With ‘building green’ mantras being touted by commercial and residential builders alike, one area custom home builder is taking his product to the next level with one of the first net zero energy homes in Texas.Don Ferrier, president of Ferrier Custom Homes, is midway through construction on a net zero energy home – which means the home is so energy efficient that it actually creates as much energy as it uses (or more) via a wind generator. The home is located on a bluff overlooking Eagle Mountain Lake in northern Fort Worth and because its design resembles a lake cabin, Ferrier said it has coined the name Zero Energy Casita because casita means ‘little house’ in Spanish.
“This is where building is going. There’s no doubt,” Ferrier said, while standing inside the casita, where the temperature outside was a chilly 40 degrees and the home’s interior temperature was about 20 degrees warmer – and the heating and cooling system had yet to be installed. “I’m having more people asking for these types of homes and I think that’s just wonderful.”
And he means that. While many custom builders have immersed themselves in green building practices in recent years to meet more stringent demands placed on them by entities such as the U.S. Green Building Council, Ferrier has been building energy efficient homes for decades beginning with a string of earth-sheltered homes he built in his first years as a home builder in the 1980s.
Through the years, Ferrier jumped on every energy efficient home device – the tankless water heater in the 1980s, higher Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio, or SEER heating systems within the past decade – simply because he likes the idea of energy efficiency.
“It’s just nice that it’s something consumers are wanting now,” he said. “It’s a whole movement.”
In fact, according to a new study released by the U.S. Green Building Council, or USGBC, green building is more than a fad – and it will support 7.9 million U.S. jobs and pump $554 billion into the American economy, including $396 billion in wages, during the next four years.
The USGBC study by Booz Allen Hamilton determined that green construction spending currently supports more than 2 million American jobs and generates more than $100 billion in gross domestic product and wages.
The economic impact of the total green construction market from 2000 to 2008, the study found, contributed $178 billion to U.S. gross domestic product; created or saved 2.4 million direct, indirect and induced jobs; and generated $123 billion in wages.
The study, which was released in November 2009, considered the total impact of green buildings, from the architects who design them to the construction laborers who pour their foundations to the truck drivers who deliver materials, in recognition of how extensive the impact of green building is, said Gary Rahl, officer of global government market for McLean, Va.-based Booz Allen Hamilton.
The study shows green construction is becoming the standard for development and, as a result, has an increasingly visible presence in the construction world.
Ferrier said he absolutely believes that as he has seen an influx of higher educated customers requesting energy efficient builds.
“Baby boomers are my biggest clients,” Ferrier said. “I see a lot of the engineering types and those who know about, or are in, the construction field. And that speaks volumes about this type of building. Yes, it’s a little more costly up front, but they know the advantages and they know they will get that investment back and then some.”
These days, Ferrier spends much of his time lecturing other builders nationwide on ‘green’ techniques at National Association of Home Builders’ events.
Ferrier has a plethora of awards for advancements in the green homebuilding industry, including being named the first home builder in Texas – and third in the country – to receive a Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design (LEED) award as well as being named National Association of Home Builders Green Builder Advocate of the Year and Texas Green Builder of the Year.
But Ferrier said his most victorious moments come at the end of a build. One of his recent homes, named Heather’s Home, has an Energy Rating Score (HERS) Index of 47, a score that reflects the energy saving effectiveness of a home. A zero energy home, of course, has a zero score and a typical American home has a 150 rating, while Energy Star designated homes have an 85 rating.
Heather’s Home went on to win the Best Green Built Home in the Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas’ Vesta Awards, and was the overall winner in the HBA’s Building Excellence Awards for best Structural Insulated Panels as well as the Best Home under 3,000 square feet.
And Ferrier has even grander plans for Zero Energy Casita.
The home is 1,015 square feet and resembles a cabin, complete with an exterior made of re-salvaged wood that was reclaimed from an 80-year-old historical barn. And Ferrier said the smaller the structure, the more energy efficient.
“It’s simple math,” he said. “And when you add in that this house is extremely tight and is made of every energy efficient product we could get our hands on, you’re looking at an extremely energy efficient structure.”
Kevin and Kim Eden first contacted Ferrier to build the casita in 2007. Even then, Ferrier said the couple knew they wanted energy efficiency.
“They contacted me and said they had the site and they were just starting to draw the plans, but they wanted some input on some energy efficiency standards in the home,” Ferrier said.
Ferrier said the couple plans to use the casita as a temporary home with ultimate plans of building a larger energy efficient home nearby on the same property and “a lot of the same ideas will be used in that home,” Ferrier said.
Ferrier expects to complete the net zero energy home in mid-January, but the goal, he said is to “make it look like it’s been here a hundred years.”
The home has a timber frame construction and Ferrier said he cut out 40 percent of the typical wood that would have been used in the home’s walls by using less studs and instead replacing those with four and a half inch Expanded Poly Styrofoam, or EPS.
“Moisture and air won’t go through it and a lot of people don’t know about it or don’t use it,” Ferrier said of the EPS product. “But that won’t be true for long. Builders will switch over to it for many reasons and consumers will love it because of its efficiency.”
The windows in the casita are a Zo-e-shield, a new ‘energy glass’ window product with the lowest U-Factor rating, or energy performance, Ferrier has seen to date.
Of course, Ferrier also incorporated some more mainstream green practices such as mulching any extra wood to be used in the home’s garden landscaping and capturing rain water for harvesting.
In all, Ferrier said he expects casita to set a standard for net zero energy homes – one that builders “will respect and home owners will love.”
“At this point, as a builder, if you haven’t figured out how to build energy efficient, you’re too late,” he said. “We’re in the middle of it and it’s about perfecting it now.”
