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It may look like an ordinary house in suburbia ...
but this building is anything but typical.
That's because the folks who built it believe
that when it comes to energy ...
nothing lost is everyone's gain.
Welcome to the Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility ...
a special laboratory on the campus of the National Institute
of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
Using commercially available technologies ...
NIST engineers and their collaborators designed a
two-story,
27-hundred-square-foot laboratory that looks ...
and behaves ...
like a house.
However ...
this building produces as much energy as it consumes
over the course of a year.
And best of all ...
that efficiency comes without sacrificing curb appeal.
The goal of the facility is to demonstrate that over the course
of a year, a home similar in size and aesthetics with all
of the features a family
in surrounding communities would want can achieve net zero.
That is, over the course of a year,
you would have [a] zero energy building, yet enjoy all
of the amenities and size of a home typical
of the surrounding community.
During a one-year experiment to prove
that a balanced-energy home is functional
as well as economical ...
NIST is using a computer-controlled environment
to simulate a family of four living there.
Examples of things that will be operated in the house
to mimic a typical family of four will be things
such as showers will be operated at the same time
and for the same duration.
Lights within the various rooms will come on and come off
to mimic the movement of people throughout the house.
Appliances will come on and off such as TV sets, computers,
kitchen appliances ...
the washer and dryer will be operated ...
and [the] dishwasher ...
to mimic the typical usage in a family of four.
What these virtual residents are putting to the test are a host
of state-of-the-art energy-saving
and energy-producing strategies.
These include ...
Walls and roofing insulated to more
than twice the level found in typical homes ...
A continuous air-moisture barrier
that heals itself when pierced ...
Photovoltaic cells to convert the sun's energy
into electricity ...
A solar water heating system that ensures the last person
in the shower gets as much hot water as the first ...
And geothermal heating and cooling
that uses the relatively constant temperature
of the ground to keep things pleasant.
But what NIST is really putting to the test
at the Net-Zero Energy Facility is something more
than just individual components.
Traditionally, the way that the performance of heating
and cooling equipment and appliances is measured is
in pristine laboratory conditions.
This facility here, being a true house, gives us the ability
to measure and develop the metrics
to measure the performance of heating and cooling
and appliances in a real-world environment.
Hopefully ...
what we learn from this unique NIST laboratory will pave the
way to better codes and standards ...
advances in building design and construction ...
and a new generation of highly energy-efficient homes
and workplaces.