Have you ever heard of a blower door test? 

EnergyStar (and EarthCraft) homes are built to higher energy efficiency standards than your typical new construction home.  EnergyStar homes have to meet standards set by the EPA, and are typically between 15% and 30% more energy efficient than traditionally built new construction homes.

But how do you test the energy efficiency of a home?  A common test is a blower door test, where a calibrated fan blows air out of the house while the pressure of the air flow is monitored.  This test measures how "tight" a home has been built.  A "tighter" home will be more energy efficient, as heated or cooled air will not escape the home as quickly.

The home pictured above, 1270 Cottage Circle, is quite energy efficient (and green) with flash coat insulation, windows with a U-factor under 0.4, a 14-seer HVAC system, EnergyStar appliances, Toto Eco toilets, Lahara efficient faucets and shower heads, a fiber cement board exterior, Low VOC carpets and paints, and recycled hardwood floors.

Today, Benjamin Meredith with Building Knowledge conducted a preliminary blower door test on the home to test its efficiency.  Enjoy the brief interview with Laura Scripture, of Scripture Communities.

What a great story --- "On 5 acres along Interstate 81 about a mile north of Harrisonburg, Zach Fettig, a 24-year-old graduate of James Madison University's College of Integrated Science and Technology, is financing and building a self-sufficient, environmentally friendly house." (Source: Daily News Record)

Zach is a recent graduate, and will house several other students in the house he is building --- providing a hands-on experience for learning about and performing research on sustainable living technologies in everyday life.

Per the Daily News Record, these technologies will include:

• solar panels
• wind turbines
• low-flow toilets and shower heads
  
• an underground waste treatment tank
• a fuel cell to produce electricity
• a geothermal heating and cooling system
• heat-storing floor tiles
• a passive solar design
• a solar-thermal water heating system