ZNE LowIncome Multifamily New Construction

The goal of this project is to conduct a field test to evaluate viable measures that could provide energy efficiency and demand response capabilities in the individual residential units and possibly in the entire residential complex as a whole.

This project is an in-situ demonstration of how selected emerging technologies are installed and how they perform in a low-income multi-family building setting. It is a collaboration between SCE, California Energy Commission, EPRI and LINC Housing, which is the building developer with a long history in California. SCE became interested in this project because of the opportunity it presented to guide future program planning and construction practices in the multi-family new construction market, with a particular interest in underserved low-income customers. This was a necessary project since there was still only minimal guidance on the particular emerging technologies installed through this project, and none that focused on the low-income housing market. The SCE team’s approach to this project was shaped by circumstances before Edison became involved. The building owner designed this building to comply with Leader in Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum construction. The owner contacted SCE about participating in modeling and construction, as well as supplying rebates, to help this project stretch even further and achieve ZNE status. Because construction drawings were complete when SCE became involved, certain earlier work had to be redesigned to include the energy efficiency measures proposed by SCE’s SME. Nonetheless, SCE saw an opportunity to test the possibilities for achieving ZNE in this sector and to additionally field test certain emerging technologies and best practices in the building envelope. The project has been a success on many fronts, and problems that were encountered have been documented and offered as lessons learned for moving forward. Findings from this project will be used to inform future SCE program design and information dissemination with building trades. The project has yielded information that CEC will evaluate in developing new Title 24 standards. EPRI is collecting and analyzing indispensable plug load energy usage information it will share, which will help analyze building performance and occupant behavior which could reveal opportunities for demand response at this site.