Design and build a model home with no greater than a 40 HERSH2O Index (e.g., minimum 60% less annual water consumption than a standard benchmark house).
UC Santa Cruz
UC Irvine/OCC
Cal Poly Pomona
The organizers will use approved standards and tools to calculate a projected HERSH2O Water Efficiency Index for each competition model home. The lower the projected HERSH2O Index, the more water efficient the home. The organizers will use the approved standards and tools to develop a water efficiency model for each model home. They will use data collected from construction documents, direct measurement activities, and performance verification activities to develop the model inputs and calibrate the model outputs. As the organizers learn more about the model homes to refine model inputs, the model will become progressively more accurate in predicting annual water efficiency performance in the model home’s permanent location.
A projected HERSH2O Index less than or equal to 40 earns all available points. A projected HERSH2O Index greater than 40 and less than 60 earns reduced points, scaled linearly. A projected HERSH2O Index greater than or equal to 60 earns no points.
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The Orange County Sustainability Decathlon, sponsored by the State of California, is not associated with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon. “Solar Decathlon” is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Energy. Any specific reference to Solar Decathlon does not necessarily constitute or imply an endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or the U.S. Department of Energy.