Program Administration - Coordinating and integrating the seven technical projects as well as serving as the primary liaison to the CEC and the general public.

• Project 2.1 - Attic Ventilation - Heat in attics increase cooling loads. This project will provide builders of housing for low-income households with the information on alternative means for dealing with the issue of attic ventilation.
• Project 2.2 - Attic Heat for Water Heating - Expenditures by low-income households for water heating can be significant, particularly for those households with electric water heaters. This project therefore advances technology by considering a lower cost technology that involves recovering heat from the attic of a house and using that heat to pre-heat the water entering the water heater.
• Project 2.3 - Ducts In Conditioned Space - Smaller homes limit the possible locations for ductwork. This project examines the effectiveness of including ducts in the conditioned space as a means of increasing the effectiveness of cooling and heating systems.
• Project 2.4 - Envelope and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Interactions - Homes built today (both conventional and manufactured) are relatively "tight" leading to situations where the concentrations of carbon dioxide can rise to unacceptable levels. This project advances technology by considering combinations of envelope construction and comfort conditioning technologies that can achieve occupants' comfort requirements under the constraints of both energy efficiency and indoor air quality.
• Project 2.5 - Simplified HVAC Controls - Evidence obtained through monitoring suggests that low-income households may not be fully aware of how to use programmable thermostats. This project examines whether the benefits of programmable thermostats can be achieved with easier-to-use methods of controlling space conditioning systems in houses built for low-income households.
• Project 2.6 - Evaporative Coolers and Whole House Fan Integration - A whole house fan system is one of the most effective mechanical ventilation systems both in terms of cost and performance. The research in this project furthers technology by examining whether whole house fans can also work well with evaporative cooling systems.
• Project 2.7 - Energy Efficiency Through Community Design - Evidence suggests that community design (e.g., in terms of street width and tree canopies) can affect energy use for space conditioning by lowering the ambient temperature of a neighborhood. The purpose of this project is to provide more empirical data for quantifying the effects of street widths and tree canopies on ambient neighborhood temperatures in low-income housing developments.

Please visit the Project News and Public Documents page to view current research activities.

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