August 30, 2001 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dennis Brown - 509/335-2930 (office)
509/334-2297 (Home)
WSU Energy House Serves as a Technology Test Bed
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Mike Lubliner lives in
one of the most energy-efficient manufactured homes in the United
States. That's only appropriate because Lubliner makes his living
preaching residential energy conservation for Washington State
University's Cooperative Extension Energy Program.
The 2,600-square-foot Moduline Industries house he purchased
four and a half years ago is well-insulated -- R-21 in the walls,
R-33 in the floor and R-38 to R-49 in the ceilings. It has foam
core doors and vinyl low-E glass Energy Star-rated windows.
Energy Star-rated appliances -- dishwasher, refrigerator, washer
and dryer -- were added after market and all lights in the home
are Energy Star- rated fluorescents. "I haven't changed
a light bulb since I've been here," Lubliner said.
Energy Star is a voluntary labeling program
for energy efficient appliances, lights and other products recognized
by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department
of Energy.
Lubliner's choice of exterior colors -- crimson and gray -- earned
it the unofficial designation "WSU Energy House."
He also incorporated some new technologies not in general use
in manufactured housing.
The home has a mechanical ventilation system. "We use a
systems engineering approach to evaluate the overall building
and optimize the energy and indoor air quality," he said.
The energy and heating, ventilating and air conditioning package
added about $6,400 to the home's cost, but power bills are about
$900 per year less than comparable manufactured homes that meet
minimum HUD standards.
The home is monitored and data analyzed by the WSU Energy Program
under a U.S. Department of Energy Building America Program contract.
"The home has given me a hands-on appreciation for the pluses
and minuses of some of these new technologies," Lubliner
said.
One of those technologies is a self-contained residential heat
pump.
"Most residential heat pumps are split
systems," he said. "You've got an outdoor unit with
a coil in it and a fan and then you have a refrigerant line that
connects that unit to an indoor coil located inside our air handler.
The Insider is self-contained, with the outside unit a part of
the inside unit. The Insider's source of outside air is the crawl
space. We've been evaluating the noise and energy performance
of this new technology."
Lubliner is retrofitting a solar water heating system on the
home to evaluate a concept called "solar ready." "The
manufacturer would ship a home pre-plumbed for solar panels with
mounting hardware already on the roof so somebody could bolt
down panels and do the installation if the owner decided to go
solar later."
"We added additional insulation to the ductwork in the crawl
space and sealed some leaks with a mastic material. Some of the
feedback on the ductwork tape failure has helped improve the
Pacific Northwest's Super Good Cents Manufactured Housing program's
specifications," he said.
Lubliner is a member of a National Fire Protection Association
and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning
Engineer committees that set building standards. "Some of
my experience has gone into proposals to improve manufactured
housing," Lubliner said.
For more information on the Energy Program, visit http://www.energy.wsu.edu on the World Wide Web.
- 30 -
SOURCE CONTACTS:
Mike Lubliner
(360) 956-2082 lublinerm@wsu.edu
WSU employment and programs are available to all without discrimination.
Heading using the h3tag
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.