At first glance, this resembles a Greek letter of sorts or even a Japanese state of mind. The acronym ZEH (Zero Energy House) is new to the vocabulary of many and I presume the methods to achieve such a place are as well. We will soon be enlightened thanks to a ZEH project that’s a product of the Florida Energy Systems Consortium grant.

I have discovered that Stanley Russell (an assistant professor at USF SACD) has been awarded a three year grant totaling just over $344,000 to design AND build a Zero Energy Home learning center. I asked Stanley to do an interview so that I may begin to educate myself and others on the subject.

HOKlife:  Can you briefly explain the Florida Energy Systems Consortium grant and the ZEH Learning Center project?

SR: FESC is a consortium of florida universities all involved in renewable energy and energy conservation research.   The grant to USF is divided into several different tasks.  One of the tasks is Energy Efficiency and Zero Energy Homes.  Our approach to this task is to build a small facility where people can go to learn about ZEH tecnologies.

HOKlife:  Other ZEH have been built across the country in very different climate conditions, what techniques are you investigating or intending to use to address the hot and humid climate FL hosts?

SR:  Central Florida is a hot humid climate where the majority of energy use in buildings is related to cooling.  We are looking at innovative ways to cool and dehumidify buildings that are more efficient than the standard VAV systems.  

HOKlife:  Have you considered designing the learning center as a model, in the form of an actual house that will entertain the concepts you are teaching?

SR:  Yes we will  build the center on campus so people can come and learn about ZEH technologies.

HOKlife:  Here in FL we have an abundance of sun and tides, both of which harvest energy. Will you incorporate either of these sources or any others to offset the learning center’s energy use?

SR:  The tides can be used to generate electricity on a large scale.  At the scale of the individual building PV is best option that we have at this point.  Fuel cells are another promising technology that can work for buildings.

HOKlife:  Do you plan to incorporate this project into a design studio or get the SACD program involved? Will you be seeking any community support or involvement?

SR:  Three graduate students will be working on the grant.  Several others have also voiced interest in helping.  We are also seeking industry partners and sponsors.  

HOKlife:  How will you promote the learning center to the public, and is it intended to be a statewide or climate-wide center?

SR:  We haven’t come to the stage of promoting the center yet but if all goes well that time will come soon.  The concepts that we use for this design will apply to most of Florida’s climate.  Particularly the south and central regions.

HOKlife: Thanks Stanley for educating us with this interview and I congratulate you on the award. If possible, please keep me updated on the progress throughout the project.

SR: Thanks for your interest Nico.  Maybe you can help with the promotion.

This topic has been mention previously on the blog by John G’s coverage of the Zero Carbon Charrette – which I invite you to follow as well at http://hoklife.com/2009/07/22/onward-to-zero-emissions/