Closer Look: SCE’s First ZNE Home Retrofit Demonstration

SCE’s first demonstration showcase of a ZNE Home Retrofit project, which is located in San Bernardino, California is slated to begin construction in January 2011.  The SCE Design & Engineering Services team is currently assessing the selected residence and identifying potential ways to increase energy efficiency within the home.  Here are a few “before” pictures of the home and the possible improvements that will be made over the course of the project.

 

Zero Net Energy Demonstration Showcase Home
in San Bernardino, California, prior to construction
Southern California Edison’s Design & Engineering Services’ Emerging Technologies Team with the homeowner’s son. 
L-R: Paul Delaney-DES, Nasim Yalpin-DES, Gregg Ander-DES,
Mr. Jamal Abdullah-homeowner's son, Dave Rivers-DES

Street-facing façade of the house

Potential energy efficiency opportunities include improvements to wall insulation and upgraded window systems.

A view of the attic

This reveals the existing blown-in insulation which was matted down (reducing its effectiveness).

Heater and Air Conditioners

A high-efficiency, central heating, ventilating and air conditioning system would be a good option to resolve the inefficiencies of the existing heater and the five window air-conditioning units used for conditioning the home.

  Outdoor lighting

An audit of lighting identified the energy usage from the existing interior and exterior lighting systems. The exterior lighting consisted of five 150 watt mercury vapor fixtures (one shown above). These will most likely be replaced with new CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) or LED (light emitting diode) flood-style fixtures.