(This is the first in our series of reflections on real construction decisions on one of our local projects: The Bishop Passive House)
How fast can you get it done? Let’s just get this thing to pass! What a hassle.
This is just a sample of comments we imagine go through our clients’ minds as they approach permitting documents and the dreaded Title 24 report. The truth is the generation of your Title 24 report along with the Residential Measures Summary (RMS-1), the Energy and Cost Summary (Econ-1), and the Energy Upgrade Recommendations Summary (Econ-2) is an amazing opportunity to examine different measures that might be taken to improve your building’s performance, comfort, indoor air quality, daylight, and overall operating performance.
We recently began working on a new residential project – The Bishop Passive House – comprised of 2,300 SF of conditioned space with an attached 600 SF unconditioned garage. The Title 24 has been a vital tool to help us see what performance improvements could be gained through variations in the airtightness of the envelope, a measure often overlooked by builders in California. By ticking the option of having a HERS rater verify that the air leakage of the building will be below a particular threshold in a blower door test, we were able to see how the sizing of the heating system begins to decrease – with just a click. And this is just the beginning.
Wondering what exterior insulation will do to your performance? You can find that out virtually through your Title 24. Wondering about a way to avoid installing exterior insulation? You can work out other assemblies through your Title 24 energy model. Worried about HVAC contractors over-sizing your mechanical system? You can get a good read on what your own system requirements are directly from your Title 24 report. Want to know what you should be sizing for a PV system? It’s in your Title 24 report.
Because the report is generated out of an computer model of your proposed design, it is as dynamic and responsive as the ideas you bring to it. An improvement on one measure can spur improvements in another area, i.e. increasing airtightness consequently reduces the heating load which reduces mechanical system size. This can all be seen on your Title 24 report, and even more importantly, it can all be worked through during design with your energy consultant.
So, we say embrace the Title 24 process. A good builder/designer can utilize it to their advantage - to deliver a home or building that will be sustainable, responsible, resilient, and often come with far fewer headaches in the form of repairs, callbacks, and operating costs.
Interested in understanding your Title 24 better? Contact us!