Alan Hoffmann Company

Date ant Time:  August 2, 2011  6:00pm

Presenter:  Alan Hoffmann

                  The Economics of Green

                  Alan Hoffmann Company

The Alan Hoffmann Company is a home builder and developer based in Dallas.  Alan specializes in building homes that are highly energy efficient.  Some of his homes have obtained the LEED Platinum rating. 

LEED certified home

The way Alan has chosen to build his homes was inspired by homes in Ibiza Spain.  His grandfather was from this small island.  These homes typically are constructed of high thermal mass walls as much as 3 feet thick.  The thermal lag through these walls evens out temperature extremes.  In Ibiza, which has a climate similar to Austin, many homes do not require air conditioning.

Alan took what he learned from Ibiza and incorporated it into his home designs here in Dallas.  The method he is using is a stay-in-place insulated concrete forming system known as Insulated Concrete Forms or ICF’s which are typically 9.25 inches thick.  This type of system was introduced in Europe in the early 1970’s.  This building system is highly insulating and creates a very tight home with low air exchanges.  Low air exchange translates into savings in A/C energy usage.  Since the walls are made up of cast-in-place concrete, the homes are very resistant to strong winds.  Some of these homes have withstood tornados with only minimal damage.  Some attributes of this type of construction include:

• Low maintenance costs
• Resistance to termite infestation
• Life safety – resistance to high winds
• Easy integration with existing construction
• Sound attenuation

ICF - Insulated Concrete Form

 In designing his homes, Alan locates the mechanical system on the ground floor.  This eliminates the overheating of the fan coil system and duct runs in hot attic locations.  A/C systems with SEER rating of 21 and humidistats that monitor humidity are typically included in his home designs.  He also includes whole house water purification systems to reduce chlorine and other contaminants.  Once the building envelope is dealt with and an efficient HVAC system is integrated into the design, energy consumption is greatly reduced.  Once you have optimized the building envelope, supplemental renewable energy systems can be added to the home such as wind, solar water heating and photovoltaics in a much more cost effective way.

Using this type of system typically adds approximately 6% to 8% to the cost of a home as compared to a conventional stick built (balloon framed) home that uses fiberglass bat insulation.  Additional cost is recouped through lower energy costs.  Roof construction is wood frame as the economics of steel construction is not feasible.

Alan is currently developing a community of 22 homes built with ICF’s that includes an underground cistern to capture rainwater runoff.  This water in turn will be used to irrigate the landscaping.  Dallas actually averages more rain than Seattle, although the rain tends to occur in heavy downpours in the spring.

Following is a link to the Alan Hoffmann Company:

http://www.concretehomestore.com/