Developed by the Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities, HouseZero’s data-driven infrastructure aims to solve for inefficiencies in American housing.
By Leah Demirjian | Builder
The Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities (CGBC) at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) has completed an ambitious effort to retrofit a 1924 home in Cambridge, Mass., into a living laboratory that will serve as the organization’s headquarters. Dubbed HouseZero, the energy-positive prototype for ultra-efficient architecture aims to demonstrate how existing structures can be modified to consume less energy.
Designed by renowned Norewegian firm Snøhetta as lead architect in collaboration with engineer Skanska Teknikk Norway, HouseZero’s concepts are driven by radical performance goals, including nearly zero energy for heating and cooling, zero electric lighting during daytime, operating with 100% natural ventilation, and producing zero carbon emissions. Over its lifetime, the structure is intended to produce more energy than was used to renovate and operate it.
