\u201cWe built the house with high windows and a southern exposure to take advantage of sunlight,\u201d said Culp. \u201cOur home has more natural light, so we use less electricity. Energy efficiency is the lowest cost energy we can find, so we designed it with that in mind.\u201d Careful selection of building materials, heating and air conditioning units and other appliances has delivered impressive early results.<\/p>\n
\u201cEnergy efficiency can be measured in KBTUs, which is 1,000 British thermal units per square foot per year. Typical houses built today range from 35 to 70 KBTU per year. The American Institute of Architects<\/a> say that we need to be around 14 by the year 2030,\u201d Culp said. \u201cOnce we were in the house for several months and saw how everything was working, we made some adjustments. Now we are now running at 17 KBTU per year, so we are doing well.\u201d<\/p>\n Energy efficiency is dependent on many variables, most of which can be thoughtfully influenced in new construction or improved in existing structures. Culp\u2019s research focuses on the costliest variables \u2014 heating and air conditioning \u2014 to generate positive gains in household energy use. He credits the Mitchell Professorship in Residential Design for advancing his residential research. \u201cAbout 10 years ago I began researching energy efficiency in residences,\u201d Culp said. \u201cThe professorship provides resources that support students, innovate efficiencies and simulate the outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n Modern heating and air conditioning rely on raising or lowering the temperature of air, and mechanically moving it to where the comfort is needed. A typical home may have one or two thermostats which control the temperature of multiroom sections of the living area, resulting in heating or cooling rooms that may not be in use. To address this inefficiency, Culp is developing partial use, partial conditioned (PUPC) technology, which he hopes to implement in the house soon.<\/p>\n \u201cThe idea is that at any given point in the day, we may only occupy one or two rooms in our home, so why cool or heat the entire living space to the same temperature?\u201d he said. PUPC technology facilitates the movement of cool or warm air around the living space, targeting specific rooms, based on occupancy. For example, at night bedroom temperatures can be set for comfort, while vacant room temperatures can fluctuate to increase efficiency. In the morning, bathrooms, kitchen and other day-use space temperatures can be adjusted for comfort as needed. The ability to move air from room-to-room provides other benefits as well.<\/p>\n Culp built an atrium in his concept house which will play an important role in both energy efficiency and in human health. In Culp\u2019s PUPC house, air will cycle from the outside, be cooled or heated as needed and then moved into occupied space. Once the air warms above the desired temperature, it will be moved again into the atrium.<\/p>\n \u201cI call it a jungle because we have so many plants,\u201d said Culp. \u201cThe tropical plants in our atrium benefit from the slightly warmer air, which is pushed outside once it exceeds the desired range, and we benefit from living with plants.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEvidence-based research findings support the trend in healthcare to create medical campuses with healing and meditation gardens,\u201d said Culp. One of the earliest studies, by Dr. Roger Ulrich, a former Texas A&M professor of architecture, looked at patients in a Pennsylvania hospital who were recovering from gallbladder surgery, which was at the time considered major surgery. The 1984 article, published in the journal Science, showed that patients whose windows overlooked trees healed, on average one day faster, needed less pain medication and had fewer post-surgery complications than those whose view consisted of a brick wall. \u201cIf plants have such a positive impact on patient recovery, why not apply their benefits to healthy people to keep them healthy?\u201d said Culp.<\/p>\n In addition to the comfort and health of residents, PUPC can also aid in the health of the home itself.<\/p>\n In the summer, when a residential wall separates the hot and humid outside air from the cooler, dehumidified inside air, Culp says a perfect storm is brewing. \u201cMost houses create a negative pressure in the home, which pulls outside air and humidity through the wall,\u201d Culp said. \u201cWhen the dew point and temperature inside the wall match, condensation forms, and often leads to mold growth.\u201d Mold can cause serious structural damage to a building and jeopardize human health.<\/p>\n The use of PUPC positively pressurizes the house, creating slightly more pressure inside the house than out, pushing the dry air through the walls, which dehumidifies them. That helps mitigate mold growth behind sheetrock, keeping the residents and the house healthier.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to change how we think about energy,\u201d said Culp. \u201cWe must develop better strategies and technologies that can work in both residential and commercial spaces, to improve efficiencies and human health and well-being.\u201d<\/p>\n Culp holds more than 40 patents, and serves as an associate director of Texas A&M University\u2019s Energy Systems Laboratory.<\/a><\/p>\n For more information, contact rnira@arch.tamu.edu<\/a> or doswald@tamu.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Professor Charles Culp\u2019s research on energy efficiency is leading to a new way of thinking about energy use in commercial and residential spaces.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":6565,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[86,63],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Culp](\"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DSC1184a-1.jpg\")