Dow TEETH Project

The TEETH Project — a five-year collaboration between Cobblestone Homes and Dow Building Solutions on an energy-efficiency test community comprised of 12 occupied single-family homes in Midland — is in the news again as data from the houses continues to roll in.

This time, the Detroit News takes a look at the project and its impact on home building nationwide. All the TEETH data should help dispel the notion that if a buyer has a new home built to “code” they are getting the best-performing home possible.

“For the homeowner, if they spent around $5,000 on upgrades, it would pay for itself in a few years, just based on the energy savings,” Cobblestone Homes co-owner Mark Wahl told the newspaper. “But in the long term, they will also have a home that will be less likely to have mold problems, will be more durable and more comfortable to live in.”

The 12 houses, which each have 60 sensors continually gathering data on energy consumption and more, are available for rent here.

Dow Building Solutions is taking word about the TEETH Project worldwide with its unveiling at the 2013 International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas.

This industry-leading initiative – called Twelve Energy Efficient Test Homes or “TEETH” – is a five-year collaboration between Cobblestone Homes and DBS on an energy- efficiency test community comprised of 12 occupied single-family homes in Midland. As the nation’s first active subdivision specifically designed to capture quantitative and qualitative analytical data, this project data will help combat misconceptions and educate builders and homebuyers about the accessibility and affordability of achieving energy-efficient homes.

Dow is at IBS to discuss its collection of energy-efficient homes studies, which also includes Cobblestone’s Vision Zero home, InVision home and Revitalize Home.

The ground-breaking TEETH initiative will generate comparative data on home energy efficiency based on whole-house insulation, air sealing systems and real-world living conditions. It will also provide comprehensive data on energy consumption, humidity, moisture levels, heat flow and temperature.

To ensure the validity of the study, each home was uniformly built to careful standards designed to mitigate variances, including orientation to the sun and grade. The 12 test homes are comparable in size, floor plan and all other key features with the exception of the insulating and air sealing systems.

Beyond quantitative data, the test community residents will be surveyed to provide qualitative information about individual comfort and level of satisfaction with each home’s living environment. Four different systems are in place, each featuring a different combination of insulation and air sealing improvements, including continuous insulation and closed-cell spray foam insulation. Each home meets or exceeds current building code requirements.

The TEETH Project — a five-year collaboration between Cobblestone Homes and Dow Building Solutions on an energy-efficiency test community comprised of 12 occupied single-family homes in Midland — has caught the eye of writers at Plastics News.

This industry-leading initiative – called Twelve Energy Efficient Test Homes or “TEETH” – is the nation’s first active subdivision specifically designed to capture quantitative and qualitative analytical data. The project data will help combat misconceptions and educate builders and homebuyers about the accessibility and affordability of achieving energy-efficient homes.

Twelve houses right here in Midland that could make a difference in house technology all over the world? That’s the goal of the TEETH Project.

“We’re trying to make the Great Lakes Bay Region a leader in energy technologies, and this brings it home to people,” said Mark Wahl, owner of Cobblestone Homes, which built the TEETH Project rental homes.

The 12 houses, which each have 60 sensors continually gathering data on energy consumption and more, are available for rent here.

Read the Midland Daily News article here.

The TEETH Project, a collaboration between Cobblestone Homes and the Dow Chemical Company, is featured in the current issue of EcoHome magazine.

The TEETH (Twelve Energy Efficient Test Homes) Project is unique five-year energy-efficiency study on 12 newly built homes in Midland, Michigan. The homes use different product combinations chosen by Dow Building Solutions — with energy technology advisement from Cobblestone Homes — in order to establish and document the most energy-efficient strategies in the new home builder market.

The homes are available for rent here.

The TEETH Project homes are nearing completion on Butterfield Drive in Midland, near Michigan’s first affordable Zero Energy Home, InVision Zero, another Dow Building Solutions project. What an exciting area to be located in! A cutting-edge home in your neighborhood, with your TEETH Project home making the way for advancing energy efficiency in building technology. These homes are scheduled to be available to rent starting in October. Join us in paving the way to a new way of living large on less.