Lynden Powerhouse Open House Tour with Sustainable Connections
Written by: Nicole Miller
Sustainable, innovative and efficient!
A couple weeks ago we were pleased to host a home tour of the Lynden Powerhouse project in conjunction with Sustainable Connections and with a presentation from Built Green! The clients were gracious enough to let us hijack their home for the evening for the event. The 3-hour event was a success, bringing in all different kinds of people with different backgrounds! We were all excited to share the success of the home.
Lynden Powerhouse is not only beautiful but highly advanced. Using its oversized solar array in combination with server battery backups, the house is able to run without contributions from the grid, and even spends the entire afternoon putting power back on to the grid, helping power the neighboring houses and reduce the need for a peaker plant!
Homeowner Bob presented to everyone the impressive data showing the solar production, battery charge, grid output and critical loads. He explained that their system runs entirely on their battery backup during the night (note the State of Charge (SOC) line from 0:00 to7:30am slowly reducing) but never getting below 30% charge, then as the sun rises, the PV system (note the green area) runs the home and charges the battery until it’s at peak charge around 1pm, then all the excess solar produced is exported back on the grid (note the yellow area). This is the cycle that repeats itself each day!
The home has also proved its efficiency during family gatherings – in peak summer heat with children running in and out of the doors and with 20 folks inside, the home still never got above 75° inside and still exported 75% of the PV electricity generated.
I don’t know about you, but we’d call that an epic success!
A huge thank you to our adored clients, the homeowners of Lynden Powerhouse, and to Sustainable Connections!
July 2020. The Department of Energy announces that TC Legend Homes wins a Housing Innovation Award in the sub 3000 square feet (sf) custom-home category. The house is located in Everson, Washington State.
Facing directly towards the sun, the huge south roof collects enough solar power to run the house all year and power an electric car. This house represents the future of Pacific Northwest (PNW) housing. The new homeowner is delighted:
“I am astonished almost every day with how well this house works for us. Of course, it was designed for us but even so, it is a very efficient, real world design. We wanted a house that would run the (electric) meter backwards. If there is a better way to do it; build a house that powers itself, why wouldn’t you…?” – John Trax.
The house is made from SIPs (structural insulated panels). Factory made, the foam sandwich panels arrive on-site with doors and windows already cut-out & assemble fast, a bit like Legos. Triple pane windows and cutting edge mechanical systems enable this home to classify as ‘Net Positive,’ which means it makes all its own power, and excess, over the year.
The competition received hundreds of entries from all over the USA. An exhaustive assessment by the Department of Energy considered a range of factors other than the house energy systems. From wetlands and stormwater conservation, to cutting edge centrally ducted air conditioning and Alexa-controlled lighting and blinds; many aspects of this modest and modern ‘Superhouse’ led to the to the US government award.
“Housing Innovation Award winners such as TC Legend Homes are leading a major housing industry transformation to zero energy homes. This level of performance is the home of the future because it improves the way Americans live by substantially reducing or eliminating utility bills, ensuring engineered comfort way beyond traditional homes, protecting health with a comprehensive package of indoor air quality measures, and helping maximize the largest investment of a lifetime,” – Sam Rashkin, Chief Architect at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office.
About the US Department of Energy Housing Innovation Awards:
Department of Energy plans to eliminate energy use from American housing. The Housing Innovation Award is a strategy to focus industry and public attention on the reality that energy efficient housing is readily available now.
If there were absolutely no fossil fuels used in the production, or running of this home, it would be a Zero Carbon Embodied Energy building, which is where the Housing Innovation Awards are taking us all.
About TC Legend Homes:
TC Legend Homes is a design-build company based in Bellingham, WA. Designing and building about (5) net-positive SIPs homes a year. Constantly innovating, the company is making significant advances, refining the model for affordable Net-Zero housing in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). The company goal is to research, design and build the standard affordable Net-Zero home for the PNW, ready for volume-construction.
Further details:
Built Green 5 star certified,
HER rating of -19 (with P.V.)
Department of Energy certified Zero Energy Ready Home.
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