Zero Energy Homes

Speaker: Baha Alawi

What is a Zero Energy Home?

An energy efficient home that uses renewable energy from the sun to produce as much electricity as it consumes

Objective

The objective of this presentation is to highlight the sophisticated powering and heating technology integrated in a net zero energy home

Electric Configuration

Connected to a local utility grid and takes electricity from there

Sometimes makes sufficient energy to send back to the utility grid

Electric meter rolls backward once there is more energy available than required

Annual net zero energy consumption

Collectors Convert sunlight to heat1. Seasonal collectors circulate water through

plastic pipes with little protection from freezing

2. Flat plate collectors circulate anti-freeze fluid through insulated pipes and release heat with a heat exchanger

3. Evacuated tube collectors are very insulated glass cylinders that increase absorption of heat and decrease heat loss

Hot Water

Collectors capture solar energy for heating water:

Drinking and washing Radiant floor heating Indoor or outdoor swimming pool

Solar Electricity/Solar Panels

Installed in the exterior Converts sunlight to electricity Efficiency increases during winter and

decreases during summer Can be arranged in a series and parallel

connected units

Roof of Zero Energy Home

Ground Source Heat Pumps

Uses the earth’s ground water for heating in the winter and for heat removal from the house in the summer

In winter, a liquid absorbs heat from the earth and is raised by a heat pump into the indoor air

In summer, heat is removed from indoor air then transferred into the earth through a liquid

Technologies

Collectors Solar Electricity (Solar Panels) Ground Source Heat Pumps

The above technologies incorporated in a ZEH makes it highly energy efficient!

Reference

Gordon Shields, Rob McMonagle, Bill Eggertson, Metering-Rick Ronchka. Net Zero Technologies. July 29,2005 7:33 AM. September 23,2005.<http://www.associations.cc/nzeh/index.htm>.

NAHB Research Center. The Zero Energy Home Concept. Copyright 2001-2005. September 27,2005.

<http://www.toolbase.org/index-toolbase.asp>.