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ZEB
annual report 2015
The Zero Emission Building Living Lab is a
detached house newly erected on the edge
of the NTNU Campus Gløshaugen. The
house, which has a living space of 100m
2
, is
constructed with state of the art technology
for energy saving and efficiency and the
production of renewable energy. Since
October 2015 three different groups have
lived in the house, and three new groups
shall take up residence before the first round
of qualitative experiments are over at the
end of April 2016. The goal of the qualitative
experiments is to learn more about the
interaction between users and zero emission
buildings, something that will help to make
society better prepared for a future that will
include zero emission buildings.
The qualitative experiments are unique in
a Norwegian context, and are important to
gain a better understanding of how users
and the house may be expected to influence
one another. Users can for instance make an
impact on the zero emission ambitions of the
building, and the building can on the other
hand influence people’s everyday lives and
practices. Social science innovation literature
points out that new and important innovation
often happens when a new technology is
actually used. Feedback from real users is
therefore very useful in order to make the
technology accessible for a larger group of
people. Hence, the qualitative experiments in
Living Lab can help to reveal challenges and
advantages within a zero emission building,
which are difficult to imagine when the building
is not in actual use.
The experiments is organised in the following
way: Six groups were chosen from 150
applicants to live in the lab for a period
of 25 days each. The six chosen groups
ordinarily live in a variety of housing types,
from student housing and apartments, to
row houses and detached houses, and none
of the aforementioned homes has specific
ambitions regarding low energy usage. The
six groups chosen were based on three main
demographic categories: student couples
under the age of thirty, families with two
small children and couples around the age
of sixty. Two groups that were as similar as
possible within each category were chosen.
By having two and two similar groups we are
able to compare and contrast our findings,
which allows a better understanding of to
what degree similarities and differences are
connected to the group as a singular factor,
or to other factors. Qualitative experiments
are not as rigorous as controlled laboratory
experiments, but they do provide new
perspectives and a broader ground for
comparison than other approaches.
During each group’s stay a broad range of
data was collected, and the methodologies
applied are a mix of sociological and
anthropological understandings of energy use.
The residents are interviewed before, during
and after their stays in the lab. Participant
observation also takes place sporadically
during the 25 days at different times of the
day. The residents keep their own diary where
they write down their daily activities and
schedule, as well as other observations and
LIVING LAB, A LIVEABLE LABORATORY
LIVING LAB, LABORATORIET EIN KAN BU I
Marius Støylen Korsnes (NTNU)