The Experimental Home
Infrared image of experimental home front door.
Blower door used to measure the infiltration of the experimental home.
The Experimental Home serves as a test-bed for energy efficiency technologies. Here 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.
Before the experiments began, the Baseline home and the Experimental home were both “null tested” to make sure they were exactly the same. This included air leakage testing, duct leakage testing, and assessment of thermal performance with an IR camera.
To calibrate the data from the two homes, is compared before starting any new experiment. Then, any changes in energy consumption, water consumption, or indoor air quality can be attributed to the technology being tested!
The initial Lab Homes experiment 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.