About Lab Homes
Our Baseline Home is typical of existing homes in the Inland Northwest (Pacific Northwest east of the Cascade Mountain Range). We are monitoring this home's appliances and systems for energy and water use, and environmental conditions, and indoor environmental quality. It serves as the baseline home for our research as energy-efficient technologies are tested in the neighboring Experimental Home.
In the Experimental Home researchers are testing the effectiveness energy-efficient technologies by comparing the energy, water, and environmental data from this laboratory home with that of the Baseline Home.
The technologies we test here may one day be common in all homes, helping save energy and water while reducing costs and protecting the environment.
The initial Lab Homes study is focused on thermal performance of highly insulating (R5) windows (FY11/12). Future research will evaluate smart appliances, smart electric car charging stations, heat pump water heaters, efficient envelopes, HVAC, and solar-thermal/PV.
Long-term goal is to demonstrate an intelligent, responsive, zero net energy, zero net peak load retrofitted home over a period of five years.