Advanced Placement

Energy Trust of Oregon in their never ending quest for energy efficiency in that great state recently introduced their new incentive path for homes. Called Advanced Performance, this path breaks the bar in many ways. Most of us are used to designing and building 2x6 walls. This is going to be a bit of a challenge now. And we're not going to get to do post and beam floors anymore. Here are the specs:

• Framed floors: R-38 joisted (P&B results in leaky floors and/or saggy insulation)
• Slab floors: R-15 full slab with perimeter break
• Walls: U-0.025. This means R-40 assembly, not just R-40 insulation. Either thicker walls or better insulation is required
• Windows: 15% of floor area, U-0.22 weighted average
• Doors: R-5
• Ceiling: U-0.016. Like the walls, this means R-60 assembly, not insulation
• Heating: 8.5 HSPF/13 SEER or better ductless inverter driven heat pump
• Ventilation: HRV/ERV with 70% sensible recovery efficiency
• Tightness: 2.5 ACH50 or better
• Lighting: 90% CFL
• Incentive: $4,000 plus state and federal tax credits
  

This isn't your Father's energy efficiency path. This is some serious action going on. We at Istockhouseplans are rather excited about this path and would love to help your home achieve it. If you'd like to build any of our plans to this standard, we would be happy to modify it for free. That's right. As a program ally of Energy Trust of Oregon, we'd be so excited to see a home like this get built that we'll do what we can to make it happen. Contact us if you'd like to learn more.