Skip to main content

Drummond House

    • Houston, Texas, is the site of this custom home by Durable Energy Builders that is certified as a U.S. DOE Zero Energy Ready Home.
    • In addition to Zero Energy Ready Home certification, this home has earned certifications from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Indoor airPLUS, ENERGY STAR, the Institute for Business and Home Safety Fortified Home, and LEED for Home programs.
    • A professionally installed balanced fresh air system is integrated with the homes central heat pumps. This fresh air system brings in fresh air through high-capture filters and exchanges heat and humidity with exhausted stale air from the home for a greater efficiency and healthier indoor environment.
    • Insulated concrete form (ICF) wall construction is wrapped in a dry-by-design wall moisture control system consisting of a multilayer radiant vapor barrier with 1-by-1.5-inch vertical battens that provide an air gap behind stucco, stone, or brick cladding.
    • Energy-efficient fans are used inside and outside the home.
    • Homeowner and builder Ker Thomson believes that a high-performance home can be built for just 15% more than the cost of standard construction.
    • The home is graded so that precipitation drains away from the home's foundation on all sides.
    • A hip roof design, impact-resistant windows and doors, and solid steel-reinforced concrete walls are among the many features that contribute to severe-weather resistance. Although the Durable Energy home is equipped with heat pumps, it is so well-insulated the homeowners were in the home for three winters before the heat ever came on.
    • With solar electric panels, this Zero Energy Ready Home is expected to save its owners $4,800 a year in utility costs.
    • The home's slab foundation is poured over a steel-reinforced platform constructed over 61 concrete piers, which are anchored 15 feet deep in the ground to solidly support the three-story structure on the site's shifting clay soils.

      Drummond House

      Project Address

      Houston, TX

      Conditioned Square Footage
      5,947 sqft
      Number of Bedrooms
      6 Beds
      Number of Bathrooms
      5.0 Baths
      Number of Floors Above Grade
      3 Floors Above Grade
      Home Type
      Custom
      Climate Zone Temperature
      Hot
      Climate Zone Humidity
      Humid

      With PV

      HERS Index with PV
      29HERS (PV)
      Average Monthly Energy Bill PV
      $140Average Monthly Energy Bill (PV)
      Annual Energy Cost Savings with PV
      $4,800Annual Energy Cost Savings (PV)
      30 Year Savings with PV
      $204,00030 Year Savings (PV)

      Durable Residential Builders

      ZERO

      HIA Year
      HIA Status
      Honorable Mention

      Learn More

      Key Features

      Key Features
      Compact (core) plumbing design Energy / Heat recovery ventilator High-efficiency variable-speed heat pump Insulated concrete form (ICF) walls and/or foundation Photovoltaics Triple-pane windows Unvented insulated attic ACH 50 < 2.5 or CFM50/SF of enclosure ≤ 0.25 Central Manifold Plumbing Design

      Additional Details

      Additional Details
      3 half-baths

      Read the Case Study

      Testimonials

      Home owner (or occupant) Testimony
      Air quality was immediately apparent in the dramatic reduction in my son’s asthma symptoms. He went from daily inhaler use and frequent upper respiratory infections to only occasional/seasonal inhaler use, and the use of antibiotics in our house fell by 80%. And this in a house that still has three cats and two dogs!
      Testimony Citation
      Homeowner and builder Ker Thomson

      Additional Media

      Finished Elevations

        Finished Interiors

          Other Images

          •

            Floor Plan