Empowerhouse (2012)
Empowerhouse was our academic submission to the 2011 Solar Decathlon Competition, held in Washington, DC. Working with Habitat for Humanity, we developed a two-family home that used several direct and simple techniques to dramatically save energy. Through the incorporation of Passive House Principles – the leading international energy-efficiency standard – each house uses 90% less energy for heating and cooling compared to traditional houses. In addition, the “micro” sized mechanical systems were installed to capture waste energy and boast overall efficiency. Finally, daylighting and simple-to-use controls further reduce energy loads. The combined result of these strategies means that the houses will use a small and cost-effective photovoltaic solar array (5.2 kW/home) to bring the homes to site net-zero.
The project team included:
Milano The New School Students: Lisa Ahn, Karina Andreeva, Mark Atwood, Richard Beadle, Lee Beckman, Rachel Berman, Neil Boos, Elana Bulman, Elliot Buscemi, Esther Cherubin, Lan Chu, Franchesca Cifuentes, Katherine Clements, James Connors, Lina Fedirko, Anna Feltham, Gal Gabriel, Alana Gerson, Crisalia Gonzalez, Justin Hall, Dale Hisiger, Sharon Ho, Marie Hoguet, Amita Hotkar, Hafsa Ibrahim, Tasmai Jayant, Kyle Johnson, Max Kaufman, Tad Kroll, Mala Kumar, Elijah Lessey, Rita Luppino, Steven MacChia, Evan MacPherson, Ruth Mataro-Sabai, Kara Matthews, Meredith Miller, Devin Monajem, Dean Morris, Shana Mosher, Philip Neumann, Lauren O'Reilley, Sandy Ordonez, Amber Patterson, Rachel Profeta, Ruth Sabai, Kendall Sacks, Amarilis Salcedo, Devin Samih-Monajem, Bryan Sanchinell, TG Sarangan, Sydney Saubestre, Shetal Shah, Ian Shorts, Jill Smith, Susanne Sousa, John Stinar, Jennifer Terry, Christine Tornabene, Michael Triolo, Orlando Velez, Katie Wauchope, Heather Zanoni, Val Zekas, and Eugenie Zynda
Parsons The New School Students: Heesang Ahn, Kenneth Amoha, Wendy Aracelis Ruiz, Ashley Baker, Jessica Barnhouse, Carly Berger, Justin Bianco, Lisa Bleich, Renee Blundon, John Brandes, Lily Campbell, Willy Chan, Chelsea Crisafulli, Nicole DeFeo, Obinna Elechi, Vanessa Estrada, Eric Feuster, Glenn Fujimura, Nader Gammas, Livio Guerrero, Melanie Hendel, Evan Huang, Jason Hudspeth, Stephanie Ip, Haixiao Jiang, Yigit Kale, Emily Kerns, Elizabeth Kim, Jongwoo Kim, Unnur Kristjandottir, Aakriti Kumar, Vasilis Kyriacou, Mariline Laenen, I-Shan Lee, Kimberly Lee, Priscilla Lee, Brandon LeNoir, John C. Loercher, Christopher Lunney, Stephanie Madrid, Brendan Mahoney, Andrew McGregor, Patrick McNaughton, Robert Miller, Jennifer Morris, Felicia Nitu, Aubin Norwood, Heeryung Oh, Hannah Olpp, Sun Kyong (Gene) Park, Christine Paxson, Christopher Piuggi, Marie Quilvin, Ariel Ramirez, Sam Rossel, Liz Rutledge, Jackeline Santos, Maya Sariahmed, Anna Sarly, Steve Scribner, Devang Shah, Siena Shaw, Shih-Cheng Shih, Kimberly Tate, Hiroshi Teramae, Mindy Tom, Joyce Troy, Patricia Vallejo, Shannon Vermeulen, Amanda Waal, Joseph Weissgold, Lauth Zachary, and Hannah Zingre
Stevens Institute of Technology Students: Nick Albizati, Chris Byrne, Steven Chick, Juan Coronel, Kate Crane, Travis Heithoff, Jayme Highley, Jenny Jean, Genesis Jimenez, Faris Khan, Joshua Larea, Alison Lee, Nick Mundell, Christine Nicholis, Erich Rau, Justin Richman, Hilary Schrauth, and Jessica Voytik
The New School Faculty: Charles Allison, Laura Briggs, Marlene Campbell, Christine Chang, John Clinton, Jill Corson, Deborah Kirschner, Pamela Klein, Howard Leung, David Lewis, Lydia Matthews, Ed May, Alison Mears, John Mitchell, Lisa Miaone, Derek Porter, Blaise Rastello, Timo Rissanen, Jonsara Ruth, Susan Sawyer, David Scobey, Gasman Scott , John Stinar, Christopher Steffens, Joerg Thoene, Joel Towers, David White, and Johanne Woodcock
Stevens Institute of Technology Faculty: Leslie Brunell, Michael Bruno, Greg Kramer, John Nastasi, Peter Russell, Keith Sheppard, and Maureen Weatherall
