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Touchstone Energy Home Program

Touchstone Energy Home Program

A Touchstone Energy Home is designed to be energy efficient and economical, as well as comfortable. Your local Touchstone Energy Cooperative has developed the Touchstone Energy Home Program to help homeowners and builders in their communities.
Touchstone Energy Home Checklist

Homeowners will enjoy their Touchstone Energy Home because it brings them:

  • Greater home comfort.
  • Reduced costs.
  • Stabilized energy bills.
  • Energy efficiency throughout the home.
  • Pride in home ownership.
  • Improved home value.
  • Environmental benefits.
  • Potential financial & tax incentives.

Builders and developers love building Touchstone Energy Homes because:

  • Touchstone Energy Homes sell faster.
  • It helps homeowners save money.
  • Educated homeowners on energy efficiency.
  • Contributes to an environmentally friendly community.
  • Makes their homes unique.
  • Incorporates updated and accepted building standards.
  • Brings new home technologies in the forefront.
  • Provides potential financial & tax incentives.

Touchstone Energy Home Program Standards

The Touchstone Energy Home standards are intended to meet or exceed any applicable existing local, state codes and Federal regulations. In any case, where a Federal, State, or local code or regulation exceeds the requirements herein, that code or regulation shall apply.

Thermal

  • *R-38 Insulation above Ceilings.
  • R-19 Insulation in Roof/Ceiling. (cathedral or vault)/Attic/Exposed Knee walls.
  • R-16 Total Wall Insulation.
  • R-19 Insulation under Floor.

Infiltration Controls

  • Seal all penetrations in the exterior envelope.
  • Sill plates must be sealed with an appropriate sealant.
  • Doors, windows, and attic hatches installed in an air tight fashion.
  • Exterior finish walls must fit tight against the sill plate.
  • Properly installed faced insulation batts or unfaced batts with a complete polyethylene vapor barrier, or a polyurethane spray foam insulation is required.
  • Zero Clearance can lights. ICAT – direct insulated lights.
  • Crawl space shall be covered with polyethylene ground cover (4 – 6 mil) to prevent moisture migration into the home.
  • A blower door test is required for infiltration conducted by a certified Duct & Envelope Tightness verifier (DET). The result must be less than = to 7 air changes per hour at 50 Pascals (ACH50).

Doors

  • All opaque exterior doors shall be weather - stripped on all sides and of solid construction. Metal doors with a urethane core, thermal break, and gasketed weather stripping are recommended.
  • All glass doors shall be double-glazed with a thermal break. (One entry door may be exempt from this requirement.).

Windows

  • Double-glazed, Low E-Glass with a SHGC (Solar Heat Gain Coefficient) <=.40.

Ventilation

  • Minimum attic ventilation should be one square foot of net free area for each 150 square feet of attic area. (Power ventilators should only be used when there is adequate net free area of intake for each power ventilator.) The recommended method is a combination of continuous ridge and soffit vents. If using a spray polyurethane foam and insulating at the roof plane, no venting is required. Check with your local code office for conformity.
  • Bathroom exhaust, kitchen exhaust, and clothes dryers shall be vented to the outside, not to the attic or crawl space.
  • Crawl space ventilation shall be provided as required by local code.

Heat Pump

  • *15.0 SEER ( ARI rated) is the minimum efficiency allowed under this program. All heat pumps should be sized with a Manual J based load calculation.
  • Programmable thermostats must be installed on all Heat Pumps.

Duct Systems

  • Duct system shall be built to industry accepted procedures (Manual D). HVAC contractor must have a state mechanical license.
  • Ducts must be sealed according to all state and local codes.
  • A Blower Door test is required for all systems with ducts in unconditioned spaces. Duct leakage outside the envelope must be less than 8 cfm per 100 square feet of conditioned floor area tested. Only a certified Duct & Envelope Tightness (DET) verifier will be allowed to do this testing.

Water Heating

  • *An Electric Marathon® water heater or an Energy Star® electric equivalent is required.

CFL’s

  • Install 100 Watts of Compact Fluorescent lighting.

GreenPower Builder

  • Builder must participate in DPI’s GreenPower Program (see DPI representative for requirements).
    [GreenPower Builder requirement is void if no GreenPower is available]
*denotes required element of the program