Development of Energy-Efficient Housing for Low-Income Texas Residents

The objectives of the research initially include the choosing and instrumenting a low-income residential house in the Bryan and College Station area to serve as a baseline reference for energy analysis. This includes polling (the process of collection of data), archiving, and analyzing energy use, internal, and environmental data collected from the house. A calibrated building energy simulation of the instrumented house will use these internal and environmental measurements and the careful documentation of the house to analyze energy conservation measures. This project has successfully accomplished its goal of selecting and instrumenting a baseline Habitat for Humanity house. Monitoring of the 26 channels of 15-minute data began in March 1998 and has continued through December 1998. The energy and environmental data from the house will also be made available to faculty and students in the College of Architecture by posting the data on an ftp server. This will enhance students architectural design studios creating a refined understanding of the energy use of an occupied house.