EMPOWERHOUSE
Washington, D.C.
The Empowerhouse is a site net-zero energy home, efficiently producing as much electricity as it uses in a year. It was designed in collaboration with students and faculty of the New School and Stevens Institute of Technology for the 2011 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon Competition. MASS FRAME founder Jason Hudspeth served as Project Architect during design and construction process.
As a result of incorporating the Passive House principles of super-insulation, air-tight construction, high performance triple-glazed windows + doors, minimized thermal bridges, a compact form, and optimized passive solar heat gain, the project requires less than 4.75 kBtu per square foot per year of Primary Energy annually, thereby reducing energy costs by over 80% a year. This, coupled with the renewable energy generated by the rooftop solar panels, results in a net-zero energy home.
Photography by Michael Moran, David Lewis, and Lisa Bleich.