Harvard HouseZero by Snøhetta

HouseZero
HouseZero
Image © Snøhetta

The Harvard Center for Green Buildings (CGBC) at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, in collaboration with Snøhetta and Skanska Technology, are retrofitting CGBC’s headquarters in a pre-1940s timber-framed building to become one of the world’s most ambitious sustainable buildings. As a first-of-its-kind research project, HouseZero demonstrates how to transform a challenging building stock into a prototype for ultra-efficiency, rapidly reducing the level of reliance on energy-intensive technology while simultaneously creating comfortable indoor environments.

HouseZero
Image © Snøhetta/Plompmozes

HouseZero attempts to address the global environmental challenge of climate change by focusing on existing buildings, which account for energy inefficiency and carbon emissions on a vast scale worldwide. Through intelligent design that generates inspiring work spaces and a comfortable indoor climate, HouseZero achieves groundbreaking reductions in energy use and carbon footprint.

HouseZero
Image © Snøhetta/Plompmozes

To realize this ambition, the design of HouseZero is driven by highly ambitious performance targets, including 100% natural ventilation, 100% daylight autonomy, almost zero energy required for heating and cooling, and zero carbon emissions, including embodied energy in materials. Once completed, the building will produce more energy over its lifetime than was used to renovate and operate it. This measure considers the building’s total life-cycle, including the embodied energy for construction materials, building operations and equipment plug-loads over a 60-year lifespan. Source by Snøhetta.

HouseZero
Image © Snøhetta
  • Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
  • Architect: Snøhetta
  • Collaborators: Skanska Technology
  • Client: The Harvard Center for Green Buildings & Cities (CGBC)
  • Size: 4 600 sqf / 427 m2
  • Year: 2017
  • Status: Ongoing
  • Images: Courtesy of Snøhetta

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