The 22nd version of the 20K Project was a research-based experiment. The project team completed the construction of a Baseline Home, Dave’s Model Home, and became intimately familiar with its details and design. They then analyzed and evaluated each material assembly to balance its up-front cost with its long term savings. This process would allow for a new iteration of that Baseline Home to not only be affordable to build but also affordable to live in.
The new iteration, the Revised Home, was also designed to meet a resiliency standard in order to lower the monthly home insurance bill. Following a lengthy, evidence-based design phase, the team then constructed the Revised Home. To test the effectiveness of their proposal, the team placed thermal performance sensors on the exterior, interior, and within the various material assemblies of each house.
Finally, the team occupied both houses for four months to better understand their differences. Two members lived in each house for two weeks at a time and then swapped houses. In the opposite two weeks, the houses were switched from being mechanically heated and cooled to being passively heated and cooled, so they could be analyzed in both conditions. The team studied the data collected from the occupancy test phase, both qualitative and quantitative. Now the Studio can use the discovered conclusions from the entire project to elevate the affordability of houses to come.
