Science and Practice of Energy Technology in Residential Buildings with a View to Slow Climate Change

We want buildings to become energy producers. To this end, we need a new vision. The next generation of buildings, new or retrofit, must be both affordable and sustainable. To be affordable, they must have a uniform technology base, similar to traditional ones, and buildings must interact with the smart grid, taking energy during low-demand periods each night and returning energy during daily peak demand loads. To achieve this, buildings must integrate traditional fossil-based methods with new ecological technologies to reach zero emissions. This way, buildings would help the electrical grid obtain uniformity in its daily loads. Energy generation for return to the electrical grid is primarily achieved through renewable energy sources, including solar energy gains, photovoltaics, wind, biomass, and others. Yet, it is preferable to integrate renewable energy with traditional energy sources to enhance synergy with the electric grid. Nevertheless, in retrofitting existing buildings, solar engineering has limited use, and existing buildings were typically excluded from research on energy efficiency in construction. We have, therefore, added to the passive house thermo-active measures such as thermal mass, water-sourced heat pumps and storage, gray water management, and a district climatic network where preheated air and water are exchanged between buildings.