MASK

ZEH Final Report

3/18/14
Prof. Andy Lau

Introduction:
We designed a zero energy home for a family of four, fulfilling the requirements of a 1,200 sq ft
limit and a $185,000.00 budget.
Summary Table:
Location

Philadelphia, PA

House size

1194 sq ft

Number of floors

Number of occupants

Number of bedrooms

Type of heating system

Electric heat pump

Size of photovoltaic system

4.95 kW

Solar water heater

yes

R-value of wall insulation

2x6 with R19 batt

Type of windows

Super double low-e

Ventilation air heat recovery

yes

Total Cost

$184,993

Any other pertinent info

electric fireplace with TV

Pictures of our house:

An outside view of the south-facing front of the physical model of our ZEH.

An aerial view of the first and second floor of the physical model of our ZEH.

This is a view of the southwest corner of

the Sketchup model of our ZEH.

This is a view of the northeast corner of

the Sketchup model of our ZEH.

The living room of our ZEH complete with

a couch, coffee table, fireplace, flatscreen TV, fireplace, and decorations. It
is on the southeast portion of our house.
The 2 doors on the back wall lead to the
laundry room and first floor bathroom.

.
The laundry room and the first floor
bathroom located on the northeast
portion of our house.

The kitchen of our ZEH which

includes cabinets and
countertops, a sink,
refrigerator, microwave, stove,
oven, and kitchen table. The
kitchen is located on the
southwest portion of the
house and has an opening
that looks into the living room,
giving a more open feel to the
house.

The parents master bedroom and

bathroom of our ZEH. The bedroom
includes a bed, 2 dressers, a mirror,
and a walk-in closet. The connected
bathroom has a toilet, sink, and large
shower. It is located on the northwest
corner of the house.

This is one of the kids bedrooms in our house. It includes a bed, end table, desk, and large
closet. It is located on the southwest corner of the house above the kitchen. The other bedroom
room is very similar and is located adjacent to this room on the northwest corner of the house.

This is the second floor bathroom located

on the northeast corner of the house
above the laundry room and first floor
bathroom. It is complete with 2 sinks for
the 2 kids, a toilet, and a shower.

Conclusion:
In this project we learned a lot about engineering design. In the form study research we
did, we learned about how surface area and south wall area can affect the efficiency of the
home. The more surface area a home has, the greater the heat loss there can be. Because
heating a home costs both money and energy, the less heating that needs to be done, the
better. Most zero energy homes are not very large because of this reason. The larger the
house, the more energy needed to keep it running. In order to take this into account in our own
design, we kept the house under 1,200 square feet. This size is large enough to comfortably fit
everything we need without being too large. In addition, the form study taught us about varying
the height of the south wall area, the greater the area of the wall, the more sunlight can come in;
therefore, reducing both the amount of lighting needed in the house and the amount of heating
needed to be done. In order to maximize the south wall area, we made our house two floors.
For the interior design of the house we used our knowledge of where the sun will be to know
where to place our rooms. On the east side of the house we have windows looking into the

family room so it will be bright and welcoming in the early morning hours. We have all the
bedrooms on the west side of the house so the people arent woken up in the morning by the
bright sun. Also, in order to make the space in the family room feel even bigger and more open,
we made the ceiling go all the way up to the second story and had a half wall opening into the
kitchen. We kept the bathrooms in the same area in order to reduce the amount of plumbing
throughout the house. When we completed the ZEH calculator we were around $7,000 over
budget, so we had to adjust certain things on our home. The main change we made was
reducing the windows on our house. This was incredibly challenging because we wanted to
keep our house aesthetically appealing, but at the same time within budget. After removing
several windows from the West, East, and South sides of the house we were roughly
$2,000 over budget. Despite all of these changes, we were still over budget, so we had to
be very conservative with the appliances we selected to be in our home. After the final
changes, our house came out to be $184,993; just under budget. Obviously, the ZEH
calculator took flexibility to work with, but in the end we managed to create a successful
ZEH. The appliances we did include were researched to make sure we got the best deal. One
example is the washer we chose to use in our home, which is the Whirlpool WFW88HEA+. This
washer resides on EnergyStars list of efficient washers and it was chosen because of its low
fixed cost of $985, and its low operating cost of $107 per year. Both costs are very economically
practical for this family, where other washers may have lower operating costs, their initial cost
creates too big of gap for those washers to overcome. In addition to the economic advantages,
the MEF is 3.32 and the water factor is 2.7, meaning the washer uses little water and is very
efficient with its water usage, especially when compared to others. In addition to selecting
appliances, we also had to make selections on PV panels. Since the low budget was one of our
major concerns, we tried to get the most watts per dollar out of solar panels. This led us to
choose the ReneSola Jc250M-14/Bb solar panel, which are 250 W solar panels. After doing
some math, we figured we needed 30.28 square meters of solar panels (to meet 4.95kW),
which was 23 panels. Unfortunately, not all of these panels could face South, so some had to be
placed on the East roof, which is not optimal but they still receive 85% of sunlight. Although this
project created many obstacles, we managed to create a successful design that meets the ZEH
requirement and fit within the budget, along with learning invaluable lessons regarding ZEHs.