Frame201903-04

RESIDENCE

The (efficient) house

that Harvard built

CAMBRIDGE, MA – On the outside, the

pre-1940s house on Bow Street looks like

a typical New England dwelling, with its

modest wood frame and gabled roof. On the

inside, though, it is one of the world’s most

efficient energy-positive buildings – and

also the headquarters of the Harvard Center

for Green Buildings and Cities (CGBC).

HouseZero, as it has been chris-

tened, was radically retrofitted by the

institution’s Graduate School of Design

(GSD) with the help of Snøhetta. The goal?

Zero energy for heating and cooling, zero

carbon emissions and zero electric lighting

during the day. ‘The building is intended to

produce more energy over its lifetime than

was used to renovate it and throughout

its subsequent operation,’ says architect

Mohsen Mostafavi, dean of Harvard’s GSD.

To achieve that, the team embedded

hundreds of sensors within the house, so as

to turn millions of data points into compu-

tational simulations and learning algo-

rithms meant to drive down energy waste

and increase sustainability.

It is comforting to think that the best

of the future can bring along the best of the

past. As a living laboratory, the house is both

a prototype and a proof of concept for mind-

ful retrofits, an urban and architectural solu-

tion with the potential to become far more

sustainable and respectful – to both heritage

and environment – than new constructions

might be. ‘Its flexible, data-driven infrastruc-

ture will allow us to further research and

design the next generation of ultra-efficient

structures,’ says Ali Malkawi, founding direc-

tor of the Harvard CGBC. – RM

harvardcgbc.org

snohetta.com

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SPACES 105