Reblog: Style and comfort - It must be an energy saving house

CNN tells the story of a super energy efficient house built on a campus in Maryland. 

Gaithersburg, Maryland (CNN) -- It is spacious, contemporary and livable.

There are stainless steel appliances, hardwood floors, and the bedrooms are painted a soothing green. Stately columns convey "comfortable suburban." A savvy realtor could market it as "The Woodlands" model or "The Retreat."

But when the owner of a super-energy efficient house in the Maryland suburbs is the U.S. government, you bet the name will leave you scratching your head.

The welcome mat reads: "Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility," or NZERTF.

Built on the campus of a national technology testing site, the "Net-Zero House" is the nation's newest science lab.

Government scientists and engineers will use the 2,700 square-foot home as a test-bed to develop ways to measure products, materials and systems that make a house energy efficient and green.

They aim to demonstrate that an attractive home for a family of four can be "net-zero energy" -- meaning it produces as much energy annually as it consumes.
"What we wanted to do was show that it's possible to do in homes typical in size, with the aesthetics and features of a home in a metropolitan area," said A. Hunter Fanney, chief of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Energy and Environment Division.

Buildings are an often overlooked part of the U.S. quest for energy independence, Fanney said.

Residential buildings consume 22 percent of the nation's energy and commercial buildings eat up another 18 percent, he said.

Making homes more efficient, proponents say, will help reduce the country's dependence on energy imports and cut greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

Turning up the heat to drive down carbon emissions and energy bills

Fanney and other experts say that ways to measure systems in the complex environment of a home are lacking. Their solution: this project.

The "Net-Zero-House" was built using commercially available products and constructed to exacting specifications to make it air and water tight.

It bristles with state-of-the-art technology, including photovoltaic panels on the upper roof to convert sunlight to electricity and solar thermal panels on a lower roof to heat water.

Three types of geothermal systems use ground temperatures to heat the house in the winter or cool it in the summer.

Radiant heating is embedded in the floors. Both conventional and high velocity duct systems distribute air. The house also has a "smart" electrical system.

"I'd love to live in this house. It has all the amenities," Fanney said, adding that it will be "extremely comfortable."

But who will actually live in it?

Meet "the Nisters" -- a "virtual family" scientists created to help simulate the impact of real people on the house.

The "Nisters" simulate two working adults and children, ages 14 and 8. Devices in various rooms will mimic them, emitting heat and humidity at appropriate times, while sensors record conditions.

"Every movement of their lives has been scripted. Lights will go on and off; showers will take place," said Fanney. "Appliances will be turned on and off just as a family of four would use them."

"The reason they're not real people is we want to have control," he said. "With real people, we all live randomly, so it's very difficult to have this control in place."
Meanwhile, scientists in the detached garage will monitor conditions.

Approximately $2.5 million has been spent on the house using federal stimulus money. As a condition of the stimulus funds, almost all of the house was built using American materials and products. The lone exception -- a ventilation device in the basement -- was made in Canada. No similar device is made in the United States, the laboratory said.
What will happen to the house once tests are completed?

"I don't think that we'll ever be finished with this facility," said Fanney.

He envisions new energy technology "for the next three or four decades."

And he suspects that the research will allow homebuilders to advertise a house's energy efficiency.

"Buildings will have an energy label on them much as cars have a 'miles per gallon' label today," he said.

The story may be accessed through http://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/16/living/house-energy/index.html?iref=allsearch

AC Genius: Four reasons to get an Air Quality Analysis test

AC Genius is a full-service air conditioning and heating contractor. In addition to performing preventive maintenance checks, the company also offers heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems services. The firm has been in business since 1962.

Hobson Air. Image credit: acgenius.com

Asthma affects about 20 million Americans– 6.3 million of whom are children. A common, chronic disease, asthma is mainly caused by environmental factors, in addition to being genetically prone. Indoor allergens and pollutants have been proved to cause childhood asthma. This is exacerbated by common, viral respiratory infections, like colds or the flu, for which there are currently no cures.

Hobson Air. Image credit: acgenius.com

If customers are not 100% satisfied with the services provided, AC Genius will refund all of their money.

With a threat as close as inside a home, parents go to great lengths to protect their children. What most of them don’t realize is that the simplest form of protection is ensuring the cleanliness of the air they breathe. Here are other reasons homeowners should seriously consider getting an Air Quality Analysis:

• To gauge the concentration of pollen, which cause allergies, pollutants, which cause asthma, and allergens.
• To detect mold infestation. There are many types of mold, and none of them will grow without water or moisture. As molds reproduce through invisible spores, people need the help of experts to seek and destroy them.
• To detect the presence of Radon, which cannot be detected by the human eye. Radon is a naturally occurring product estimated to cause thousands of deaths from lung cancer and related health risks annually.
• To determine and identify the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the home. Most homeowners do not realize that even a small repainting job can emit chemicals that are harmful to their children– particularly babies whose immune systems are still developing.

Hobson Air. Image credit: acgenius.com

Read more about AC Genius on this Myspace page.