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July 2004
Front entrance of the Yuma Proving Ground demonstration house, a 2004 White House Closing the Circle Award winner.
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A Building America demonstration home at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) in southwestern Arizona earned honors at the 2004 White House Closing the Circle (CTC) Awards, an annual ceremony that honors outstanding work in environmental stewardship. The Yuma home, a new, energy-efficient home built as part of a demonstration project, was one of two winners in the Sustainable Design/Green Building category. From this year's 118 proposals there were a total of only 12 winners in all. The CTC awards seek success stories of creating and operating environmental programs that serve as an example for other Federal facilities to follow.
Sue Ibrahim, Senior Physical Scientist of the YPG Advanced Technology Transfer Program and driving force behind the home project, noted that the demonstration home is not only attractive and comfortable, it also embodies the principles of sustainable building design and is thus a model of resource efficiency.
Building America team member IBACOS (Integrated Building and Construction Solutions) supported the design and engineering of the home to help ensure it met its performance goal of achieving 70% energy reduction (space conditioning and domestic water heating relative to 1993 Model Energy Code). Researchers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have monitored the home's energy use since June 2003. The performance data show that it requires only one-third of the energy that would be consumed by a comparable home built to conventional standards in Arizona.
The 1750-square-foot, all-electric, climate-conscious, energy-efficient demonstration home was built of structural insulated panels (SIPs) with polyurethane foam cores. The home also includes the following:
- A solar water-heating system
- Solar electricity (photovoltaics), for about 35% of the home's power needs
- Energy Star®-rated appliances
- Attic vents, increased wall and roof insulation, and high-efficiency interior lighting
- Low-e windows and exterior shading features
- An air-to-air heat exchanger to precool ventilation air
- A high-efficiency heat pump.
Additional sustainable features include recycled building materials and water-efficient fixtures. Some of the fixtures, such as the low-flow showerheads, exceed the water-use recommendations of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Building America, through NREL, provided energy monitoring as part of its work in energy-efficient, sustainable buildings research. Monitoring results indicate that the home is performing very well and using about two-thirds less energy than a similar home would if built to current standards for Arizona. At least half of these energy savings are the direct result of reducing the building's cooling load through energy-efficient features and technologies.
The Army's Yuma Proving Ground weapons testing facility was established in 1943 and occupies about 1,300 square miles. It is home to about 1,700 military and civilian personnel and receives more than 10,000 visitors each year. These include testing customers, military training units, U.S. and foreign officials, and guests from local organizations and schools. The base's housing units date from the 1950s and are thus fairly inefficient users of energy in this desert environment. The energy demonstration home provides a model for housing that is comfortable, durable, and efficient in this harsh environment.
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