Energy efficient industrialized housing research program. Quarterly technical progress report, April 1-June 30, 1990.

摘要

The United States housing industry is undergoing a metamorphosis from hand built to factory built products. Virtually all new housing incorporates manufactured components; indeed, an increasing percentage is totally assembled in a factory. The factory-built process offers the promise of houses that are more energy efficient, of higher quality, and less costly. To ensure that this promise can be met, the US industry must begin to develop and use new technologies, new design strategies, and new industrial processes. However, the current fragmentation of the industry makes research by individual companies prohibitively expensive, and retards innovation. This research program addresses the need to increase the energy efficiency of industrialized housing. Two research centers have responsibility for the program: the Center for Housing Innovation at the University of Oregon and the Florida Solar Energy Center, a research institute of the University of Central Florida. The two organizations provide complementary architectural, systems engineering, and industrial engineering capabilities. In 1989 we worked on these tasks: the formation of a steering committee; the development of a multiyear research plan; analysis of the US industrialized housing industry; assessment of foreign technology; assessment of industrial applications; analysis of computerized design and evaluation tools; and assessment of energy performance of baseline and advanced industrialized housing concepts. Our goal is to develop techniques to produce marketable industrialized housing that is 25% more energy efficient that the most stringent US residential codes now require, and that costs less. Energy efficiency is the focus of the research, but it is viewed in the context of production and design. 63 refs.