NET-ZERO House
Continued from previous page
30 January 2015
E
ver since we can remember,
we've been hearing that,
"You can't have both energy
efficiency and good indoor air
quality."
The National Institute of Standards &
Technology (NIST) is trying to change
that with the Net-Zero Energy Residen-
tial Test Facility (NZERTF) on their
Gaithersburg, MD campus. On the
NZERTZ's first anniversary back in July
2014, it indeed achieved its Net-Zero
design goal.
Despite five months of below-average
temperatures and twice the normal
amount of snowfall, NIST's Net-Zero En-
ergy Residential Test Facility (NZERTF)
ended its one-year test run with 491
kilowatt hours of extra energy. Instead
of paying almost $4,400 for electricity—
the estimated average annual bill for a
comparable modern home in Maryland—
the virtual family of four residing in the
all-electric test house actually earned a
credit by exporting the surplus energy to
the local utility.
"We made it—and by a convincing mar-
gin," said Hunter Fanney, the mechani-
cal engineer who leads NZERTF-based
research. "From here on in, our job will
be to develop tests and measurements
that will help to improve the energy ef-
ficiency of the nation's housing stock and
support the development and adoption of
cost-effective, net-zero energy designs
and technologies, construction methods
and building codes."
