Why did we choose Pittsburgh as the location for the Lab Home?
When the G-20 economic summit brought the world to town in 2009, President Obama called Pittsburgh a successful example of the new green economy. Pittsburgh's international status as a green leader helped make it the host city for the June 2010 World Environment Day. And the city is a recognized innovator in green building technology, with the world's first Gold LEED-certified convention center.
Pittsburgh boasts an established group of green building companies and a research community made up of some of the nation's best colleges and universities.
With the Alliance and IBACOS offices right in the Strip District neighborhood, Pittsburgh is the perfect place to make the most of our partnerships in an atmosphere of innovation. The Energy Efficiency Lab Home is our biggest and most complex project to date. We're not only pursuing zero energy and looking at performance of the house, but we're evaluating cost and constructability with a much closer eye. While we can gather information and perform tests while we're not there, there's no substitute for hands-on research when you're learning real-life lessons.
There's a saying, "If you don't like the weather in Pittsburgh, wait a few minutes; it will change." While Pittsburgh might not have North Dakota winters or New Orleans humidity, it still has plenty of weather to go around. The highly variable weather conditions typical of the area mean our lab home is going to get the full treatment: wind, fog, rain, sleet, hail and snow, along with steaming hot summers and freezing cold winters.
A highly energy efficient home built to perform in desert or swamp conditions requires different technology than one built for a four-season zone like Pittsburgh. When our Lab Home takes that kind of beating and keeps performing, it can help us understand how to make highly energy efficient homes a reality for the whole northern climate zone—more than half the U.S.
