District’s First Passive House – a New Model for Affordable, Green Housing

4-12-2012 — /europawire.eu/ — After several years of planning, the District celebrates the completion of Empowerhouse, a new model for affordable, energy efficient and sustainable housing. Designed and constructed by students at Parsons The New School for Design, The Milano School of International Affairs, Management and Urban Policy at The New School, and Stevens Institute of Technology in partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Washington, D.C. and the D.C. government. Empowerhouse is the first Passive House in Washington — today’s highest energy standard, a Passive House consumes 90 percent less energy than a typical home, making Empowerhouse a new model for affordable housing. The house, which first debuted at the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, where it won first place in the affordability category, was moved to the Deanwood neighborhood of Washington, where it was expanded into a two-family home for the local community. It is a recipient of the 2012 Mayor’s Sustainability Award.

The following EnOcean-enabled products have been employed on the project:

• SCL Elements CAN2GO UN1 universal controller (lighting control, ventilator boost control, temperature and humidity logging)
• Leviton LevNet WSS0S-D0W and WSS0S-D2I self-powered switches (lighting switch control and ventilator boost control)
• Leviton LevNet WST05-10 line voltage relays  (lighting load control)
• Leviton LevNet WSG0S-D1T plug-in dimmer (living room lamp control)
• Thermokon SR04 rH self-powered temperature and humidity sensors (performance monitoring during Solar Decathlon and post-occupancy)