Evaluation of emerging sustainable residential construction technologies in the Twin Cities Metro Area

The intent of this study was to identify the most viable among a proposive sample of emerging sustainable construction technologies with respect to the Twin Cities Metropolitan Geographic Area. With space heating and space cooling accounting for such a significant portion of energy consumption in Twin Cities homes, a representative sample of homes was analyzed for annual heating and cooling loads. For each home a series of heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) and envelope equipment was modeled in order to provide data for various sustainable home construction technologies. The result was a specific amount of energy savings from baseline construction methods for each sustainable technology. The study found that integrated geothermal heat pump and radiant conditioning systems have a far greater impact on energy savings than the construction methods evaluated. Nevertheless, insulated concrete forms provided the greatest energy savings within the proposive set of construction methods. The greatest amount of space conditioning energy savings of all configurations tested was 73.48% using an integrated geothermal heat pump and radiant conditioning system, structural insulated panel wall construction, aerosol air infiltration prevention, and insulated concrete form basement construction. The results of the study were used to determine areas for further research and to provide awareness within the Twin Cities construction enterprise to determine the most viable technologies that contractors, municipalities, and citizens should prioritize moving forward.