DOE Tour of Zero: The Drummond House by Durable Energy Builders
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Houston, Texas, is the site of this custom home by Durable Energy Builders that is certified as a U.S. DOE Zero Energy Ready Home.
Photo courtesy of Durable Energy Builders
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In addition to Zero Energy Ready Home certification, this home has earned certifications from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Indoor airPLUS, ENERGY STAR, the Institute for Business and Home Safety Fortified Home, and LEED for Home programs.
Photo courtesy of Durable Energy Builders
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A professionally installed balanced fresh air system is integrated with the home’s central heat pumps. This fresh air system brings in fresh air through high-capture filters and exchanges heat and humidity with exhausted stale air from the home for a greater efficiency and healthier indoor environment.
Photo courtesy of Durable Energy Builders
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Insulated concrete form (ICF) wall construction is wrapped in a dry-by-design wall moisture control system consisting of a multilayer radiant vapor barrier with 1-by-1.5-inch vertical battens that provide an air gap behind stucco, stone, or brick cladding.
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Energy-efficient fans are used inside and outside the home.
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Homeowner and builder Ker Thomson believes that a high-performance home can be built for just 15% more than the cost of standard construction.
Photo courtesy of Durable Energy Builders
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The home is graded so that precipitation drains away from the home’s foundation on all sides.
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A hip roof design, impact-resistant windows and doors, and solid steel-reinforced concrete walls are among the many features that contribute to severe-weather resistance. Although the Durable Energy home is equipped with heat pumps, it is so well-insulated the homeowners were in the home for three winters before the heat ever came on.
Photo courtesy of Durable Energy Builders
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With solar electric panels, this Zero Energy Ready Home is expected to save its owners $4,800 a year in utility costs.
Photo courtesy of Durable Energy Builders
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The home’s slab foundation is poured over a steel-reinforced platform constructed over 61 concrete piers, which are anchored 15 feet deep in the ground to solidly support the three-story structure on the site’s shifting clay soils.
Photo courtesy of Durable Energy Builders
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The home has ultra-efficient windows with triple-pane glass, insulating argon gas fill, heat-blocking coatings, and metal-clad wood frames.
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The Durable Energy home features advanced solid-state lighting technology in 100% of the lighting fixtures.
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High-efficiency appliances and water-saving fixtures reduce electricity and water bills.
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Metal supports for architectural features like cove ceilings and arches were purchased prefabricated and brought to the site for quick installation and a cost savings over carved solid wood features.
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A solar water heater with an instantaneous gas backup system is used to provide hot water.
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The home is equipped with a water filtration system, which uses ultrafine membranes and carbon filters to filter city water or harvested rainwater to “bottled water-quality” for drinking water.
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During drought periods, an integrated backup system adds city water to maintain the home’s 11,500-gallon cistern at 25% capacity or more.
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The wall framing is connected to roof framing with metal ties for hurricane-resistant construction.
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Steel rebar reinforces the insulated concrete form (ICF) walls for tornado-resistant construction.
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Rainwater is collected in an 11,500-gallon cistern for irrigation and drinking water.
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Durable Energy Builders installed a natural gas generator integrated with the solar electric system via a “smart panel” so that household utilities automatically switch to the generator during power outages.
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The 3.2-kilowatt solar electric home is safely connected to the utility grid.
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Insulated concreted form (ICF) construction utilizes blocks consisting of two layers of rigid foam held apart by plastic spacers that are stacked to form hollow walls. Reinforcing steel rebar is placed in these blocks, which are then filled with concrete to form sturdy walls.
Photo courtesy of Durable Energy Builders
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The home’s steel-reinforced ICF construction results in ultra-efficient walls that are resistant to severe weather, wildfire, and pests.
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The home’s ICF wall construction results in an 11.5-inch-thick continuous thermal blanket.
Photo courtesy of Durable Energy Builders
"Air quality was immediately apparent in the dramatic reduction in my son’s asthma symptoms."
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“Air quality was immediately apparent in the dramatic reduction in my son’s asthma symptoms. He went from daily inhaler use and frequent upper respiratory infections to only occasional/seasonal inhaler use, and the use of antibiotics in our house fell by 80%. And this in a house that still has three cats and two dogs!”
– Homeowner and builder Ker Thomson
