APS Environmental Showcase Home

Contact:
Elizabeth Yeamans
Project Director
APS
P.O. Box 53999, MS 8666
Phoenix, AZ 85072-3999
tel: (602) 250-2396
fax: (602) 250-3371
email: eyeamans@apsc.com
http://about.apsc.com/homepg/default.asp

Description

The APS Environmental Showcase Home is a 2,640-square foot home showcasing the latest in resource-efficient technology and materials and serving as a shopping center of ideas for environmentally-conscious builders.

APS, which supplies energy to 11 of 15 counties in Arizona, several years ago recognized the burden that a home's construction places on the environment, especially in the fragile deserts of the Southwest.  Determined to help reduce this impact, APS set out to build an environmentally-friendly home that would use the latest technologies in energy efficiency, resource efficiency, indoor air quality and water conservation without sacrificing comfort and beauty.  The APS Environmental Showcase Home is the result of these efforts.

The APS home uses 60% less water and electricity than a typical Phoenix home and it is constructed of sustainable building materials such as insulation made from cellulose and carpeting made from recycled plastic. Graywater and rain capturing systems, photovoltaic energy production and a solar water and pool heating system complete the home's features.

This is the first home built that uses a sophisticated lifecycle assessment concept. For example, the home's roof, wall and floor systems were scientifically analyzed for "embodied energy" comparisons. By knowing how much embodied energy -- the energy spent in all phases of production of a particular product -- various products contain, homebuilders are able to choose products that exert the least environmental impact.

In addition to serving as an environmental showcase, the home is also used as an educational facility to educate the home building industry and general public. An educational program offers more than 150 resource conserving strategies, components and technologies presented in interactive format, and tours and seminars at the home have covered such topics as indoor air quality, material offgassing, recycled material production, architectural principles, environmental building materials and water conservation.

All programs and services are offered free of charge.

Program Highlights

Environmental and Efficiency Features

• Among the materials used to construct the home are manufactured lumber, tile floors made from crushed windshield glass, recycled steel studs and carpet produced from recycled soda bottles.
• The building block wall and flooring contain 27% fly ash, a waste byproduct of coal-fired power plants.
• The home's corners have rain chains to direct the water to underground cisterns.
• A gray water system is in place to capture waste water from sinks, showers and the washing machine.
• A photovoltaic system on the roof provides energy to the home. Surplus energy is directed back to the power grid for neighborhood use.
• Water for the home and pool is heated by solar power.

• A construction waste recycling program has been developed in concert with the Arizona Department of Commerce and local waste hauling and recycling companies. In the first three months of operation, Del Webb, a local home builder, diverted 30% of debris from the waste stream and saved $11,000 in tipping fees during subdivision construction.
• Three local builders have committed to using materials found in the home in their standard building practices.

Vital Statistics

Program Management/Partnerships: Partners include the Arizona Department of Commerce, the Economic Development Department, Del Webb, Flickinger Homes, Phoenix Cohousing Project, Interior Furnishings and Design Association, Piping Industry Progress, Education Trust Fund and local waste hauling and recycling companies.

Budget: The home's operating budget is $135,000 annually.

Community Served: The general public, home builders, architects and business leaders interested in promoting environmentally-sound construction. Recently the home was the site for educational tours for Upward Bound and other low-income programs for high school students.

Measures of Success:

The APS Environmental Showcase Home is expected to prevent 540,000 pounds of air pollution and save 2.3 million gallons of water over its 30-year life.

The Home uses 60% less water than a typical Phoenix home.

The Home uses 60% less electricity than a typical Phoenix home.

More than 90% of the Home's materials are recyclable.

Compared to typical homes currently built in Phoenix, the APS home will reduce the burden on the environment by 23%.

More than 25,000 people have visited the home to date, including commercial and residential builders, architects, engineers and business leaders.

The home's architects were hired by government officials in Kobe, Japan to build prefabricated environmental homes to replace houses destroyed in the 1995 earthquake.

Bank of America, McDonald's, The Gap and the Mayo Clinic have incorporated concepts found in the home in their new building designs.

Queries regarding the home's construction have come from Saudi Arabia, Germany, Japan, Mexico and France.

An environmental resource manual will soon be available on the World Wide Web.

 

 Published: August 1998

Success stories designed by Mark W. Nowak

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