DELTEC-sustainabilityreport2013web

2013 AnnualSustainability Report

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We now offer our customers a home that uses 2/3rds less energy than a conventional home.

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The Year of Net-Zero Energy Homes

2013 was a year all about moving the building industry forward. In the world of green building and energy efficiency, several terms stand out. Energy Star. LEED. And now, a new one, net-zero energy.

Deltec customers have always coveted truly green homes. Ones that operate off-grid in extremely remote locations. Ones that withstand the kind of winds that turn all of the surrounding buildings into ruins. Ones whose energy needs are far lower than a standard new home of the same size.

This year we have embraced the concept of net-zero energy homes, using our extensive experience with designs that have performed well in the field to create our Renew Collection. In doing so, we can offer our customers a home that uses 2/3rds less energy to begin with than a conventional home, making the remainder that much more cost-effective to power with clean, renewable resources. And in doing so, we are also joining a chorus of builders, architects, and green building pundits who are trying to grow this particular market by bringing down cost.

Why? Why push and change the green building world?

Here are some facts. In 2012, US residences were responsible for 38% of total US electricity consumption. Taking the long view, it’s shocking to realize that per household energy use has grown so drastically as to quadruple in the past 50 years. Clearly, residential energy use is not on a sustainable path. But what is amazing is how much room for improvement quality; energy efficient building has to offer.

2013 is the year of net-zero for Deltec Homes.

Leigha DickensGreen Building Coordinator Deltec Homes

Sincerely,

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2013 marks the 6th year in a row Deltec has operated as a net-zero energy facility: using our own solar array to provide a portion of our electricity needs, and purchasing wind power for the rest through Renewable Choice’s offsets program. 2013 was an educational year in our quest to reduce construction waste in manufacturing. We built more homes this year and thus produced more waste in total volume, meaning we had more waste to recycle.

We also faced some unexpected challenges in our recycling goal, in that several markets that we relied upon for recycling plastic strapping and scrap housewrap simply disappeared.

Rather than give up, we looked for creative ways to overcome this hurdle. When our recycling company stopped accepting plastic strapping, we teamed up with a local machine finish company, a brewery and a newspaper publisher. This gave us enough volume to keep the recycing of one color strapping possible.

We also found some additional recycling opportunities: we gave away more plywood scraps and foam board scraps than ever before to local building projects. We’ve even begun saving some of our smaller, more difficult scraps for an innovative squirrel-box building project with Wild South, a local conservation organization. We have put a program in place to donate our excess fiber cement siding material to our local Habitat For Humanity—a program that will significantly affect our waste goals in 2014.

Sustainable Operations: 2013 Energy & Waste Impact

But the goal we set for ourselves in 2013: to increase our rate of diverted material, as a fraction of total material produce, did not materialize. Our total diversion rate was 78% this year, compared to 82% last year, although this difference is largely due to tweaks in reporting methodology as opposed to a measurable reduction. Despite our best efforts to improve, we remained the same.

Deltec’s Green Building Coordinator gave a presentation about our waste reduction practices to a local sustainability council meeting this year to share insights gained over the past two years. Markets for waste materials are constantly changing, and one must be persistent and resourceful to navigate them.

Creating and maintaining networks with other local industry is crucial to weathering these changes without giving up hope. Continuing to put the message out there about what materials we need to find homes for, and keeping our ears open for possibilities, has always been what has brought us opportunities in the past.

Finally, being willing to take the small opportunities as they arise—even if they are small, temporary and work-intensive—is a must.. In addition, a portion of our dimensional lumber is now going to make toys for needy children, rather than be mulched or turned into boiler fuel. These differences are not easily measured in tons of material processed, but they do make an actual difference in our community.

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SOLAR PRODUCTION DATA

WASTE DISPOSAL DATA

Total wind credits purchased:348,911 kilowatt hours

Total energy generated by our array:75,089 kilowatt hours

Total energy consumed: 424,000 kilowatt hours

Dimensional Lumber

Foam Board Scraps (XPS)

Large Plywood Scraps

Landfilled Waste

Curbside-Co-Mingled Recycling

CardboardRecycled

Plastic Scraps

67.6% 5.6%

22.1% 0.5%

2.3%

WASTE: What happens to it?

0.4%1.3%

77.9% diversion of

construction waste from landfill

in 2013

100%Renewable

Energy in 2013

77.9%diversion ofconstruction waste from landfill in 2013

17.710%

82.290%

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Cypress Shenandoah Trillium

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Ridgeline

Solar HomesteadRhododendron

Since it’s debut in late 2013, we’ve sold over a dozen Renew Collection homes. Construction is set to begin on several in early 2014. All are designed to receive pre-solar HERS scores below 50.

In 2013 we unveiled our Renew Collection, in accordance with our mission statement and our vision for the future. Through the passion of our people and the excellence of our product, we will be the recognized leader in round homes and net-zero energy homes within North America.

These six designs take into account the features that make net-zero affordable: incorporating passive solar design, solar electricity, wall and roof systems that allow for insulation above and beyond code values, and sensible heating and cooling system design. We offer energy modeling with each Renew design to help our customers reach their performance goals (see next page.) A variety of architectural styles, round and square, traditional and modern, allow our Renew Collection to appeal to any customer with high-performance home goals.

Six Homes, One Vision: Moving Net-Zero Forward

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In 2013 Deltec’s Green Building Consultant completedcertification as a HERS rater, enabling us to offer projected energy ratings on our home designs through a program designed to compare energy efficiency across homes. Recognized and encouraged by the national mortgage industry, the RESNET HERS score rates homes on a scale from 0 to 100—100 being a typical, code-built home, and 0 being a net-zero home.

Custom Deltec Homes rarely score above 65 on this index, meaning they often use 35% less energy than a standard new home with a HERS score of 100. That’s because the energy efficiency features we offer with our Deltec homes set them apart: options like our 2x6 wall, R5 Thermal Shield exterior foam insulation package, our Deltec Energy Wall with insulated headers and AirBlock building gasket to achieve exceptional air-tightness.

Projected HERS Rating

This Energy Star certified Deltec Home, finished in 2013, received a HERS score of 57 and an air-tightness score of 0.90ACH50.

It also helps that when tested for air-tightness with a blower door test, we’ve seen Deltec regularly achieve between 0.80 and 0.90 air changes per hour at 50 pascals (ACH50), that’s only a bit above the Passive House standard of 0.60 ACH50, from homes that were not trying to be Passive House certified.

Now Deltec is equipped to help customers assess their projected HERS rating, compare the efficiency of their home design to other homes, and make cost-effective decisions during the design process to ensure the best energy efficiency and the most beneficial financial choices to make to get there.

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2013 by the Numbers

Deltec homeowners who built with the Deltec Energy Wall, which allows for insulation that exceeds minimum energy code requirements by an average of 51%

29%

Deltec customers who used windows that exceed minimum energy code requirements by 20%

95%

IN 2

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Deltec customers who used our window, wall and truss options to build a structural shell that exceeded, rather than merely met, the minimum energy code requirements in their area

98%

Deltec is equipped to help customers compare the efficiency of their home design to other homes, and make cost-effective decisions during the design process.

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birdhouse box building - get text from FB post

Community Matters

Wild South

Our partnership with Wild South flourished in 2013. In a joint effort with Wild South and our local chapter of the NC Wildlife Federation - Mountain WILD! we supported the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC), first by participating in an owl nest box build at the WNC Nature Center, then by hosting a nest box build in our plant. Volunteers from Wild South and NC Mountain Wild—including a Deltec homeowner living in a net-zero energy Deltec—and Deltec staff built a total of twenty nesting boxes specially designed to reduce predator access. These were later carried out to NCWRC’s 2,700 acre Sandy Mush Game Land.

Children First and the Family Resource Center

Ensuring that families have enough is another form of sustainability. Deltec employees came together to sponsor two families’ children for Christmas, ensuring they would receive necessary items such as clothing, as well as some much desired playthings, such as bicycles and toys. Deltec also contributed canned goods for the food pantry and items for the clothing closet for Children First Family Resource Center at Emma.

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For the sixth year running, three days a week, a Deltec employee takes an hour out of their day to deliver hot meals to elderly resident of Buncombe County. In 2013 Deltec donated over 200 hours to Meals on Wheels, a service we strongly believe in because it helps people retain their independence, and remain living in their home.

Deltec partnered with Buncombe County Schools for a fundraiser, donating materials and time to the Asheville Home Builders Association for the building of four playhouses. Deltec’s Don Thompson was the mentor for TC Roberson High School—above, their playhouse under construction.

Asheville Home Builder’s Association (AHBA) Meals on Wheels

Connect with us

Deltec Homes 69 Bingham Rd ~ Asheville NC ~ 28805

Tel 800.642.2508 ~ deltechomes.com