The E-House at Platt Tech

Location: Platt Technical HS, 600 Orange Ave - Milford, CT
Completed: June 13, 2013

CT's Fourth E-House

Despite being a rainy, damp day in June of 2013, there was a great deal of pride and excitement at Platt Technical High School in Milford for the Grand Opening of their E-House. The E-House at Platt Tech is the fourth E-House to officially open at Connecticut's Technical High Schools, with three more scheduled to open in 2014.

The Grand Opening ceremony started in the school gym where visiting dignitaries including Dr. Nivea L. Torres - Interim Superintendent of the Connecticut Technical High School System (CTHSS), Vinny Valente - Connecticut Department of Labor, Alex Kraigie, Special Assistant to the Commissioner, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Jamie Howland, Energy Efficiency Board and State Senator Gayle Slossberg spoke to the audience. Host of the Ceremony, Platt Tech Principal Sheila Williams also proudly introduced Mark Herde, Class of 2013 Plumbing and Heating student who spoke about his experience of working on the E-House. Guests also viewed a short video on the project created by Estefanic Medina, a Class of 2016 student in Platt Tech's Information System Technology program.

Solar Array Featured

Called a "green learning laboratory", the E-House allowed Platt carpenters, HVAC techs, plumbers, and electricians to learn how to install high-tech housing infrastructure. The E-House features a solar array on the roof, a solar-powered electric car charging station out front with a Chevrolet Volt hooked up, radiant floor heating, different types of efficient insulation, an indirect water heater, and a gas-condensing boiler. The Platt E-home, and the electric car charging station, will remain as a teaching tool. Its solar array and heating and cooling systems are hooked into the main school building, and will provide Platt with a little bit of green energy.

Special thanks to the following companies for their support: AKR Associates, Anchor Insulation, Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association, Consolidated Electrical Distributors, Inc., Eco-Bee, Emerson Swan, Inc., F.W. Webb Company, Granite City Electric and Ring's End.

The E-House is part of the state's technical high school system's "green" approach to provide clean energy curriculum and hands-on experience for its architectural, carpentry, electrical and plumbing departments' faculty and students.

The E-House at Platt Tech is the fourth one to officially open with three more scheduled to open next school year . The plan is to have all 17 schools build their own E-House facility to train its students in the skills needed to install and maintain the latest technology that produces 'green', sustainable energy.

Check out the photos below of the Platt Tech E-House construction and grand opening ceremony!

The E-House at Platt Tech

Framing & Insulation:

• Variety of energy-efficient framing techniques
• Weatherization applications
• Building analysis
• Thermal imaging ability
• Insulation training mock up
• Historical to newest trends of insulation

Heating & Cooling:

• Bosch Greenstar wall-hung condensing gas boiler
• Daiken 26 SEER ductless mini-split heat pump, with online control ability
• Watts low temperature radiant heating system (2 circuits of heat)
• Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat with multiple stages of heat
• Comparison of heating terminals: low temperature wall panel radiator, wall convector, conventional baseboard, towel warmer, & low temp radiant heat

PV & Electrical:

• 9 Solar Photovoltaic Panels (2.115 kW)
• PV system is grid tied. Excess energy created within the E-House will be fed back into the grid.
• Enphase micro-inverters
• Incandescent, compact fluorescent, halogen and LED lighting
• ENERGY STAR® paddle fan
• Electric vehicle car charging station
• Enphase Enlighten monitoring system

Solar Thermal:

• 2-Buderus SKS4 solar thermal panels
• Buderus 300SM, 80 gallon dual coil indirect water heater
• Domestic hot water created in the E-House will be utilized within the entire school.
• Solar thermal monitoring system via Sun Reports