Phased Retrofits in Existing Homes in Florida Phase I: Shallow and Deep Retrofits

The U.S. Department of Energy's Building America research team Building America Partnership for Improved Residential Construction is collaborating with Florida Power & Light (FPL) to conduct a phased residential energy-efficiency retrofit program. This research seeks to establish impacts on annual energy and peak energy reductions from the technologies applied at two levels of retrofit-shallow and deep-with savings levels that approach the Building America program goal of reducing whole-house energy use by 40%.
Under the Phased Deep Retrofit project, energy-efficiency retrofits were installed by local contractors and research staff in a sample of 56 existing, all-electric homes. End-use savings and economic evaluation results from the phased measure packages and single measures are summarized in this report. Project results will be of interest to utility program designers, weatherization evaluators, and the housing remodel industry.
The study homes are located in central and south Florida. They were built between 1942 and 2006 average 1,777 ft2 of conditioned area, and have an average of 2.6 occupants. Data are collected on total house power along with detailed energy end-use data to evaluate energy reductions and the economics of each retrofit phase. Homes were audited and instrumented during the second half of 2012.
Shallow retrofits were conducted in all homes from March to June 2013. The energy reduction measures for this phase were chosen based on ease of installation and targeted lighting (compact fluorescent and light-emitting diode lamps), domestic hot water (wraps and showerheads), refrigeration (cleaning of coils), pool pumps (reduction of operating hours), and home entertainment centers (advanced power strips).
Deep retrofits were conducted on a subset of 10 Phased Deep Retrofit homes from May 2013 through March 2014. Measures associated with the deep phase of the project included replacement of air-source heat pumps, duct repair, and substitution of conventional thermostats with learning thermostats. Heat pump water heaters were installed to reduce water heating energy. Pool pumps were changed to variable-speed units, and ceiling insulation was augmented where deficient. Old and inefficient major appliances such as refrigerators and dishwashers were replaced with more efficient units.

Home 7 - Merritt Island, FL 32952
Home 39 - Palm Bay, FL 32907 - BEOpt 2.1.0.2