The stucco suffit connects directly to the plywood roof sheathing completing the house's air flow retarder. Of course leaky homes use and lose more energy and tend to be uncomfortable from drafts. Tight homes without controlled ventilation can also experience problems due to a build up of odours and pollutants. The spectrally selective glazing offers an additional building envelope improvement in both the heating and cooling mode. The homes are so energy efficient in the heating mode that furnaces are no longer necessary.
Hot water is piped to the fan-coil from the hot water tank when the house thermostat calls for heat.
The homes provide significant savings to the home owner with respect to reductions in electrical costs associated with air conditioning and gas costs associated with heating. The homes also significantly benefit electrical utilities because of reduced peaking and reduced installed cooling capacity. Most importantly, these homes are safer than typical homes due to the provision of controlled mechanical ventilation and the elimination of negative pressures within homes that can result in soil gas, radon and pesticide ingress as well as spillage and back drafting of combustion appliances and the nuisance of dust. The key problem addressed by the team in Las Vegas is the effect of air leakage of ductwork and air handlers located in vented attics. The air handler is also now located within the conditioned space.