NETWORKING®

M A G A Z I N E

2020:G U I D E T O

GOING GREEN“ There is no doubt that a few committed people can

change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has.”

— Margaret Mead

ADVISORY COMMITTEE

HON. STEVE BELLONESuffolk County Executive

HON. EDWARD MANGANONassau County Executive

HON. STEVE ISRAELU.S. Congress

HON. KENNETH LAVALLENYS Senator

JOHN D. CAMERON, JR., P.E.Managing Partner

Cameron Engineering & Assoc., LLP

ROBERT CATELLChairman

Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center

BILL CHALEFFChaleff and Rogers Architects

NANCY RAUCH DOUZINASPresident, Rauch Foundation

PETER ELKOWITZPresident, CEO

LI Housing Partnership

ANN FANGMANNExecutive Director

Sustainable Long Island

ROZ GOLDMACHERPresident, CEO

Long Island Development Corporation

AMY HAGEDORNBoard Member, co-founderSustainable Long Island

JOHN v. H. HALSEYPresident, Peconic Land Trust

SARAH LANSDALEDirector, Division of Planning,

Environment; Dept. of Economic Development & Planning,

Suffolk County

NEAL LEWIS, ESQ.Executive Director

The Sustainability Instituteat Molloy College

DAVID MANNINGDirector, Stakeholder and

Community Relations Officer,Brookhaven National Laboratory

KEVIN MCDONALDConservation Finance and Policy Director

The Nature Conservancy, LI chapter

MITCHELL H. PALLYChief Executive Officer

Long Island Builders Institute

GORDIAN RAACKEExecutive Director, RELI

PAUL TONNAExecutive Director

Energeia Partnership, Molloy College

MICHAEL E. WHITEMember of LI Commission for Aquafer

Protection and member of Board ofGovernors for NYS SeaGrant

THERESA REGNANTEPresident & CEOUnited Way of LI

“We are training a future workforce to buildthe next generation of housing. As anorganization, we’re looking at what we’rebuilding and who we’re helping. Buildinghealthier, more comfortable, sustainable, energy-efficient homes fulfills that mission.”

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United Way of Long IslandTakes Top National Prize

Grand Award Winner in Affordable Housing Categoryat the U.S. Department of Energy Housing Innovation Awards

STORY BY SALLY GILHOOLEY • PHOTOS BY MIRANDA GATEWOOD AND COURTESY UNITED WAY OF LONG ISLAND

the home down to the studs and remade the inside, transforming the three-bedroom1,436 SF ft home into a model of efficiency, achieving a Home Energy Rating System(HERS) score of 40, far below most new homes. United Way of Long Island HousingDevelopment Corporation, among the top one percent of builders in the U.S.

meeting extraordinary levels ofexcellence in energy andperformance, remodels or buildsabout 10 homes a year. This homeis unique as it is the first thatUnited Way of Long Island hascertified to the performance criteriaof the U.S. Department of Energy’sZero Energy Ready Home program(formerly known as ChallengeHome).Zero Energy Ready Homes

A DOE Zero Energy ReadyHome is a high-performance homeso energy efficient, all or mostannual energy consumption canbe offset with renewable energy.

The Zero Energy Ready Homeprogram requires homes to meetall of the requirements ofENERGY STAR Certified HomesVersion 3.0 and the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency’s Indoor airPLUS, as well as the hot waterdistribution requirements of the EPA’s WaterSense program and insulationrequirements of the 2012 International Energy Conservation Code. Homes arerequired to have solar electric panels installed or have the conduit and electrical

Award-winning Zero Energy Ready Home, a remodeled 1970’s-era ranch-style house in Patchogue that complies with the performancecriteria of the U.S. Department of Energy Zero Energy Ready Home program. Providing a more healthy, comfortable solution for special

needs residents motivated United Way of Long Island to begin green construction. 22 N

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I n October, 2015, United Way of Long Island became the Grand AwardWinner for innovation in affordable homes at the U.S. Department of Energy2015 Housing Innovation Awards given to industry leaders at the Energy

and Environmental Building Alliance Conference in Denver, Colorado. Thisdistinguished recognition for thecomplete renovation of a 1970’s three-bedroom ranch house in Patchogue,Long Island, acknowledges one of thecountry’s most important goals,making high performance homesaffordable. This is the first time thisaward has ever been presented to aLong Island builder.

The house, completed in July,2014, sports a new roof, entry andpaint, but these are superficialcompared to the retrofit which took

“Housing Innovation Awardwinners such as United Way ofLong Island are leading a majorhousing industry transformationto Zero Energy Ready homes.”

KEY FEATURESDOE Zero Energy Ready Home:

• Walls: 2x4; 16" on center ; dense-pack 2 cellulose (R-13.5); plywoodsheathing; house wrap; 1.5" polyisorigid foam; 1x3 furring strip drainageplane; fiber cement siding.

• Roof: 2x8 rafters; .5" sheathing; two2" layers of polyiso rigid foam; 5/8"plywood; 15# felt; 3’ ice and watershield at all valleys; fiberglass shingles.

• Attic: Unvented; 6"open-cell sprayfoam on underside of roof (R-48).

• Foundation: 8" concrete basementwalls; 2.5" polyiso on interior ;elastomeric waterproofingmembrane; fiber protection board onexterior sill to footing.

• Windows: Double-pane; argon-filled;vinyl-framed; low-e; U=0.2;SHGC=0.24.

• Air Sealing: 1.92 ACH 50.• Ventilation: ERV tied to HVAC

ducts; separate air returns in laundryand kitchen; bath fans.

• HVAC: Wall-hung boiler for hydrocoil; rigid metal ducts; jumper ducts inbedrooms; 16 SEER AC; 95 AFUE.

• Hot Water: Solar thermal waterheater ; 120-gallon tank; electricbackup; wallhung boiler with 40gallon tank.

• Lighting: 100% CFL.• Appliances: ENERGY STAR-rated

refrigerator, clothes washer, anddishwasher.

• Solar: 7.8 kW; solar thermalevacuated tube system.

• Water Conservation: All EPA WaterSenserated fixtures; native plants.

• Other: Electric management system; no-formaldehyde wood; aging inplace features; low-VOC. ■

– Sam Rashkin, Chief Architect, U.S. Dept. of EnergyBuilding Technologies Office

Continued on page 24

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panel space in place for them.Theresa Regnante, president and CEO of United Way of Long Island said, “Zero

Energy Ready home design leads our impact to help Long Islanders afford homeownership. We are honored to be recognized and are excited to lead thisinnovation. The critical design elements impacting health, safety, durability, energyefficiency and technology for homes built now and in the future will betransformative for our region. These are just better built homes.”

Rick Wertheim, Sr. VP of Housing and Green Development for United Way ofLong Island said, “We have made a 100% commitment moving forward for both

our new and retrofit homes. For the folks we are housing, it’s absolutely necessary.We have very specific housing programs that require special needs residents tohave healthy indoor air because of compromised health. So we’ve had to developthis type of housing for over 15 years. We have just broken ground in HuntingtonStation for another Net Zero home to be built by veterans to house veterans withspecial needs.”

While noting they had already been building to ENERGY STAR standards, hecites the comprehensive benefits of the DOE Zero Ready Home program as pulling

Rick Wertheim and Theresa Regnanti at the Deer Park E3 SmartBuild Training Center where veterans and youth learn about green construction

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all the aspects together adding, “It’s got everything I’ve been looking for.” Green Education 101

The Zero Energy Ready requirements serve as teaching aids for the UnitedWay of Long Island Housing Development Corporation which uses itsremodels and new homes as instructional projects for its training programsincluding YouthBuild, VetsBuild, Green Job Corps, Weatherization Boot Campand Green Construction curriculum. They prepare dozens of workers forskilled jobs in construction, one of Long Island’s largest industries.

Students learn on job sites, in classrooms and through hands-on training inthe Housing Development’s 5,000 square foot state-of-the-art training facility.Wertheim said, “It is called the E3 SmartBuild Center. E3 stands for Energy,Efficiency and Education. It was originallyfunded by Congressman Steve Israel to provide agreen collar workforce for Long Island because herecognized the need for a skilled workforce tolead the charge to develop better and greenerhousing in our region.

“What is important is that the E3 SmartBuildCenter is the core of everything that is comingout of United Way as far as the backbone of manyof our initiatives. Veterans train at the E3 Center,and even our fee-for-service division that goesout to do advance air sealing and insulating isbased out of that SmartBuild Center. On the jobfee-for-service is where everyone gets real lifeexperience in the green and energy efficientworld,” he added.

The Center partners with Suffolk CommunityCollege, the State University of New York atStony Brook and Farmingdale for trainingopportunities. Students earn certifications from the Building Performance Institute (BPI),RESNET for Home Energy Rater training, Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) and more.

They receive an OSHA 10 certification forgeneral construction safety and the facility serves

as a BPI Testing Center. Students work on homes that the Housing DevelopmentCorporation builds which go to over 100 community partners served by UnitedWay of Long Island. Many are used for special needs or special purposes as grouphomes or homes for the elderly or those with disabilities.Retrofit Overview

The winning home’s property was re-graded for improved drainage. On theinterior side of the poured concrete walls, polyiso rigid foam was installed. Centerwalls were filled with dense-packed cellulose. Plywood sheathing was coveredwith house wrap and rigid foam insulation. Furring strips provide a drainageplane and air gap behind the fiber cement siding.

Old roofing was removed and the original plywood sheathing over the originalrafters was repaired and topped with two layers of rigid foam board then plywoodsheathing then architectural fiberglass shingles. Inside the attic, 6 inches of sprayfoam against the underside of the roof created a “hot” roof assembly. New guttersand downspouts were installed.

Rick Wertheim’s crews did comprehensive air sealing before putting ininsulation. They also installed a balanced ventilation system with an energyrecovery ventilator (ERV) and ducts to bring fresh air in and expel stale. A heatexchanger transfers heat from the warmer duct to the cooler duct to adjusttemperatures. The ERV was attached to the central heating system which has aHEPA air filter on a timer to ensure fresh air throughout the day through theductwork.

The heating system is a wall-hung boiler that supplies hot water to a hydro-coilin the central air handler. Air conditioning comes from a 16 SEER unit. The heatingand cooling system has one central return with jumper ducts in the bedroomsallowing air to flow into the living area. Controls for the system are internetaccessible to monitor and adjust as needed.

The wall-hung boiler feeds a 40-gallon tank for domestic hot water. Thehouse has a solar water heating system with two roof-mounted tube panels plus a

20-gallon storage tank with a single-coil electric backup element. Significantly, RickWertheim noted that this was the first home United Way of Long Island HousingDevelopment Corporation has built with a solar thermal water heater. Because thehouses have high usage and occupancy supporting 24/7 activities, savings fromthe solar water heater are substantial. It should pay for itself in 7 years.

The rear of the house faces south and the roof has solar thermal and solarelectric panels. This was not the first solar PV for the Housing DevelopmentCorporation. Wertheim explained, “We’ve been committed to PV for a long time.Long Island has the second highest utility rates in the U.S., 18 to 21 cents per kWh. So, solar PV really helps offset cooling costs.”

Additional sustainable features include coated vinyl double-pane windows withargon gas fill to slow heat loss, ENERGY STAR-rated appliances and high-efficiency fluorescent lighting. Sensors help keep lights off when not needed.US Department of Energy Builders Challenge

Since 2008, the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Builders Challenge programhas recognized hundreds of leading builders for their achievements in energyefficiency—resulting in millions of dollars in energy savings. The DOE ZeroEnergy Ready Home represents a whole new level of performance to ensureoutstanding energy savings, comfort, health, and durability.

Sam Rashkin, Chief Architect at the U.S. Department of Energy’s BuildingTechnologies Office said “Housing Innovation Award winners such as United Wayof Long Island are leading a major housing industry transformation to ZeroEnergy Ready homes. This level of performance is the home of the future becauseit improves the way Americans live by substantially reducing or eliminating utilitybills, ensuring engineered comfort way beyond traditional homes, protectinghealth with a comprehensive package of indoor air quality measures, and helpingmaximize the largest investment of a lifetime.”

To learn more about DOE’s Housing Innovation Awards Program, visit http://energy.gov/eere/buildings/housing-innovation-awards. For informationabout United Way of Long Island, please visit www.UnitedWayLI.org, FacebookUnited Way of Long Island or Twitter @unitedwayli. ■

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Regnante and Wertheim at the Deer Park training center where a model home and classrooms are housed inside the E3 SmartBuild Center

Solar panels on the back of the remodeled Patchogue house that won the DOE Award