最近引起关注的两项自制倡议都专注于实现净零能量的性能，并寻找有效的方法。

The first of these is the Lab Home, a project of S&A Homes, which operates primarily in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and researchers from Integrated Building and Construction Solutions (IBACOS) and theBest Practices Research Alliance. Pittsburgh-based IBACOS, which guides Best Practices’ research projects and educational initiatives, chose to work with S&A Homes on the project because of the company’s experience with the construction of production homes that are relatively energy-efficient, with HERS index ratings averaging 68 in natural-gas communities and 77 in heat-pump communities.

Completed in October in Ohio Township, Pennsylvania, the Lab Home has staggered-stud exterior walls insulated to R-40, with spray foam at band joists, windows, and doors; blown-in fiberglass insulation on the interior side of the sheathing, 2 in. of extruded polystyrene on the outside, an outer layer of housewrap, and vinyl siding. The roof, topped with reflective shingles, is insulated to R-60 with 17 in. of fiberglass. (The roof clearance was raised several inches to accommodate the insulation, and the housewrap was extended into the attic to block air and moisture.)

战略裁员

建立了三个HVAC分配系统以提供比较性能信息：PVC管道系统，绝缘管板系统和传统管道系统。该项目团队表示，该建筑物的泄漏速度较低，并配备了Ultimateair Recoupaerator 200DX Energy Recovery呼吸机。

戴夫·史彻（Dave Stecher）戴夫·史彻（Dave Stecher）：“就HVAC而言，传感器将在提供的舒适度和影响系统成功或失败的热封闭因素方面监测不同分配系统的性能。”IBACOS的性能测试和监测专家，告诉ContractorMag.comfor a recent article on the project.

S＆A在房屋平板下方安装了2英寸的XPS。另一个子板的特征，在土壤中越远：用于地面源热泵（GSHP）的管道。GSHP还具有两个150英尺深的垂直接地环。Th House有一个光伏系统，该系统在车库屋顶上包括16个250瓦面板。

关于300 sensors throughout the 2,772-sq.-ft. four-bedroom house are hooked to computers and other devices that will monitor the building’s mechanical systems, compare their reliability and efficiency, and track the home’s overall energy use, unoccupied, for three years. After that, the house will be sold and, once occupied, monitored for another two years.

A stimulus-funded lab home

The other experimental project was announced late last month by theNational Institute of Standards and Technology, the physical sciences research laboratory of the Department of Commerce. NIST says it has broken ground on a 2,700-sq.-ft. house that will be built on its Gaithersburg, Maryland, campus and designed to produce more energy than it consumes over the course of a year.

Dubbed the Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility and funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the two-story building will, like Lab Home, accommodate elaborate simulation and monitoring systems that will make the house “perform” as if it were occupied by a family of four and demonstrate the merits of its design and equipment, which will include a photovoltaic system. Once construction is complete, the demonstration and testing are expected to last a year. We’ve asked NIST for design and equipment details, costs, and what the fate of the house might be after the experiment is over.