Roseville attacks peak with residential efficiency standards

Solar panels are built onto the roof of this house. Builders participating in Roseville Electric's BEST Homes program are including features that keep down home energy consumption. (Artwork by Roseville Electric)

Editor's note: This is the second story of two on Western customers that received awards from the Solar Electric Power Association for their solar programs. See the February issue of Energy Services Bulletin to read about Riverside Public Utilities' program.

Facing anticipated growth of its already-sharp summer energy peak demand over the next 10 years, Roseville Electric launched the ambitious , earning the municipal utility the Solar Electric Power Association's 2007 award for innovation in solar programs.

In a northern California town where the sun shines 257 days a year, residential solar systems could do much to meet electricity demand, especially during hot summer months. In a nutshell, "Rooftops are wasted space that could be generating power," Roseville Electric Director Tom Habashi told SEPA in an online interview.

With rising energy prices, buyers would certainly be interested in a new home that helps reduce energy use, which translates to lower utility bills. But there are also obstacles to building such homes. A big catch, Habashi explained, is that developers find it too time-consuming to deal with city permitting processes and utility rebate applications while trying to meet construction deadlines. But when several developers bought a huge land tract annexed to Roseville with plans to build 20,000 houses over the next 10 years, the opportunity—and necessity—arose to streamline the process.

Cooperation required

To ensure as many of those homes as possible had solar roofs and energy-efficiency features, the utility invited a group of stakeholders to rethink residential new construction best practices. The partnership included members from city government, the state Building Industry Association, Roseville Chamber of Commerce and the general community. "We also hired a facilitator to figure out how to get everyone to talk to each other," noted Habashi.

It took nine months, but the committee created a program that met the needs of all parties. The updated Roseville Electric incentive program required homes to perform 20 percent better than California's Title 24 efficiency standards on cooling (30 percent as of 2008) and a variety of other water and energy efficient measures. "The program allows builders the flexibility to determine how best to achieve the threshold," explained New Construction Program Manager Mark Riffey.

To support the builders, and to promote residential solar installations, Roseville Electric developed the Blueprint for Energy Efficiency and Solar Technology—BEST—Homes program. Roseville Electric offers new home developers up to $8,600 in rebates for each participating dwelling unit, plus $30 per qualifying shade tree. Roseville also provides training, co-marketing support to promote the energy-efficient houses and a single point of contact to help developers navigate the rebate application process.

And builders are responding, said Habashi. "Since the program began, the city issued 2,500 permits for new home construction, and 1,400 of those permits are for BEST Homes," he noted.

Efficient measures, solar appeal to buyers

BEST Homes combine energy-efficient construction, water efficiency and solar generation to lower the house's energy consumption up to 50 percent. Qualified houses boast PV arrays of 1.0 to 2.5 kW, strategically placed shade trees, Energy Star appliances, enhanced ceiling insulation, furnaces with variable-speed fans and, most important, high-efficiency air conditioners. "These are the types of houses we want to see in Roseville—in the United States, really," said Habashi.

These measures help Roseville meet California's renewable portfolio standard and directly target the city's peak energy demand. Preferred Homes, another program Roseville Electric offers to local builders, also takes aim at the "needle" peak. The houses don't have solar panels, but are built with efficient air conditioning, Energy Star appliances and tested tight ducts boasting 6 percent leakage or less. One builder, Lennar, found that homes built with these features are so desirable; it now includes these components as standard features in all its northern California developments.

Any additional cost for solar arrays and energy-efficiency features is absorbed into the 30-year mortgage, making it less of a concern for buyers. Also, solar homes may be eligible for special mortgage financing because of lower monthly energy bills, and buyers may qualify for a Federal tax credit up to $2,000.

Looking to the future

Like any new construction program, BEST Homes is designed only to slow down, not reduce Roseville's peak demand energy growth. The program is only one year old, Riffey pointed out, and about 100 BEST Homes are now completed and occupied. "We will be watching to see what happens as more of the permitted homes come online," he said.

In the meantime, Roseville Electric has other strategies to yield more immediate results. The Roseville Shade Tree program has helped cut air conditioning needs by providing 13,000 free shade trees to homes, businesses and schools. "Builders who may not participate in the building programs still want the shade trees, because they add value to any property," said Riffey.

The municipal utility offers commercial and residential rebates on energy-efficient appliances and systems. A PV buy-down program to reduce the cost of retrofitting existing homes and businesses with solar systems has been in place for several years.

The Power Partners program enlists residential customers to voluntarily place their air conditioners on a cycling rotation on hot summer days. Roseville gives participants a $10 credit for signing up and another credit for each summer in the program. "There are about 1,000 people participating now, so there is a huge potential for peak management there," Riffey said. "All of our efficiency and conservation programs basically go after that peak."

If taking on that peak means transforming the home market, Roseville Electric is willing to try it, and Habashi urges other utilities to do it, too. "We believe that BEST Homes can be a model for programs across the country. That's why we've posted the committee report on our Web site."

Then, all a city has to do, Habashi added, "is get everyone together and keep them talking."

Resources

Solar Electric Power Association

Roseville Electric

Solar Power 2008 webcast

California Building Industry Association

Roseville Chamber of Commerce

Title 24 efficiency standards

Preferred Homes

Lennar

Roseville Shade Tree program

Power Partners program

BEST Homes Committee Report

People

Mark Riffey

Related articles

Energy Services Bulletin,
February 2008:
Public outreach helps Riverside build solar generation

Energy Services Bulletin,
April 2002:
Creative marketing draws power partners to 'green'

< PREVIOUS — NEXT >