This efficient house aims to end up producing energy
An extensive renovation project has begun in a house on a side street adjacent to Harvard’s Cambridge campus, but this is no ordinary rehab. The stick-frame house, which predates the 1940s and is owned by the Graduate School of Design (GSD), will be transformed into an energy-efficient headquarters and lab space for the GSD’s Center for Green Buildings and Cities. It is the culmination of three years of research and design led by Director Ali Malkawi to create a structure that is a working example of the center’s creative goals. The HouseZero project that began this month is meant to produce more energy than it consumes — with zero carbon emissions and using daylighting and natural ventilation instead of an HVAC system — while serving as a learning center for students and a testing ground for emerging technologies. It will also illustrate deep energy retrofits and could serve as a transferable...