Environmental/Energy Agencies Convene at ecosmart house

By Bill Hoy, Project Manager

The sound of hammers, saws and power tools has faded into memory as the REHAU MONTANA ecosmart house project has entered its research and education phase. But it's anything but quiet around here! 

The house serves as a venue for meetings and seminars focused on green building and energy efficiency, and tours are frequent. The house is outfitted with signs and video stations throughout for visitors to learn about the project, the systems* installed and what we're doing in the way of testing and data collection.  

In the picture above, I'm speaking to members of the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO), the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Department of Energy during a meeting these organizations held in the educational facilities of the house.

There's no better backdrop for the minds of industry, government and academia to come together on one of the single most important issues of our time: Achieving balance between the built environment and the natural environment. 

*Learn more about all the systems here: http://montanaecosmart.com/experience.php




A Great Story About This Project From P&M Magazine

Eric Chidester (left) and Tim Rogers of PJ's Plumbing and Heating install some of the

5,000 lineal feet of 1/2-inch PEXa tubing for radiant heating in the ecosmart house.

An additional 900 lineal feet of tubing is installed for the snow and ice melting system

in the home's driveway.

"One of the drawbacks of trying to sell homeowners on the advantages of installing an energy-efficient heating system using radiant, geothermal or solar thermal technologies is the lack of real numbers to back up performance claims. Most energy performance numbers are based on computer modeling of how building occupants will use the systems.

Those numbers rarely come close to how human beings actually use their heating and cooling systems.

Researchers at Montana State University in Bozeman, along with sponsor REHAU, are about to change that perception."

Read the entire article here.

Grand Opening Planned for April 20

Click the image to view the video at vimeo.com.

By Bill Hoy, Project Manager

Seems hard to believe, but construction is almost complete, and we've set the date for the grand opening of the REHAU MONTANA ecosmart house for Friday, April 20. We'll post an agenda and more details here once they're developed.

While this is an invitation-only event, it kicks off the official opening of the house. After the grand opening, the house will be open by appointment to the public for tours. We invite you to visit and experience the house in person while we conduct important research using the latest sustainable building systems.

Technical Summit Determines Research Objectives of ecosmart house Project

By Bill Hoy, Project Manager

Bill Johansen explains the goals of this sustainable construction living laboratory.

With the construction phase of the ecosmart house nearly complete, last month 38 building industry business and association representatives from across the U.S., as well as members of the academic community, met in Bozeman for a technical summit. 

The ecosmart house project aims to exhibit the possibilities of maximized energy efficiency and occupant comfort through a combination of the latest sustainable building products and systems. Coordinated by REHAU, two-day the summit brought industry stakeholders and academia together to help determine the direction of the upcoming two-year research phase. 

Participants collaborated to define parameters for using the house during this period as both a demonstration project for sustainable residential construction, and as a unique research, measurement and data-gathering entity for building product and system performance.

Six areas of focus were identified for the two-year post-construction phase of the project:

• Building envelope
• Systems (mechanical/renewable/ventilation/controls/comfort)
• Education, research and lessons learned
• Technology integration standardization
• Marketing
• General oversight

Committees were formed for each area of focus, with a designated leader who will work to recruit additional committee members and to outline specific goals over the coming months.

Research Data on Sustainable Building Systems to be Available via LabVIEW

By Bill Hoy, Project Manager

Fall is here in Big Sky country and cooler night air is settling in already. The heating system is scheduled to be operational by the first of November and the mechanical room is in the process of being completed along with finalization of the electrical wiring. The sheetrock is tentatively scheduled to be installed the week of November 7.

The innovative Sunlight-Responsive Thermochromic (SRT) glazing has been installed in the windows. SRT glazing passively tints the glass in response to direct sunlight using a film sandwiched between two pieces of 1/4 in. glass which is then assembled into a 1-3/8 in. insulated glazing with a suspended heat mirror film between another 1/4 in. glass with a Low E layer.

What does all this mean? It means a possible R4 to R8 glazing rating. The research over the next several years will validate the actual R value.

Technical Summit Will Usher in Research/Academic Phase
A technical summit has been scheduled for November 3-4 here in Bozeman. This is when we will open the project to critical thinking as well as academic and professional scrutiny in order to define exactly what makes homes affordably sustainable and energy efficient. The group will determine what research and data would be most beneficial to verify optimum building designs and mechanical configurations.

A number of sustainable building industry stakeholders from both the public and private sector as well as academia from across the U.S. have been invited to participate. The house is scheduled to be complete by January 2012, after which REHAU will lease the facility for two years to demonstrate and document the various energy systems with the help of Montana State University (MSU).

Open Access to Data
All data and information will be available on the Internet (details to be announced), and will be openly available for access by the general public to learn about all of the systems and their performance. The MSU School of Engineering students will be responsible for installing and monitoring over 350 sensors utilizing data acquisition with a software program called “LabVIEW.” The other key objective of the project is to understand the ROI of the systems and provide recommendations to the industry on alternate systems that are economic.

Geothermal Systems Done, Facade and Envelope Get Finishing Touches

By Bill Hoy, Project Manager

The exterior of the house is 80 percent complete with siding and the stone façade being finalized on the front elevation. The REHAU window frames and door have been installed, with glass scheduled to be installed into the frames during the week of Sept 26. The glass is fabricated with Sunlight-Responsive Thermochromic (SRT) glazing, which passively tints the glass in response to direct sunlight, helping to keep rooms comfortable and allowing occupants to enjoy views without glare or heat from the sun’s rays.

In the mechanical room, the subcontractor has completed connection of the RAUGEO geothermal loops into three separate pairs of manifolds, while installation of the two separate REHAU ECOAIR ground-to-air heating/cooling exchange system is 95 percent complete. The intake ports for two identical ECOAIR systems have been installed with separate valves and fans in order to demonstrate in the research phase how ECOAIR is best installed for optimum efficiency. One system is located within the footprint of the house and the other outside buried 7 ft below the ground.

The triangular tube gas boiler has been attached to the wall and the heat sink manifolds have been completed. Now, work is ready to begin on the installation of the 2-in. PEX distribution piping from all the manifolds and to the equipment and storage tanks.

Stay Tuned for the Research Phase

Sheetrock installation is expected to begin during the week of October 17 with final completion anticipated during the last week of December. Stayed tuned - the research phase of the project will commence once construction is complete!

Infrastructure Work Continues; REHAU Window Installations Begin



Well leads in the mechanical room wait to be tied in to the manifolds.

By Bill Hoy, Project Manager

Infrastructure work continues throughout the house with plumbing and mechanical rough ins now complete. The subcontractor has also completed the geothermal wells. Well leads have been run to and installed in the mechanical room and will next be tied into the manifolds. Permanent power and water service have also been installed in the main mechanical room.

REHAU Window Installation

Windows designed by REHAU are being installed the week of August 8. The windows will have glass fabricated with Sunlight-Responsive Thermochromic (SRT) glazing, which passively tints the glass in response to direct sunlight, helping to keep rooms comfortable and allowing occupants to enjoy views without glare or heat from the sun’s rays. 

The windows will continuously adapt any time of the day, year round, in any place in the house, based on the amount of direct sunlight.

Preparing for Research Phase
As the construction phase moves closer to completion, MSU's Creative Research Lab will begin preparation for the research phase of the project. Geothermal system comparisons will be conducted and performance data on each of the systems and technologies will be gathered and analyzed.

The project's goal is to provide the green building industry with cutting-edge knowledge on the most effective sustainable building systems and how these systems are best optimized. To be among the first to get this information, visit the project's website and register for research updates.