House

Farmer says that the availability of a realistic house without human workers was very important. “No reasonable person will be ready to add wildfire smoke to his home only for knowledge.”

The measurements showed that the chemicals in the smoke adhered to the walls and other surfaces of the house more than expected, even when the researchers were running air purification devices. As a result, their occupants can be subjected to chemical smoke after a long period of stopping to circumvent the outside.

Scientists have also found that the surfaces of emptiness, dust, or disinfection have greatly reduced the exposure of passengers to harmful vehicles. In contrast, the opening of windows reduced chemical concentrations at the beginning, but this benefit quickly disappeared when the windows were closed again.

Internal environments have much more surfaces than the outdoor surface, and the compounds that adhere to these surfaces explain “an endless source of chemicals” that can pollute the internal air. So attention to the surfaces is the key to removing internal pollutants. He says the upper result of the study of smoke “was not a surprise, but it was a good confirmation.”

The team published its first results last October in the magazine of Science Advances, and a description of the general project in environmental science: Operations and Impacts.

CASA team also found that even sThe simple uses of commercial products or daily activities can change the chemicals that float greatly inside the house. More papers that separate these results will appear in the coming months.

“The CASA project really highlights the importance of the ability to make academic researchers work with federal agencies to push the boundaries of research,” says Farmer. “We can use enthusiasm, universities, facilities and experience in NIST.”

Memorre of a more green future

One of the most important results of the Net-Zero House is to verify the health and improvement of computer models such as Energyplus in the Ministry of Energy, “says Brian Dujeriti, NIST Mechanical Engineer, who has coordinated research in the House of Representatives since Vanie’s retirement. This model is widely used to estimate the use of construction energy, but it is designed and often similar models using data from traditional buildings instead of effective homes.

NIST scientists have also used measurements from Net-Zero House to check the models they produce contaminatedNIST, which is among the best in the world to simulate air flow and exposure to pollutants inside the buildings. The researchers associated with Energyplus and Countam together to model how the temperature, energy and air pollution interacted, and exceeded what any of the two models can achieve on its own.

Since they had measurements from the Net-Zero house, scientists were able to verify the fact that the associated model predicts how high chemical concentrations such as formaldehyde and flame inhibitors decrease with changing temperatures and weather conditions, which enhances confidence in the fact that the model captures the main features of active homes.

“We are fully confident that it is a good model, but to check that it can do well in a real building, this was a great thing in this study,” says Stewart Dols, a mechanical engineer Nest who leads the development of pollutants. “It was a really good chance for us to work with a building with a very low infiltration.”

Poppendieck adds that a card from the CASA project using the results of smoke study to further verify and refine it in business.

One of the areas where the house has no significant impact-at least, not yet-in stimulating a wave of building clear homes. Dujeriti says the main barrier is the cost. Solar panels, insulation, ventilation equipment and other technology required to achieve Net-Zero 162,700 dollars to what can be expected to simply meet the requirements of the Maryland Building Law at that time, according to NIST Economist Joshua Kneifel estimates. The recovery is that the investment would take power – for a longer period than most homeowners can wait.

In fact, a 2015 modeling study conducted by Kneifel and others found that homes that provided the best value for buyers were designed to overcome the requirements of energy efficiency in Maryland, but it did not stop the net network.

Today, we see another wave of enthusiasm for home energy efficiency. Thanks to the low prices of green energy technology, new government construction rules and financial incentives, a net zero building may be more economical than ever. Even builders who do not aim at full scratch can take advantage of the best science in how energy techniques and practices affect energy use, air quality and internal water.

For example, Kneifel says, solar panels have become so cheap that it may now be more expensive to add additional panels to the home and generate more electricity, instead of adding large quantities of insulation to reduce energy use significantly as the NIST team did.

“In the state of Maryland, if you will be in a 15-year-old house, I think mathematics are working to approach Net-Zero, if not along the way there,” says Kneifel. “I think in most cases, you can effectively approach zero.”

Healy says there is another important lesson from the Net-Zero House has appeared over time. Builders sometimes question the durability of active houses – some anxiety, for example, that closing the house very narrow can allow growth. “Net-Zero House” has shown that a good design can prevent such problems and create a temple standing to test time.

“There are a lot of systems that really have worked well. The house has been built well; 12 years old, it is rising well,” says Healy. “If you pay attention to the details of energy efficiency, it will have other advantages.”

Dougherty says that the next big project on the home table is an experience to measure the performance of the ground heat pumps-which is expensive but highly efficient that runs fluids through the underground tubes, and takes advantage of the temperatures near the ground to heat and cool the house. It is an experience that was lying down waiting for more than a decade: thermometers and three different groups of underground tubes were installed during the construction, but because of the competition between researchers who want to use the house, it has never been operated.

When they are in the end, it will be other aspects for the contract to last for a long time, as the unique NIST house continues to take out data that can all help us to live a little more green.