GreenHome and Sustainability March 24 Jobs Round-Up

Are you looking for a job in sustainable housing? Consider the internationally recognized sustainability credential, the LEED Green Associate. You can take our training class here at any time! GHI members get free access to the training and practice exam. Below are several jobs you may be interested in applying for or sharing with a friend. Follow us on LinkedIn at  #greenhomejobalert to get real-time job updates over the next month.  

Member Dr Alexander Ebolor achieves LEED AP Homes Credentials with GHI resources.

Member Spotlight Dr. Alexander Ebolor

Congratulations to our member who passed his LEED Accredited Professional in Homes Exam with high grades!

Alexander used the tried and true method of taking the GHI on-demand courses to pass his green associates and LEED AP and then took the practice exams we offer under our membership.

Alexander is now applying to be a LEED Green Rater Rater.

Please contact him for services on your next residential housing project

This is who GHI members are
This is what GHI members do, and so can you! Learn more and sign up here at greenhomeinstitute.org/becomeamember/

White House Zero Emissions Public Comment Due 3.6

The deadline to submit public to the White House their Zero Emissions Building Draft is March 6th. 

Here is the draft 

Here is the RFI form to submit comments 

IN BOLD, we took the direct questions from the RFI form, and below that, in plain text, are our comments.  We did not answer every question because some questions were not within GHI’s wheelhouse. 

5.Are the draft criteria clear and appropriate for the definition of a zero emissions building? Should any other criteria be considered for Part 1? Please provide specific feedback about this draft definition. 

The language, in general, is clear and appropriate. It should be emphasized that a zero emissions building is a building that is designed, (re)built, tested, and verified to be energy efficient, all-electric, and utilize onsite solar and/or energy attribute certificates (each) to reach zero emissions while being maintained on an annual basis. It is also noted that this standard primarily applies to the commercial sector, and differentiation should be developed for housing. 

6.Should energy efficiency be considered a criteria for the definition of a zero emissions building? If the efficiency of an existing building should be considered, do you agree that requiring energy performance in the top 25% of similar buildings is an appropriate measure of energy efficiency for this definition? (ENERGY STAR® score of 75 or above.) Should it be higher or lower? Are there other benchmarks or approaches that should be considered? For an existing building, is one year of measured energy performance an appropriate requirement for demonstrating efficiency or is another approach appropriate? 

We agree that energy efficiency is very important; these targets are fine, and consideration should be given to increasing the standards in the next version. Existing buildings should be able to use either a measured or modeled approach to achieve zero emissions. 

7.For existing buildings, are the draft criteria appropriate for single-family homes? Are there other benchmarks that should be considered for single-family homes? 

We don’t consider ASHRAE 90.1 an appropriate energy modeling tool for existing single-family or townhomes. Instead, the Department of Energy (DOE) Home Energy Score is the most appropriate tool for these and measures homes 1 – 10. A single-family and townhome should achieve at least a Home Energy Score of 8 or higher while not counting solar power in the score. This will put those homes in roughly the 75% percentile of homes for reduced energy use. Existing single-family and townhomes located in climate zone 5 or higher should be allowed to use a dual-fuel system, that is, a system that operates on gas when it is very cold and electric through a heat pump in the shoulder seasons. The gas usage must also be offset, just like the electrical usage is. 

8.For new construction, are the draft criteria appropriate? The modeled building performance is at least 10% lower than the energy use according to the latest version of IECC or ASHRAE 90.1 (e.g. model energy code) and the building is designed to achieve an ENERGY STAR design score of at least 90 (for eligible buildings). Are there other benchmarks that should be considered?

We recommend that new construction multifamily housing be required to be certified to the latest version of the Department of Energy (DOE) Zero Energy Ready Homes program as a baseline to be accepted as a zero emissions building.  The DOE should also develop and implement an equivalent standard for commercial and industrial buildings. Until then, the commercial sector should follow the same energy baseline ASHRAE 90.1 targets as DOE Zero Energy Ready and have a component of solar readiness as well. 

9.For new construction, are the draft criteria appropriate for single family homes? Are there other benchmarks that should be considered for single family homes?

We do not consider ASHRAE 90.1 an appropriate energy modeling tool for new construction single-family or townhomes. Instead, the latest version of the Department of Energy (DOE) Zero Energy Ready Certification should be required for the new single-family construction and townhomes. 

10.Should there be an exemption allowed for emission producing emergency generation? Are there any other exemptions needed?

Yes, methane or propane gas generators should be allowed in climate zones four and above. 

11.Should biofuels consumed on-site be allowed? If so, how?

Unless used for cooking or a fireplace, we do not recommend using biofuels since they are not renewable energy sources.

 Section D: Clean energy generation and procurement.

12.Are the clean energy criteria provided appropriate for this definition? Are there other clean energy criteria that should be considered? Should community solar qualify for the requirement? If so, how? 

The response below will be similar to a response you will get from Watt Carbon and is copied word for word here to reinforce their point.  

“The single most important criterion for a ZEB is hourly matched, local clean electricity generation. If all that this definition did was require hourly matching of clean energy for buildings, it would go farther in reducing emissions than any other building-related policy in existence. There is now a substantial corpus of research showing the difference in emission reduction from hourly versus annual matching strategies (e.g. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2542435123004993). Consistently, scholars have concluded that annual matching strategies are completely ineffective at driving new renewable energy production. It was for this reason that the EPA, Treasury Department, and Department of Energy insisted on hourly matching for the 45v tax credits for green hydrogen production. Likewise, utilities like Peninsula Clean Energy and Constellation Energy in the United States, and many more in Europe have started offering 24/7 matched renewable energy contracts for their customers. Large energy buyers like Google and Microsoft have made commitments for 24/7 renewable energy. Similarly, the U.S. federal government now has a 24/7 CFE commitment. To not require this same threshold for an official definition of a Zero Emission Building would be a complete betrayal of scientific consensus and a substantial departure from every other analogous policy that has been announced of late.”

Community solar should certainly qualify for the requirement.

13.Should there be a proximity requirement for off-site power used to meet the clean power criterion? If so, how should a proximity requirement be implemented (e.g., regional definition, phase-in, etc.)? 

The response below will be similar to a response you will get from Watt Carbon and is copied word for word here to reinforce their point. 

“The proximity criterion, otherwise known as deliverability, is nearly as important as hourly matching. For years, we have allowed RECs to be procured from far away grids that are not interconnected with other grids, meaning that the clean energy produced in a place like Texas stays in Texas. The principle of deliverability requires that procured clean energy be produced within the same grid as the building, so that the building’s consumption load is fully mitigated by their procured clean energy. The ZEB definition should follow the same regional grid parameters that are to be used for 45v so that there is consistency across policies. However, some buildings may already have contracts for EACs sourced from other grid regions. Other clean energy procurements may be aggregated from different regions to support the clean energy claims of a fleet of buildings. As a transition, these EACs should be counted, however they should not be counted equally. They need to be discounted by the carbon emissions differential between a building’s consumed energy and the renewable facility’s own grid carbon intensity. If renewable EACs come from clean grids and the building is located in a dirty grid, the building will need to over procure EACs to make up the difference. The data required for this calculation are freely available from the Energy Information Administration and updated on a daily basis in an accessible Excel spreadsheet.”

14.should organizations leveraging the definition be able to determine whether buildings have to meet it annually, one time, or on a different frequency?

An annual “certification” based on cumulative hourly use.

15.If the definition is extended to single family homes, what documentation should be required?

The definition should be extended to single-family housing. I went over what exactly should be done for single families. To reiterate, we suggest that single-family and townhome renovations should require DOE Home Energy Scores 8+ before solar on the site is counted. Single-family new construction, including townhomes, should require DOE Zero Energy Ready Certification. Also, housing should follow clean energy procurement in the same way.  

16.Are licensed professional and third-party certification bodies the appropriate parties to independently verify the documentation that a building has met the definition? Beyond existing government resources such as EPA’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, are there other methods to verify meeting the zero emissions building definition?

Before being labeled Zero Emissions Building, these buildings, homes, and projects should have to be verified through a credible 3rd party rating system that includes, but is not limited to, United States Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED Zero, Home Innovations Lab, National Green Building Standard Zern Energy Badge, GreenHome Institute GreenStar Homes Certification – Zero Energy Certified, Passive House Institute US Source Zero and the International Living Future Institute Zero Carbon and/or equivalent program. They would ideally train their verifiers to implement the current federal standard. The DOE should also develop an add-on to the DOE Zero Energy Ready standard to update to a full DOE Zero Emissions Building standard and train the raters to deliver this through the same mechanism. 

17.What time frame should be used for GHG calculations (i.e. hourly, monthly by year, annually)? Explain how this would be implemented effectively across the market.

The response below will be similar to a response you will get from Watt Carbon and is copied word for word here to reinforce their point.  

“As it is currently written, the ZEB standard would not require any GHG calculations. This is a fundamental shortcoming of the proposed standard and should be rectified. If the standard chooses to adopt a GHG measurement component, hourly is the only GHG signal that has any meaningful connection to the grid and to the broader goal of energy decarbonization. Monthly or annual GHG emissions accounting simply ignores the fact that renewable energy is intermittent and that energy consumption is variable throughout the day. It would be better to not provide any standard than to provide one that gives a false sense of accomplishment when the underlying physical realities suggest otherwise. Fortunately, the data infrastructure for calculating hourly GHG emissions already exists and is updated daily by the Energy Information Administration. (https://www.eia.gov/electricity/gridmonitor/dashboard/electric_overview/US48/US48). For each balancing authority (i.e., grid region), for each hour of the day, the EIA publishes both the emissions intensity of the mix of generators for that grid, but also the emissions intensity net of imports and exports to neighboring grids. All that needs to be done to measure the hourly carbon emissions for buildings is to multiply each building’s hourly load by the emissions intensity provided by the EIA and sum these values for the duration of the reporting period. It can be done in Excel in a matter of minutes.There are some limitations to the EIA data, such as that it doesn’t reflect transmission constraints within balancing authorities, it doesn’t include utility-specific procurement, and the numbers are subject to revision for a few weeks as the EIA receives more complete reporting information. But there are no substantive technical limitations to this reporting requirement.”

18.What other verification criteria are necessary to make this definition useful for the marketplace?

We recommend adopting the national or international Energy Attributes Certificates Registry.

19.Are there any issues regarding conflict or synergy with regional, state or local energy and climate programs that ought to be addressed?

20.Is it important for a national definition to cover all building types, including commercial, multifamily, and single-family?

This is very important. However, commercial standards differ for multifamily and single-family. Additionally, new construction varies from renovation, so the goal is to ensure both have stringent reductions, and there should be differences in the approach as described above. 

21.Are there any other recommendations that would help clarify and improve the definition?

22.While Part 1 of the definition focuses on operating emissions, what other areas should be considered in future parts of the definition, such as embodied carbon, refrigerant, and grid interactivity?

We recommend considering embodied carbon as a variable. We recommend that the Federal government develop an embodied carbon reduction tool to help people plan construction and renovation projects so everyone is using the same standard. Refrigerants would show up as a component of that embodied carbon tool rather than being a stand-alone. Grid interactivity would be a component of the clean energy generation and procurement in version 1; as with proper grid management, carbon can be more fairly offset.  

23.Other questions or comments not included above. 

GHI partners with the Society of American Registered Architects (SARA) to expand new CEUS

The Society of American Registered Architects (SARA) and GHI have joined forces to promote sustainable living practices. This partnership aims to educate and empower architects to create more environmentally friendly living spaces. As part of this collaboration, all weekly Wednesday Webinar Continuing Education Unit (CEU) presentations and professional credential training will be submitted to SARA for CEUS approval. These CEUS may be tied to local and state license renewals for architects, making it easier for more architects to bridge the gap between traditional architectural practices and sustainability in living environments. 

Continuing Education will be submitted on behalf of SARA member attendees who complete the sessions and CEU survey. The partnership between SARA and GHI highlights the important role that architects play in addressing environmental challenges. By embracing sustainable practices, architects can enhance the quality of living spaces while also contributing to the global effort to combat climate change. Join us in this important endeavor to enrich our communities and safeguard our planet for future generations.

Learn more https://www.sara-national.org/news-2/2024/2/23/sara-and-greenhome-institute-forge-partnership-for-sustainable-housing-education

Green Home and Sustainability Feb 2024 Jobs Round-up

The latest Green Home and Sustainability Feb 2024 Jobs round-up is out, and after seeing a dip in job openings like these the last few months, I was surprised to see how fast these types of job openings shot back up! I can barely keep up.

One of the jobs I want to highlight that I am biasedly excited about is with our SlipStream, their HVAC installation Installer. I am excited that they will oversee the MI Heat Pump Collaborative and help train HVAC here in our state to get more contractors listed as trained and engage HVAC for heat pump installs. Something that is severely lacking in our state. Learn more about the position here.

Note below that SlipStream has additional openings as well.

If you are looking to find a job in this field or even transform your current position into a sustainability position, please consider the internationally recognized sustainability credential, Green Associate. You can take our training class here on your time, any time! https://greenhomeinstitute.org/green-associate-exam-prep-course/

GHI members get free access to the training and practice exam. Below are several jobs you may be interested in applying for yourself or sharing with a friend. Follow us on Linked In at #greenhomejobalert to get real-time updates on jobs over the next months and subscribe to our newsletter to get monthly updates on jobs and all green home news.

Job Listings

GreenHome Institute Member Various positions, Slipstream, Madison WI, and remote

IL scores 2nd place in the top 10 LEED States in the nation, putting the Midwest on the map!

IL scores 2nd place in the top 10 LEED States in the nation, putting the Midwest on the map!

IL comes out 2nd most LEED buildings per square foot and 5th place for LEED professionals.

This news is exciting because 10% of GreenHome Institute members are from IL.

Our 2nd highest number of webinar attendees come from the great state of IL.

We know they are making this happen, demanding greener homes and buildings and putting in the effort and hard work (LEED or not) to make buildings BETTER.

Also, our top tier sponsor, Build Equinox, is headquartered there, ensuring healthier buildings that save energy more smartly and paving the way for LEED and green building practices.

A special shout-out to our members who are making green building happen in the state, including Eco AchieversTom Bassett-DilleyBenjamin Van HorneSPACE architects & designersJoe Konopackimichael kollmanRegina McClintonFoster DaleBrian Rayski and many more!

Illinois Green Alliance is an inspiring organization that brings everyone together to make it happen.

Let’s keep working together and keep striving to make it happen!

Whether in IL or anywhere else, you can check our GHI resources, such as green building certifications and/or education and credentials, to help get your state on the map in 2025 and help ensure we build BETTER. 

Top 10 LEED announcements
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Learn about our LEED Certification Services here

Learn about our LEED education here

Get yourself involved
https://lnkd.in/gNAMCsKu

GHI Education Manager stays warm in cold snap using heat out of the air 

The cold snap here in West Michigan is finally subsiding after nearly a week, and I am excited about another year we made it through with just pulling heat out of the air outside to heat our home and keep it cozy. This was despite us being 15 degrees below normal. 

Temps throughout the day averaged in the teens, with some highs in the low 20s and the lowest low at negative 3. The historical average for our region is 30-degree highs and 17-degree lows. 

Using a Mitsubishi Cold Weather Climate Air Source Heat Pump, we kept our comfortable 68-degree set point temp throughout the cold snap without any backup resistance heat or backup methane gas. 

This is now our 3rd winter being a heat pump compared to a traditional methane gas furnace, and it has worked great because we are fortunate to have an energy-efficient home, and the system was sized, installed, and commissioned appropriately. It keeps the home very comfortable throughout the day and night. 

Using our Sun Radon air quality monitor plugged into the adjacent bedroom, you can see our data use over the last week with an average of 68.5 degrees. Still, if you drill down to 5-minute intervals, there is a lot of variation in the temperature, as one would suspect, ranging from 65 to 70 degrees. 

Beyond comfort, I wanted to look at energy use for the week, so I looked back at 2021 to find an average temperature in the same period. Looking at Jan 13 – 20th, 2021, I noted I used 76 kWh daily vs. 80 this year. Also, during that time, I did not own an electric car, nor did I have a whole home dehumidifier running, so the reality is counting for those loads; this cold snap did not add any additional energy load on the house. 

I wanted to focus on Jan 16 this year, the day I used the most power, the coldest average during the cold snap of about 12 degrees. I want to see how much power came from the heat pump vs. everything else. During that day, we used 91 kWh of power. 5.5 came from car charging, and 2.3 came from the heat pump water heater (more on that later). We average 16 kWh a day in the home throughout the year without heating and cooling, meaning about 60 kWh of power, or 65% of our power, was used to heat this house that day. Update – Edward Louie PNNL Pointed out too – “Another important thing is you never exceed 10 kW and often never even exceed 5 kW. Electrification of everything using heat pumps results in very low peak loads even on a cold day. And also it shows how the need for a 200A service to do full electrification is rarely actually needed. In your home a 100A service would be way more than enough even when accounting for factor of safety.”

I also like to look at where that power comes from; using the MISO EIA data, I can see my local grid’s power and energy sources powering my house and heat pump. As the storm picked up on Jan 12, at one point, you can see Wind power surpassed coal and natural gas briefly, and then wind stayed a pretty good mix on the grid thoughout much of the storm, helping ensure I consumed more carbon-free power to heat my home vs. if I was just using 100% methane gas (furnace), it would all be emissions. 

I also use a RHEEM gen 3 Heat Pump Water Heater, which works great during a cold snap; since we were all home more, we used more hot water and never had an issue. You can see in this chart that the week used 21 kWh of power, which was not any more than the previous weeks. The device works by taking the heat out of my utility room, so their energy comes from the heated energy in the house, so you need to be mindful of these devices.

Looking at my Sun Radon data here again, I looked at this graph and noted that from Dec to mid-January, the adjacent room averaged nearly 64 degrees, but during the cold snap, it dropped to 62 degrees. This is in part directly related to the heat pump water heater. Still, the home’s existing ductwork has panned ductwork into the joists and hidden behind drywall. Meaning my home distribution system could be better. So air delivered to the basement or living room will be off the temperature set point, which I notice is sometimes off by 10 degrees. To fix this issue, I could blow in an air sealant into the ducts or, better but more expensive, could redo all the ductwork, which would require tearing out all the drywall, which is in good shape. Poor air delivery is sometimes why people use mini-splits to heat and cool rooms that the existing ductwork does not reach well. In my case, the room adjacent to the utility room is used sparingly, but these are things to consider when considering your systems and how they work with the existing home and your budget. 

What about getting fresh air and good ventilation in the cold?

I also looked at our energy recovery ventilator (ERV) and the fresh air it brings in. Most ERVs freeze up when they get cold, but my Panasonic Intellibalance ERV can operate down to -22 before the defrost cycle kicks in. One easy way to know if it is working is to look at carbon dioxide levels in the home. Two weeks previously, we were all here for Christmas break, and it was much warmer than this week when we were here due to the storms, but it was cold. You can see little difference in the CO2 levels, but we maintain our targeted levels. Keeping CO2 low helps improve performance; since I work from home, it helps improve sleep quality. 

Despite this cold snap, the reality is, overall, it is getting warmer; in December, we have some record-breaking heat here, and one side benefit of this is it makes our colder climate more conducive for heat pumps as we can expect to see much warmer temps, keeping energy costs lower for heat pumps. However, we will still experience extreme cold temps, likely record-breaking at times, and so having a versatile cold weather climate heat pump properly designed, installed, commissioned, and maintained within a home that is air sealed and insulated well is a great way to switch to healthier and comfortable heating that can reduce carbon emissions.  

New Inflation Reduction Act Tax Credits & Rebates can also help fund these systems up to $8,000 and help you get an inspection to determine their feasibility. You can learn more about that here.

Want to learn more about heat pump technology? Here is a great article with nice visuals that just came out from the Guardian.  

Learn more about my green home renovation and how you and your clients can. 

January 24 Green Home & Sustainability Jobs Round Up

Are you looking for a job in sustainable housing? Consider the internationally recognized sustainability credential, the LEED Green Associate. You can take our training class here on your time, any time! GHI members get full access to the training and practice exam all for free too. 

December Residential Green Home & Sustainability Job Openings

Green Building Jobs are surging! According to Green Biz “the average global green hiring rate peaked at 24 percent above the overall market rate this year. But according to Business Insider, “Only 1 in 8 workers globally have the green skills companies are looking for — such as measuring carbon emissions, building solar, wind, and electric vehicle projects, preventing waste, and protecting water quality, LinkedIn found. The gap is most acute among women: 9 in 10 of whom don’t have a single green skill or work experience.” GHI believes that by achieving equality in the residential building movement we will have more people available to fill the skills gap AND new ideas brought to the table that increase innovation. 

December Residential Green Home Job Openings

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