LAS VEGAS - The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Center for Energy Research, in partnership with Pulte Homes and NV Energy, received $5.7 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a community of Las Vegas homes that incorporates energy-efficient features and advanced utility metering to cut residential energy use by more than half.

The UNLV Center for Energy Research team is monitoring the energy performance of up to 185 homes in Villa Trieste, a community under development in northwest Las Vegas that combines energy saving features and advanced metering technologies to both improve communication between the homeowner and utility and encourage less energy use. The team will compare actual home energy use with computer simulation models and will have the ability to modify components in the homes to achieve an energy reduction of up to 65 percent.

Energy saving features of the Villa Trieste homes include:

• Certified by Environments for Living, a program that encourages builders to incorporate numerous energy and water saving measures during construction.

• Roof-integrated solar power system. Generated solar power will reduce electricity drawn from the grid.

• Centralized battery storage that will draw energy from the homes during off-peak hours for use during peak periods.

• Advanced meters to provide real-time energy use data with communication between the home and utility.

• Demand response to encourage reduced energy use by allowing utilities to adjust energy output to homes when needed during peak periods.

For more information on the UNLV Center for Energy Research, visit http://cer.unlv.edu.

Publication date: 08/17/2009