Green
building, energy efficient home, radiant barrier,
energy
efficient homes, radiant barrier,
home
insulation,
building a new house?
O.P.E.R.A Housetm
Design
(On Peak Energy
Reduction
Architecture)
Best suited for hot sunny regions
Picture of OPERA House I Click here
Picture
of OPERA House II Click here
Pictures of OPERA House VII Click here
Make your next home an OPERA House Click here
What is an OPERA
House?
Our simple designs change the direction of heat then
uses the mass of the walls to absorb heat during on peak times
Whether or not your local energy provider offers off peak
rates, this radical home design has many benefits even if taking advantage of
lower off peak rates are not available.
Note: You do not have to have Time of
Use rates to take advantage of this design. The A/C unit runs more more
efficiently and delivers significantly cooler air when not running during the
hottest part of the day. Make your new house an OPERA house by submitting
your plan to us for review. Your plan will be evaluated by a LEED
Certified architect and returned with all the necessary details, means and
methods to build an OPERA House.
If you are a
home owner and building a custom home, there is no "extra cost" to
build an O.P.E.R.A. House. The few thousand extra dollars once rolled into
the mortgage will be far offset per month with energy savings. Not to
mention the increased comfort of your home. Calculated out item for time,
material for material, labor saved vs extra labor came out to $2,000 extra for a
2300 square foot home.
If you are a home building company, with the
pending Home
Star legislation, you would receive massive Federal credits not only
offsetting the additional costs of building an OPERA House, but actually making
a healthy profit, up to $8,000 per house! These credits are
determined by how many KWH/square foot the homes uses.
Below are some of these
benefits:
- The air conditioning
equipment run in lower temperatures means lower head pressures and decreased
energy use, longer life.
- The solar heated air in
the attic is used dry clothes
- Our patented mass wall
system stores cooling in the mass on the inside and creates the hot
water needs of the home, typically without back up on the outside.
- The attic is insulated
with our patented thermal control products which changes the direction of heat
as opposed to resisting it like insulation does.
- Attic venting
is significantly improved above the building code.
- The comfort of the OPERA
house is unmatched by any design due to the low mean radiant temperature of
the interior wall surfaces.
- The OPERA Houses use
over 90% of the power during off peak times which helps electric utilities make more efficient use of the generating plants
and helps prevent brown outs and rolling blackouts and the
building of additional peaker plants to meet rising demand.
The
Goal of the O.P.E.R.A. House
To
design a home with the capacity of shifting most of the energy usage to
less expensive, off peak times without altering the lifestyle of the
occupants. One of the
most difficult design considerations was interior comfort during the
scorching
Phoenix summer heat. With ambient temperatures exceeding 110F the air
conditioning
system would be under a significant load during the expensive, on peak
hours.
In addition to the air conditioning load, the first O.P.E.R.A. House
was
to be occupied by a family of ten! Using hot water for laundry
and
dish washing could not be expected to be postponed until off peak times.
Designs
for the Future
HVAC
First, we designed a thermal flywheel into the home using
mass construction. All exterior walls and one 8' x 20' interior mass wall
were
constructed
of cinder block and filled with mortar and left uninsulated on the
inside
to absorb interior heat loads (lighting, people, appliances, etc.).
This
mass system is cooled during inexpensive, off peak times and
effectively
stores 12 tons of cooling with a temperature differential of only 4
degrees
during off peak times. A home of this size and occupancy would
normally
require 5 to 6 tons of cooling. The OPERA House is being heated and
cooled
by one 3 ton, 11 SEER heat pump.
WALL
SYSTEM
The
exterior
walls are wrapped with two layers of our Radiant Wrap product
which
effectively retards heat gains and losses. This was covered by Dow
expanded
polystyrene foam board and then a stucco finish. The total R value of
the
exterior walls in OPERA II is R-2. The home is pre cooled at night
during
the less expensive off peak rates, and runs minimally during the day to
maintain
temperature and comfort.
SUPER
TANKtm
The
capacity
of the hot water tank was upsized from a standard 60 gallon to an 80
gallon
tank and wrapped with two layers of Radiant Wrap. We then increased the
temperature
to 160F and installed a mixing valve which tempered the 160F water with
incoming
cold water. This would insure a delivery temperature of 130F
effectively
making the 80 gallon tank larger. The tank is controlled by a timer
which
was added to insure the tank would not be consuming electricity during
the
more costly on peak rate charges. Since 1993, the family of ten has never
run out of hot water or heated water during expensive on peak hours
even
with guests staying over.
ATTIC
INSULATION
Infrared
thermography testing over the years has shown us that conventional
insulation not only slows heat but very effectively stores heat
. In an effort to
minimize
this we installed our proprietary radiant barrier over a bed of blown cellulose
with
an R factor of 19. This design effectively retards heat gain/loss and keeps
the
home from consuming large amounts of expensive on peak electricity.
Click here To see the performance of this home.
The
chart clearly illustrates the performance curve of the O.P.E.R.A. House
throughout the year. A family of ten, living in a 2300 square foot, all
electric south
facing home spent $56.00 on air conditioning in August! Local
utilities
recommend a 66/33 (66% off peak, 33% on peak) split for savings on time
of
use rates. The more you shift to off peak times, the more you
save.
O.P.E.R.A. house I averages a 87/13 shift throughout the year occupied
by
a family of ten. O.P.E.R.A. House II consistently uses 92% off
peak
regardless of the outside temperature.
These
values
would be impossible using conventional insulation products in a desert
environment.
O.P.E.R.A.
I House Specifications
Orientation:
South
Livable
square footage: 2300
square
feet
Occupancy:
family of ten
Construction:
block
Wall
insulation: R-10
polystyrene foam with two layers of Radiant Wrap
Ceiling
insulation: R-19
blown cellulose covered with Radiant Barrier Chips
Windows:
dual pane aluminum
sliders
HVAC:
Rheem 3 ton, 11 SEER
split
system heat pump
Electric
Bills: Less than
$240
per year for heating and cooling.
O.P.E.R.A.
II House Specifications
Orientation:
Southwest
Livable
square footage: 2150
square
feet
Occupancy:
family of four
Construction:
block
Wall
insulation: R-2
polystyrene foam with two layers of Radiant Wrap
Ceiling
insulation: R-19
batt fiberglass
with two layers of Radiant
Wrap
stapled to the flat roof deck.
Windows:
dual pane aluminum
sliders
HVAC:
Rheem 4 ton, 12 SEER
split
system heat pump
Electric
Bills: Uses less
than
10% on peak power
Highest summer electric bill for
cooling in August
(in
Phoenix): $45
Heating
costs in the winter
average
$2 - $3 per month
Tracking the usage of this home shows 92% of the power is consumed
during off peak hours
How
to make your new home an O.P.E.R.A. House
Send your blueprint
including floor plan and elevations to our office for review by a L.E.E.D.
Certified architect. All means and methods are cleanly lined out and there
is no need to alter the design of your home, only
how
it is built using our products. You will be supplied with a
detailed
plan and instructions for implementing our designs.
Our consulting design charges are based square footage, roof design, type of
construction
and elevation. Submit your plan for review and a free estimate of
our
planning services.
If your new home
is
in the planning stage, we can offer suggestions to build energy
efficiency into your new home. If your home is the framing stage, you
still have time to install the most efficient product in the walls and
attic.
Call or email for consultation.
602-867-3176
Back to our Main Page
Back
to
Top
Web
page design and maintained by B
Rad Design
Group
Copyright
1997-2012 Horizon Energy Systems. All rights reserved. All images
and
trademarks
protected. Violators will be prosecuted.
Information
in this document is subject to change without notice.
Other
products
and companies referred to herein are trademarks or
registered
trademarks of their respective companies or mark holders.