The Kinston 'E-House:' Leveraging Rebuilding Opportunities

In September 1999, Maggie Crawford and her family watched their home disappear underwater. Today, they are the owners of the first 'E-house' in Kinston, North Carolina. After the devastating floods following Hurricane Floyd, Advanced Energy and its member utilities teamed up with the Energy Division of the North Carolina Department of Commerce to help residents and businesses in Eastern Carolina rebuild. The community has taken this opportunity to make energy improvements to area residences and small commercial buildings. The E-house is designed to be a model for sustainable low-income building efforts in both Kinston and other flood-affected communities by demonstrating the significant advantages associated with applying building science principles in new construction.

E-House Features

The energy efficiency features of the E-House include carefully installed insulation and wind baffles, thorough caulking and air sealing, fully sealed ductwork (both inside and outside the crawlspace), a heat pump sized according to accurate load calculations, a sealed and insulated crawlspace, and the use of advanced framing techniques that eliminate gaps in insulation coverage. The air tightness of the house was tested and optimized using a blower door device that measures the number of air changes per hour (ACH) - the fewer the changes, the tighter the house.

The E-House contains features that heighten its structural integrity and durability, while protecting the health, safety, and comfort of its residents. To reduce ambient noise and heat loss or gain, the air handler for the heat pump is built into an insulated closet. The crawlspace floor is completely covered with commercial grade plastic to provide a moisture barrier and to simplify maintenance access. A powerful - yet quiet and energy-efficient - variable-speed fan is installed in the home's central bathroom to act as a whole-house ventilation system. By keeping air moving through the house on its low speed setting, this fan helps reduce moisture levels inside. The grille on the heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system is in an easily accessible location and has a pleated filter to improve the inside air quality.

E-House Learning Contributes to the 'Field of Dreams'

In the spring of 2000, the Metropolitan Housing and Community Development Corporation of Washington, North Carolina and Advanced Energy began building 56 homes in a Hurricane Floyd flood recovery housing project using the E-House model. The houses are geared toward providing permanent housing for Eastern Carolina residents displaced by Floyd and will sell for under $40,000, thanks to the financial and material contributions of the organizations involved.

The development, known as the Field of Dreams, includes ten tested and ENERGY STAR® labeled homes. Advanced Energy has guaranteed the annual heating and cooling costs of the homes at $18 per month for the 3-bedroom houses and $19 per month for the 4-bedroom houses. The company will make up the difference in any heating and cooling costs that exceed this expectation. "By offering a heating and cooling bill guarantee for these homes, we hope to demonstrate that we can achieve high levels of energy efficiency in any type of house. And we're willing to put our money where our mouth is to show it can be done," said Arnie Katz, senior building science consultant for Advanced Energy.

For more information, contact: Arnie Katz, Advanced Energy, (919) 857-9029, akatz@advancedenergy.org