When Paul Torcellini, principal engineer in the commercial buildings research department at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, decided to build his own home he admittedly had a bit of an advantage. As a building scientist and recognized expert in methods to achieve substantial whe building energy savings, Torcellini undoubtedly leveraged his experience to construct his 3,600 sq. foot Connecticut home to achieved a HERS score of 2 with a 0.75 ACH 50. The result: A finished product that garnered Torcellini a 2016 DOE Housing Innovation Award (read the full home profiled here). Paul’s was also the lowest cost house among all the award winners. His home demonstrates that builders who fully leverage solid building science practices can achieve high-performance, air tight construction while keeping costs in check.
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