Non-volatile home: a year of successful experiment

The Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility project is a home built on the site of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Washington, DC. Scientists and researchers simulated in this lovely house the life of a family of four. As a result, for the year the house generated 13,577 kWh of energy, which is 491 kWh higher than the originally planned result.

What are the characteristics of the house itself? It is 252 square meters, two floors. The design is nothing unusual - the house is like a house. However, solar panels are built into the roof over the entire area. These panels were able to create a surplus of energy to survive the bad weather during the winter. For 38 days, all 32 panels were covered in snow.
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Energy consumption was calculated in such a way as if an ordinary American family of four lives in a house, family members go to the shower, charge cell phones and laptops, watch TV and so on. One of the important components in the construction of a non-volatile home was the materials and layout: unwanted air penetration was almost eliminated, while the insulation level in the walls and roof was twice as high, which reduced the energy required for heating the rooms. The house also has a geothermal system to control heating and cooling.





The use of such technology in the construction of the house will cost 162 thousand dollars. In the US, savings on electricity will amount to 4,373 dollars per year. The experiment will continue to reduce the difference between the initial investment and savings. In favor of the safety of money, of course.

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