For nearly 20 years, IBACOS, a research and consulting firm and the technical leader behind the Alliance's Lab Home, has been working with homebuilders, their trades, and manufacturers to look at better ways to deliver high quality, energy efficient homes at the production level. The ultimate goal has always been to reach zero energy in a way that's affordable for the homebuilder and the homebuyer, without sacrificing the other qualities that the homeowner requires-comfort, health, safety, and durability.
But, at the national level, zero energy neighborhoods won't be built in a day, and the collaboration and knowledge of the Alliance and our project partners, and the cooperation of industry leaders, academics, and homeowners are essential if we're to meet the many challenges of that goal.
That's why our Lab Home has a 6-year research lifecycle, allowing us to learn important lessons along the way.
We built models, did bench testing and system evaluations. We researched costs and financial benchmarks for the building industry, and we held training sessions with our partners to help them become familiar with some of the systems we chose. Together, we identified and addressed some potential construction issues and refined our choices before going out in the field.
Even so, we've had to think on our feet during the construction process, constantly monitoring costs and quality while keeping an eye on our construction schedule. We've found that some choices, like using high-efficiency windows in thick exterior walls, required additional training time to ensure proper installation. We're learning valuable lessons about how design decisions impact the time and costs of construction.
For three years, the house will remain uninhabited while we run tests and monitor the results. With more than 300 sensors in the walls, ceilings and floors, we're going to be testing all the systems in the house to see how they perform under different conditions, just as if a family lived there. We'll be evaluating the Lab Home's performance with a focus on energy, but also on safety, health, comfort, and durability.
For two additional years, if the homeowners are willing, we'll continue to monitor the home. The homeowners will become collaborators in our experiment, giving us feedback on their experiences with the house, sharing utility bills, etc.
Throughout the process, we'll be inviting the general public and others from the homebuilding industry, media, government and academia to learn about the Lab Home, ask questions and share ideas.
