Harvard’s HouseZero project officially opened this week. It is an adaptive re-use project that transforms a pre-1940s Cambridge house into an educational, office building for The Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities. More importantly, it serves as a data-driven living lab for documenting and exploring energy efficiency strategies and their performance outcomes.
Targeting the most rigorous efficiency standards ever achieved by a building retrofit, HouseZero has the following performance goals:
- Almost zero energy required for heating and cooling (No HVAC system)
- 100% natural ventilation
- 100% daylight autonomy (No daytime electric light)
- Zero carbon emissions, including embodied energy in materials
Learn more here for how the building can achieve zero energy and zero carbon emissions; why there is no need for a HVAC system; why there is no need for electrical lighting in the daytime; and other green strategies. Learn more here for details on how natural ventilation was achieved.
https://youtu.be/aziiuiCfos8
If an old house can be transformed into an amazing green house, it’s obvious that almost all new projects could apply the same principles. It’s a pitty that not many are doing that. Thanks for sharing!