| Steps to Building a Better Home: Monitoring House Performance |
From "Home IQ"
episode DHIQ-126 |
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Our homeowners (Brad and Lynn Oberg) have offered up their dream home to be part of a larger long-term experiment. During construction the building scientists at IBACOS wired sensors into the home (figure A) so they can monitor it over time."We're looking at this house as a working laboratory," Bruce Dickson, project manager for IBACOS, said, "where we have the ability to do some long-term monitoring and assessing some of the techniques we've instituted to see if they actually work the way we anticipate them to work."
Systems Being MonitoredOne of the innovative technologies that the engineers at IBACOS had installed in the Oberg home was a radiant floor heating system (figure B). Note: For detailed information on this new flooring system, click here for Episode DHIQ-120 of Home IQ. To test how well the floor is actually heating up, IBACOS inserted sensors into the floor before the system was installed. Thermal-couples, which are temperature sensors, are buried underneath the floor slab. The effectiveness of the basement insulation (figure C) is also tested. All the sensor wires run to a central location and are tied into a computer for the monitoring. Note: For detailed information on the Oberg insulation, click here for Episode DHIQ-112 of Home IQ. IBACOS will use all this data to test various construction theories and find new ways to advance home-building technology. In the final segment of Home IQ, Brad and Lynn settle back in their new home and reflect on the two-year process.
RESOURCES :
Lighting for Oberg Home (Lutron Electronics and Sterling Lite)
Lutron Electronics Co. Inc.
Website: www.lutron.com
Sterling Lite, Inc.
20800 Rt. 19
Cranberry Township, PA 16066
Phone: 724-772-7474
Fax: 724-772-3286
E-mail: sterlite@stargate.net
Home Builder for the Oberg Home
Hendolhurst Homes
955 Markman Park Rd.
Baden, PA 15005
Phone: 724-935-5658
Fax: 724-935-0884
E-mail: buildm@zoominternet.net
Moving Services for Oberg Home
Hindman Moving & Storage
Website: www.hindmanmoving.com
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Guidelines
Website: www.epa.gov
GUESTS :
Brad and Lynn Oberg
Homeowners
Company: IBACOS (Brad)
Title: Co-Founder/Chief Technology Officer
Website: www.ibacos.com
Jeff Winkle
Director of Community Development
Cranberry Township
2525 Rochester Rd.
Cranberry Township, PA 16066-6499
Phone: 724-776-4806
Fax: 724-776-5488
E-mail: winklej@twp.cranberry.pa.us
Website: www.twp.cranberry.pa.us
Greg Allen
Site Supervisor
Hendolhurst Homes
955 Markman Park Rd.
Baden, PA 15005
Phone: 724-935-5658
Fax: 724-935-0884
E-mail: gcrbs@adelphia.net
Eric Newhouse
Systems Integration Designer
IBACOS
Website: www.ibacos.com
Bruce Dickson
Project Manager
IBACOS
Website: www.ibacos.com
Bill Rittlemann
Project Engineer
IBACOS
2214 Liberty Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Website: www.ibacos.com
Ronald Henshaw
Manager, Code Administration
2525 Rochester Rd.
Suite 400
Cranberry Township, PA 16066
Phone: 724-776-4806
Fax: 724-776-5488
E-mail: henshawr@twp.cranberry.pa.us
Website: www.cranberrytownship.org
Dennis Fowler
Cranberry Township Inspector
Department of Public Works
2525 Rochester Rd.
Cranberry Township, PA 16066
Phone: 724-776-4806
Fax: 724-776-5488
E-mail: admin@twp.cranberry.pa.us
Website: www.twp.cranberry.pa.us/publicworks/
Duncan Prahl
R.A., Senior Building Scientist
IBACOS
Website: www.ibacos.com
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