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Smud's Home of the Future

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RJ Walter Homes - Home of the Future

The RJ Walter Homes Home of the Future is located at an in-fill redevelopment site in a historic neighborhood that dates back to the 1850s. The home includes advanced, state-of-the-art, energy efficiency and environmental features and will be the first LEED Platinum Certified home in the Sacramento area. The Home will also be a National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) National Green Building Guidelines Certified Gold Home.

Energy Savings

The RJ Walter Homes Home of the Future, located at 607 Mormon Street in Folsom, incorporates many energy saving features which are listed below on this page. Because of these building techniques, the utility bills will be much lower than a house built to the California Title-24 energy code. The chart below illustrates this with monthly utility bills that are 80% lower than a standard house. That means a savings of almost $1,400 a year at current energy costs.

Bar graph that compares the monthly utility bills of a home built to California Title-24 energy code and the RJ Walter Homes Home of the Future. The y-axis is labeled "Average Monthly Utility Cost" and has horizontal grid lines at $0, $50, $100, and $150. There are two bars on the x-axis. The first bar is labeled "House Built to Title-24 Code." This bar has a value of $139.86. The second bar is labeled "RJ Walter Homes Home of the Future." This bar has a value of $23.55.


Features

The home's features include:

Building Envelope—Framing and Insulation

Framing features 2x6 walls and Weyhaeuser I-joists with damp spray cellulose insulation and 1 1/2" rigid foam on front elevation + 1" expanded polystyrene (EXP) foam and 1" rigid foam + 1" EPS polystyrene foam on side and back elevations which gives an R-value of approximately R-30.

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Advanced roofing consisting of an unvented-cathedral sized attic with the insulation and air barrier located at the roof deck, which keeps the air conditioner and ductwork inside the conditioned volume of the building. The insulation consists of 10" of Demilec's Drslrvion 500, open celled, spray-applied, semi-rigid low-density polyurethane foam, which gives an R-value of R-38. Unvented attic designs remove the extreme heat load found in vented attics on the heating and cooling duct distribution system and keep any duct leakage inside the building envelope.

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Building Envelope—Windows

Spectrally selective glass for windows are dual pane windows with specially coated, super efficient Ply Gem "Thermaflect" low emissivity glazing to reduce radiant heat gain and loss.

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Silhouette, automated, energy-saving window coverings featuring semi-opaque horizontal vanes suspended between two sheer facings that rotate open and closed. Even when open, Silhouette window shadings block sun fading UV rays by up to 88%. Duette Architella honeycomb shades have two cells in one that increase color integrity and pleat structure, providing the highest energy efficiency of any honeycomb product.

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Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing

Fresh Vent fresh air system that automatically circulates filtered outdoor air throughout the home with all doors and windows secure.

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A mechanically designed, zoned heating and cooling system featuring an Aqua Chill state-of-the-art, super efficient, water cooled evaporative air conditioning system with SEER, a solar assisted space heating system for the main house, and a ductless "mini-split" SEER 20, HSP 10 heat pump for the garage apartment unit. Tight, tested ducts in conditioned space, and a Smart Vent night ventilation system automatically circulates filtered outdoor air throughout the home with all doors and windows secure.

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Tankless water heater for the garage apartment unit that produces up to 8.5 gallons of hot water per minute, saving up to 30% in energy costs per year.

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Low-flow showers and toilets and highly efficient plumbing fixtures save significant amounts of water over the lifetime of the home.

Energy-efficient lighting throughout the home, featuring fluorescent and advanced LED fixtures that last 10 times longer and use 75% less energy than standard lighting.

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Solar

A 3.86 kW AC BP Solar Integra solar electric energy system provides clean, quiet electricity generated from the sun.

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Solar-assisted hot water and space heating with a condensing, single-tank, 97% efficient water boiler by Phoenix that saves space and money.

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Daylighting with automated skylight and sun tunnels for interior space lighting.

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Advanced Whole House Management System

Advanced whole house energy management system that allows the homeowner to monitor and control lighting, heating and air conditioning, solar electric system, window coverings, skylight, and irrigation systems, and provides home security.

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Appliances

ENERGY STAR appliances, including money-saving clothes washers, refrigerators, and dishwashers.

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Finishes

Paints and sealants with low or no volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

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Cabinets constructed locally with FSC-certified wood with no urea formaldehyde resins.

Floors made from rapidly renewable bamboo and other flooring made from recycled material that complies with the Green Label Plus program.

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Countertops include a product made from 100% postconsumer recycled paper and a proprietary petroleum-free resin and a product made from recycled glass.

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Central vacuum and MERV 13 air filters for better indoor air quality.

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Landscaping

Energy and water efficient landscaping featuring native and drought tolerant plants and planters. The irrigation system will monitor the weather and soils for precise watering. Much of the site is permeable to allow rainwater to be absorbed on-site and not run-off.

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Testing and Inspection

Independent, third-party testing and inspection performed by home energy raters who are certified and monitored by CalCerts, the California Home Energy Efficiency Rating System, and regulated by the California Energy Commission. The Home also comes with a heating and cooling and comfort guarantee* from Enivronments for Living® Certified Green program, a national turn-key green building program. If the homeowner goes over the annual usage for heating and cooling, they will be reimbursed 100% of the difference for that year.

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What's hidden behind the walls of the RJ Walter Home of the Future?

Learn when and where you can buy an RJ Walter Homes Home of the Future at the RJ Walter Homes Web site.

Close-up photo of insulating sheathing.

Insulating sheathing detail shows water management layers that keep the wall dry
Photo courtesy of Building Science Corporation.

 Photo of the interior of a house which is under construction. The photo focuses on the right, lower half of a window. The window has a wood frame. On the wood frame, a strip runs from a few inches up on the right side across the bottom of the window. This strip is light blue in color and is flush with the window. This is the pan flashing.

Pan flashing at windows eliminates entry of wind blown rain
Photo courtesy of Building Science Corporation.
Photo of an interior wall of a house that is under construction. The wall is framed and has a dark gray material in between the boards that are framing the wall which is the blown in fiber. There are two small windows in the upper part of the wall and a fireplace set in the wall.

Blown in fiber fully seals and insulates interior walls
Photo courtesy of Building Science Corporation.

 Photo of the exterior of a two-story house which is under construction. The house is covered with insulating sheathing. There is scaffolding set up so that stucco may be applied to the exterior of the house.

Outside view of insulating sheathing, before stucco is applied
Photo courtesy of Building Science Corporation.
Photo of the interior of a house which is under construction. The photo focuses on the ceiling of one of the rooms which consists of wood framing and white material above the framing which is the spray foam insulation.

Spray foam insulation in attic moves ducts into conditioned space and provides additional living area for a small incremental cost
Photo courtesy of Building Science Corporation.

 Photo of the interior of the garage of a house that is under construction. The photo focuses on the top half of the garage showing part of a framed wall and the ceiling. The ceiling is covered with a white puffy material which is the cellulose insulation.

Cellulose insulation between garage and conditioned space eliminates cold floor in room over garage
Photo courtesy of Building Science Corporation.

Learn about the stages in building a Home of the Future at Building the Home.

This brief video highlights many of the energy-efficient features of the RJ Walter Homes Home of the Future.


This video shows the installation of the solar photovoltaic system on the RJ Walter Homes Home of the Future.


This video provides descriptions of the energy saving features in the RJ Walter Homes and SMUD Home of the Future.