Harvard University, Snøhetta and Skanska Technology have teamed up to retrofit an old house, demonstrating how existing buildings can be made more energy efficient to help address climate change.
Dubbed Harvard HouseZero, the project calls for transforming the Cambridge, Massachusetts, headquarters of the Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities, which was founded in 2014 by the university's Graduate School of Design (GSD).
The centre is housed within a cedar-clad, pitched-roof home that was constructed more than 80 years ago. The three-storey, timber-framed building is situated on a residential street near GSD, which purchased the dwelling in 2011.
The project aims to demonstrate how existing structures can be modified so they consume less energy. "HouseZero attempts to address the global environmental challenge of climate change by focusing on existing buildings, which account for energy inefficiency and carbon emissions on a vast scale worldwide," said the team, which comprises Harvard University, architecture firm Snøhetta and Skanska Technology.

"Before now, this level of efficiency could only be achieved in new construction," added Ali Malkawi, professor of architectural technology and founding director of the centre.
"We want to demonstrate what's possible, show how this can be replicated almost anywhere, and solve one of the world's biggest energy problems ? inefficient existing buildings."
The home will undergo a number of maj...