All zeros. In Harvard, a house with zero energy consumption appeared according to the Snøhetta project

/ Architecture /
The Snøhetta bureau has completed the reconstruction of HouseZero, a small wooden house belonging to the Graduate School of Design of Harvard University, which has already been called the "super-energy-efficient" and "most eco-friendly" building.

The project included a major renovation of a 1940s building that serves as the headquarters of the Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities (CGBC) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This is a three-story building on a residential street with a wooden frame, cedar cladding and a pitched roof.

HouseZero

Photo: Michael Grimm

Photovoltaic panels on the roof and automatically opening and closing windows are just some of the sustainable elements of HouseZero. The main task was to achieve radical indicators: almost zero costs for heating and cooling the house, zero electricity consumption during the day, XNUMX% natural ventilation and zero carbon dioxide emissions during operation. To the authors of the project managed to brilliantly cope with it.

Photo: Michael Grimm

Apartment with an area of ​​427 square meters, re-equipped office Snøhetta and power engineers Skanska Teknikk Norway, serves simultaneously as a workplace and a living laboratory with far-reaching plans. In fact, this is a working prototype energy saving super-efficient house that will help the center CGBC better understand how they behave modern buildings. 285 sensor sensors built into each strategic element of HouseZero collect more than 17 million data daily, which allows CGBC to conduct constant monitoring of the building's behavior.

Photo: Michael Grimm

In turn, these real data will form the basis of further research, including computer modeling, helping CGBC to develop new systems and training algorithms that contribute to the improvement of energy efficiency and sustainability of buildings. The authors of the project are convinced that HouseZero will give impetus to the development and widespread appearance of such houses.

Such results were achieved largely thanks to the use of natural materials, for example, cedar wood for external cladding (as noted above), birch and ash plywood inside, silicate concrete, restored brick and granite, as well as plaster made of natural clay. A radial junction was used for the heating system, in addition, solar thermal batteries provide the building with hot water, and a transparent glass "chimney" on the eastern facade provides better natural ventilation from the basement to the roof.

Photo: Michael Grimm

"HouseZero's flexible, data-driven infrastructure will allow us to continue research that demystifies building behavior and design the next generation of ultra-efficient structures," said Ali Malkavy, director and founder of the Harvard Green Buildings and Gardens Center (CGBC).

Photo: Michael Grimm

Photo: Michael Grimm

Photo: Michael Grimm

Photo: Michael Grimm

Photo: Michael Grimm

Photo: Michael Grimm

Photo: Michael Grimm

Photo: Michael Grimm

Photo: Michael Grimm