One year of successful testing of a non-volatile home

Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility is built on the territory of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Washington. For one year, scientists and researchers simulated the life of an average family of four. In one year, the house was able to generate 13,577 kWh of energy, which is 491 kWh more than planned.

The area of the house is 252 square meters, the building has two floors. There is nothing unusual in the design - the most ordinary house. The only difference is that solar panels are built into the roof throughout the area. They were able to generate enough energy to survive the winter: 38 days the roof was completely covered in snow.

The energy consumption was calculated so that an ordinary American family of four used hot water, charged mobile phones and laptops, used household appliances and so on.

Engineers were able to almost completely eliminate unwanted air penetration of the house. The house itself has a geothermal system to control heating/cooling.

The construction of the building cost 160,000 dollars. Savings on electricity amounted to 4,400 dollars a year. The experiment will continue with the goal of reducing the difference between construction costs and energy savings.

Source: zeleneet.com