Skip to Main Content U.S. Department of Energy
PNNL Lab Homes

Welcome to the PNNL Lab Homes!

We Want Your Ideas!

Do you have an idea for a great technology we should test in the PNNL Lab Homes? !

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory "Lab Homes" project is the first of its kind in the Pacific Northwest region. PNNL has purchased two custom factory-built double-wide homes and set them up, side by side, on the PNNL campus to conduct energy research.

PNNL, working with multiple sponsors, use the identical 1,500 square-foot "Lab Homes" for experiments focused on reducing energy use and peak demand. In each study, one home, the Baseline Home, serves as a control typifying an average existing home in the inland eastern Pacific Northwest region, while the other, the Experimental Home, is used to test a new technology. Occupancy is simulated in each home to account for human activity.

The Lab Homes serve as a project test-bed for PNNL and its research partners who aim to achieve highly energy-efficient homes. The homes are fully instrumented with controllable circuits, dual heating systems, environmental sensors, and a weather station. Researchers and sponsors can access results and reports as new energy saving technologies are tested.

The first experiment investigated the performance of highly insulating (R-5) windows. Other recent research is centered on smart appliances.

Experiments

Learn More...