The U.S. Department of Energy, saying we’re in an “all-out sprint to beat the climate crisis,” will spend $5 million in Knoxville on a project it hopes will become a model for the rest of the country.
Oak Ridge National Lab and the Knoxville Community Development Corporation will work together to retrofit the exteriors of roughly a dozen single-family public housing units to cut home heating energy costs. But the project is wildly different from a typical home improvement upgrade.
It uses 3D printing to create a new, high-tech shell that fits around existing buildings to the exact millimeter.
The test will help advance the technology, transform the look of the building’s exterior and should save residents a ton of money.
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“Buildings are responsible for about 40% of the total energy demand in the U.S.,” said Diana Hun, building envelope research group leader at Oak Ridge National Lab. Buildings are responsible for over 75% of peak power demand and electricity use, mostly because of heating and cooling. “Retrofitting existing buildings is essential to achieve our decarbonization goals.”
If all goes according to projections, families living in these homes will see 75% reductions in water heating, home heating and home cooling energy use, reducing their financial burden.
“Faster and more efficient construction and renovation methods that improve our nation’s supply…
