Energy Efficient Housing Research Group

EEHR

GreenBuild Construction Blog

The GreenBuild Duplex has been in development since 2014, first as a student competition project, then a research and education project, and finally as a true construction project.

Community Design Charrette

Community

The GreenBuild duplex is a result of much community participation and collaboration. The Energy Efficient Housing Research Group facilitated multiple design charrettes throughout 2015 trying to engage the State College Community Land Trust, students and faculty of Penn State, and homeowners in the Centre Region with the project and learn more about what people expect from their homes. We wanted this home to be a product of the community and something to show the Centre Region’s commitment to high-performance home and sustainable design.

Race to Zero competition

Competition

In 2015, students from across multiple disciplines at Penn State participated in the Department of Energy’s Race to Zero design competition. In this annual design competition, students must research, design, and document a zero-energy ready home that is both affordable and constructable within their local context. For the 2015 competition, the students chose to use the GreenBuild duplex as the site and context for their design. The team; Heritage Homes: High Performance Living in Harmony with Community developed the project goals and designed the homes balancing the needs of the State College Community Land Trust, the outcomes of the community design charrettes, and the requirements for the Race to Zero competition. In April of 2015, two members of the team presented the design to a jury of building industry leaders at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, CO where they won numerous awards including two for Design Excellence and Systems Integration.

Breaking Ground

Construction

Following the competition, EEHR continued to work with the SCCLT to further develop the design of the GreenBuild duplex. In the Fall of 2016, the SCCLT posted a public Request for Proposals for design/build services for the GreenBuild duplex. Envinity Inc, a local high-performance design/build company, won the bid for the project. The team, partnered with Doug Henry Architecture, used the set of design drawings and reports produced by EEHR and the 2015 Race to Zero team to make slight modifications to the duplex and produce a set of final construction documents. Thanks to community donations and a very generous loan and grant from the West Penn Power Sustainability Energy Fund, the duplex broke ground in June, 2017, and construction is expected to finish by May 2018.

GreenBuild Rendering by Envinity
Rendering of the final homes designed by Envinity Inc.

This page will be updated regularly to show and explain the construction process for the GreenBuild Duplex at 1394 University Drive. The project, collaboratively designed between EEHR and the State College Community Land Trust, is a net zero-energy duplex that is both energy efficient and affordable.
For more information about the project, also check out the GreenBuild Construction Blog by the State College Community Land Trust

A Final Look

GreenBuild Duplex

As the homeowners prepare to move in, members of EEHR took one last visit to the GreenBuild Duplex to capture a few final photos. Be sure to check back as we continue to develop more research and visualizations of the home including images from the 360-degree camera!

Raingarden Planting

(Photos by the State College Community Land Trust)

Over the past weekend, the State College Community Land Trust, with Envinity Inc, and Clearwater Conservancy, planted the Raingardens at the GreenBuild Duplex. These raingardens will absorb rain falling on the GreenBuild homes. All but one of the roof planes divert water into gutters and down into a pair of rain barrels and eventually into the central raingarden. Here the water will have a chance to be absorbed back into the ground to replenish ground water sources rather than filling up the sewer infrastructure. If the central raingarden begins to fill up, it will overflow into a lower raingarden; any water that overflows from that will drain into the sewer system.

USGBC Tour

(Photos by the State College Community Land Trust)

Today, the GreenBuild homes were open to members of the local United State Green Building Council (USGBC) to learn about the project and tour the homes. USGBC, the organization that administers the Leadership in Energy and the Environment (LEED) certifications for buildings and people, is made up of experts of green building eager to learn about the interesting process and design of the GreenBuild Duplex.

Ribbon Cutting Weekend

(Photos are taken by Rachel Fawcett of Pennsylvania Housing Research Center)

Over the past weekend, the State College Community Land Trust opened the door of the GreenBuild homes to the entire Centre Region community. Between Friday and Sunday, over 500 people visited the homes to learn about the design process, the construction of the homes, and the sustainability features. Mostly, they came to find out what’s green about GreenBuild. What they learned is that a project like this is only possible through the strong support of the community. This project has taken years of intense collaboration with over a hundred people having some direct involvement with the project and process. It is this kind of collaboration, listening, and spirit that makes a project like this so great!

EEHR designed a ‘home tour’ for the visitors so that they could better learn about the design process and sustainability features. Members of EEHR, SCCLT, and Envinity were around throughout the weekend to talk to community members and hear about what the community thought about the homes.

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