Under the auspices of PG&E’s Zero Net Energy (ZNE) Production Builder Demonstration, PulteGroup built a 2,359 square foot ZNE home in Brentwood, CA with a semi-conditioned attic and an air source heat pump. This report describes the results from monitoring the occupied home for a full...

Project SummaryCompared to all commercial buildings types, food service has the highest energy intensity (energy consumed per square footage), and restaurants consume three times more energy per square foot compared to the average commercial building. Water heating and cooling...

Under the auspices of PG&E’s Zero Net Energy (ZNE) Production Builder Demonstration, CHISPA (Community Housing Improvement Systems and Planning Association, Inc.) built a 1,151 square foot ZNE home with ducts in conditioned space and a mini-split heat pump in Greenfield, CA. The attached...

HGW Architects is the first commercial ZNE building in San Diego. SDG&E ET collaborated with Savings by Design to make this happen. ET then conducted a comprehensive study to understand modeled vs. actual building performance. The analysis discusses data discrepancies and methods used to...

This project will field test recently developed tools and associated workflows to determine the viability and efficacy of rapid building physics based building energy models for use in energy efficiency measure identification and energy use...

Project SummaryA heat pump water heater (HPWH) offers a considerable opportunity for energy and demand savings over a conventional electric water heater. This report examines HPWHs for commercial applications by evaluating the performance of a HPWH installed in a condominium...

Project Summary Retrofit by adding VFD controller to fractional horsepower Hot Water Recirculator in single loop domestic use for apartments and hotels, etc. can save gas 15.6% with a compensating but modest increase in hot water usage of 13.4%; or an average gas savings of about 27 therms per...

The project’s objective is to identify scalable, deployment-ready technologies that can hasten the transition to zero net energy homes in PG&E territory. Four of a total of fourteen existing residential structures, the Domes, at UC Davis were retrofitted with energy efficiency improvements...

Project Summary SoCalGas ETP has conducted a series of home tests for residential hot water recirculator “comfort systems.” The results show water savings for all products, but gas savings will depend on user’s behavior.  Results should be applicable to electric water heaters, too. DIY...

The severe drought underway in California makes water use reduction a high priority. In the case of showering, water use reduction also results in electricity or gas savings which is of direct importance to the Investor Owned Utilities like SDG&E. The technology studied here is mounted in-line with...