Staying Engaged I LAKE|FLATO ARCHITECTS IS KNOWN FOR ITS SUSTAINABLY DESIGNED HOMES. WHEN SOME OF ITS CLIENTS STARTED NOTICING HIGHER-THAN-EXPECTED ENERGY BILLS, THE FIRM REVISITED THE HOUSES AND INSTALLED ENERGY-MONITORING DEVICES TO GET TO THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM. by Corey Squire, LEED AP O+M photography by Casey Dunn and Frank Ooms
54 Texas Architect
1/2 2016
n July 2014, a group of us from Lake|Flato drove three hours west of San Antonio to Uvalde, Texas to install an energy-monitoring device on a newly completed ranch house. The occupants, retired fulltime residents, had moved in over a year ago and loved the house and the lifestyle they had on the ranch but felt that their utility bills were, in their words, “a little higher than [they] had expected.” Before the trip to the site, we had attempted to figure out the source of their high electricity bills but were not sure what to make of them. This was not a project that was loaded up with “green gadgets,” but from a sustainability perspective we had virtually done everything right. The house was small – just over 2,000 sf – had limited, well-shaded glazing, and was oriented for ideal solar access. The clients had opted for an efficient ground source heat pump for space conditioning and water heating, and the project had been zoned so that the bedroom and living space could be set to different temperatures. The occupants are energy-conscious