families in hurricane- and flood- prone regions feeling protected inside their homes. Michael Niemann, who created the game-changing building material used in the reNEWable Living Home’s building envelope, doesn’t think so, so he proposed a solution in the form of HercuTech’s HercuWall. HercuWall takes insulated concrete forms a step further by forgoing steel rebar in favor of a product Niemann also invented call ShearStrip, which provides reinforcement between the concrete studs and base.
Pushing the Envelope The reNEWable Living Home improves on an effective, low-cost process that was nearly phased out of home construction some 60 years ago: placing insulation underneath the structure. Using OX SI-Strong’s structural insulation sheets—which combine a moisture-resistant gray foil, a polysocyanurate foam core, and structural sheathing—the crew created a thermal break between the surface temperature and slab with footer walls to create a more comfortable and regulated temperature inside the home, and help owners save on heating and cooling bills.
“Slab can contribute to 40% of the energy loss in a normal home,” says Meritage’s CR Herro. “In our home, we will go from 40% to 8% gain/loss through the slab.” To up the efficiency even more, the team speced SucraSeal open-cell spray foam insulation by SES and chose a range of high-performance windows and doors including Western Window Systems’ zero corner sliding glass doors with dual-pane glass that provides a 0.30 U-value.
Grid Optimization Current utility systems depend on generators that need to switch on a magic number of generators to match demand. Herro says bouncing between one and 10 generators costs the utility industry trillions of dollars, an expense that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. “We need to start to design and operate homes like a utility company,” he says. To do so, the team created the home to take advantage of optimized load management, starting with minimizing the use of electricity during peak energy demand times of day.
The approach includes:
→Smart appliances that are programmed to run during off-peak hours.
→A new ventilation system from Aprilaire with control technology that shifts energy usage to off-peak times.
→Lighting controls that operate through a home automation program that turns them off automatically during peak hours.
→The ability for homeowners to proactively cool the home in the summertime before peak hours.
→Water Conservation The reNEWable Living home uses 50% less water than a typical home. Improvements in landscape design, plumbing design, WaterSense–certified fixtures, and smart kitchen and laundry appliances add up to these efficiencies. A graywater system filters and recycles water from showers to flush the toilet and a weather-smart irrigation system reduces water demand following precipitation.
How can a home’s features promote a healthy, connected lifestyle? Keep reading →
