Energy House Village Sampler by NEED Project

OFF

Energy House Village Activities Inside: • • • • • •

Energy House - The NEED Original Energy House Multifamily Dwelling Energy House Mini Heat Island Energy House with Solar Electrified Energy House Energy House Design Challenge

Grade Levels:

Elem

Elementary

Intermediate

Secondary

Subject Areas: Science

Math

Engineering

Technology

OFF

Teacher Information

&Background The number one use of energy in a home is for heating and cooling. Homes and residences use about 20 percent of the nation’s energy, and 43 percent of that energy is used for heating and cooling. A poorly insulated home or faulty seals around windows and doors can have the same effect as leaving one window open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all year long! As energy costs increase and energy burdens grow larger, the importance of a properly insulated and sealed home grows. Since it was first introduced, NEED’s Energy House activity has undergone several revisions and adaptations. This sampler showcases several versions, all centered around a humble, insulated cardboard box. You could build one of each type of Energy House models and have a veritable Energy House Village. NEED’s original design is simple, straight-forward, and does a good job of modeling how insulation allows us to stay warm in winter and cool in summer. If you are looking for an activity to drive home the concepts of insulation and conduction, Energy House – The NEED Original will meet that demand. But what if your students want more? What if you want to take things up a notch? We have created a new activity, Energy House – Multifamily Dwelling to help students understand how multiple residential units in a building can influence each other in terms of temperature control. It works very similarly to the original design, but students are really only getting to control one section of their building model, just as they would only be able to control their own home if they lived in a building with 2 or more residential units. Energy House – Mini Heat Island was created to demonstrate how the heat island effect can impact the temperature in populated or developed areas. This temperature increase can greatly affect residents and may become more of an issue as the effects of climate change become a greater concern. Students use an infrared (IR) thermometer to measure the surface temperature of the exterior of their buildings, which have been covered with materials simulating common building materials. Students can also explore how landscaping and hardscaping around homes will impact their thermal energy absorbtion. Energy House with Solar and Electrified Energy House build on NEED’s original design but add solar-powered lights and fans, or electrified LEDs, respectively, to increase the teachable moments in constructing an Energy House model. These additions can be a great bridge to discussing circuits, solar energy, and renewables in home design. Finally, Energy House Design Challenge has been revived from Excellent Energy Engineering and added to give advanced or experienced students a real engineering design challenge. Students use repurposed materials to build a scale model of a house following given design and insulation parameters. If your students are still looking for more, download Building Science. Written at the intermediate level, this unit includes lessons on air infiltration, insulation, and how the systems of a building work together in energy use. It includes a deeper dive into Energy House by incorporating a model blower-door used to measure air infiltration.

Energy House Village Sampler

www.NEED.org

MATERIALS

OFF

The table below contains a list of materials needed to complete the activities in this suite. Many of the materials can be easily procured from a grocery, craft, or home improvement store. Refer to the activity instructions for more specifics about each item. Contact NEED if you have any questions or difficulty locating a certain item. Original Energy House kits can be purchased at shop.NEED.org.

ACTIVITY

MATERIALS NEEDED

Energy House – The NEED Original

Cardboard boxes Aluminum foil Scissors Small bead caulking Rulers Self-stick weatherstripping Bubble wrap Cotton batting Padded mailing paper Heavy transparency film

Poster board Resealable plastic bags Clear packaging tape Digital thermometers Meter sticks Pencils Ice, hand warmers, etc. as heating/cooling source Play money (optional)

Energy House – Multifamily Dwelling

Large corrugated cardboard boxes Additional pieces of cardboard Poster board Utility knives or scissors Rulers Digital thermometers 1 Roll of aluminum foil 1 Package of small self-stick weatherstripping

1 Package or roll of small bead caulking 1 Roll of bubble wrap 1 Roll of cotton batting Ice cubes in individual, resealable bags or hand warmers 1 Roll of padded mailing paper Heavy transparency film Poster board

Energy House – Mini Heat Island

Cardboard boxes Sheets of heavy transparency film Clear packing tape Baking sheet/trays Scissors and/or utility knives Rulers and/or meter sticks

Light fixtures with heat bulbs Digital thermometers IR thermometers Simulated building and roofing materials Soil, sand, sod, or other landscaping materials Hot glue guns

Energy House with Solar

Cardboard boxes Aluminum foil Scissors Small bead caulking Rulers Self-stick weatherstripping Bubble wrap Cotton batting Padded mailing paper

Heavy transparency film Poster board Resealable plastic bags Clear packaging tape Digital thermometers Meter sticks Pencils Ice cubes Solar House kit

Energy House Village Sampler

www.NEED.org

OFF

Materials

Electrified Energy House

Cardboard boxes Aluminum foil Scissors Small bead caulking Rulers Self-stick weatherstripping Bubble wrap Cotton batting Padded mailing paper Heavy transparency film

Poster board Resealable plastic bags Clear packaging tape Digital thermometers Meter sticks Pencils Ice cubes Copper tape 3V coin batteries LEDs

Energy House Design Challenge

Corrugated cardboard boxes and other cardboard Mechanically shredded paper Quilt batting or polyester fiberfill Craft foam, polystyrene sheets, foam-core board, egg carton foam Polyester fiberfill Canned, aerosol spray foam Aluminum foil

Hobby plywood Ceramic or slate tile Poster board Digital thermometer Reusable plastic bags Ice cubes Thick plastic, or leftover roofing materials Small wood chips or doll house shingles Sliced garden hose (optional)

Safety Note: A good alternative to the box cutters, utility knives, and scissors is trauma or safety shears used in the emergency response field. They cost similar to sharp scissors but promote safer cutting behaviors. These and other types of cardboard safety cutters can be found on online retailers and at craft stores.

Energy House Village Sampler

www.NEED.org

OFF

Energy House Grade Levels Elementary, grades 3-5

Background Insulation is a material used to limit the movement of thermal energy or heat. Students will be challenged to build a model home out of cardboard that 1) meets the required building code rules outlined below and 2) uses insulation to slow or stop the movement of thermal energy (heat) into and out of the home. Students will design their basic house and purchase and install insulation, caulking, weatherstripping, and windows. Students will then test the efficiency of the house. The activity can be done individually, or in groups. For testing, consider the season in which you are completing the activity, or the climate you live in. For places that use cooling only, test as described. For areas where heating takes place, consider using a heat source such as disposable hand warmers.

Objectives Students will be able to describe efficiency and conservation measures for the home. Students will be able to justify and explain why efficiency and conservation measures make sense economically.

Materials PER STUDENT OR GROUP

Materials FOR CLASS TO SHARE

Cardboard boxes (approximately 9” x 9” x 9”) Sheets of heavy transparency film Poster board Resealable plastic bag Roll of clear packing tape Digital thermometer Scissors Pencil Meter stick

1 Roll of aluminum foil 1 Package or roll of small bead caulking 1 Package of small self-stick weatherstripping 1 Roll of bubble wrap 1 Roll of cotton batting Ice cubes 1 Roll of padded mailing paper Play money (optional)

Intermediate, grades 6-8 Secondary, grades 9-12

 Time 1.5-2.5 hours

Materials Note Most materials can be purchased from an office supply or hardware store. Students can use uniformly sized boxes or provide their own, recycled cardboard. NEED often uses 9x9x9 boxes in workshops. Smaller boxes will require less supplies.

Preparation Familiarize yourself with the student instructions and worksheets. Make one copy of the Energy House Student Guide for each student. If desired, make a copy of the optional Cost Sheet for each student. Procure the materials needed from the list above and set up a Construction Center for the students. Make a master or digital projection of the master on page 11 to share with the class. Place your students into small groups. Gather play money and divide it up for groups to use. (optional)

Procedure 1. Introduce the activity to the class using the Insulators and Conductors Master on page 11. Discuss the materials in the pictures that are conductors and insulators (see the answer key starting on page 7 for suggestions). Explain to the class that conductors are materials such as metals that move heat easily; insulators are materials that do not move heat well. Have students discuss what they know about common materials (wood, plastic, glass, metal, leather, water, cement, fabric) and categorize them as conductors or insulators.

Energy House Village Sampler

www.NEED.org

2. A good way for students to think more clearly about objects as conductors or insulators is to consider that all the materials in the room are at the same temperature. The students’ hands are warmer than the room. Do the objects feel warm or cool when they are touched? Conductors move heat away from the students’ hands, making the objects feel cooler. Insulators do not move heat well, so the objects feel warm. Have the students think about stepping from the shower with one foot on a rug and one on a tile floor. Both the rug and the tile are at the same temperature. How do they feel? Which is the conductor and which is the insulator? 3. Distribute the Energy House Student Guide to the students and place them into the groups you have set up. Review the procedure for the activity with the class, making sure to expressly outline the building code. If necessary, make sure the building code is visible on the board or screen as well. Be sure to highlight any group work and lab safety rules you may have and remind students safe procedures for cutting with cardboard. 4. Show the class the materials in the Construction Center. If you are incorporating the optional Cost Sheet and budgeting, make sure to discuss costs of the materials and how this will factor into the testing at the end. It may be helpful for groups to pre-determine the supplies they will use (and prepare a preliminary budget, if applicable) before visiting the Construction Center. Show the class the materials in the Construction Center. 5. Clearly define how much time groups will have for construction. Remind them that their goal is to use insulation to slow or stop the movement of thermal energy. They will test for this at the end by cooling the inside of their home with ice to see how well it stays cool when warm air/lamps are placed outside. A sample rubric is provided on page 7. Discuss the rubric if desired. 6. Distribute boxes/cardboard if you are providing them to students. If students are providing their own cardboard, make sure to identify any size parameters and limitations you wish to incorporate outside of the building code. 7. Allow groups to begin planning, acquiring materials from the Construction Center, and construct their homes. Monitor group work, enforcing the building code and any safety measures necessary. Give time check-ins regularly so groups are aware of the remaining time for work. 8. When groups are finished, decide if you will inspect homes for building code violations. Provide each group with a thermometer. Take the houses to the place where testing will occur. If it is a warm day, take the houses outside. If conducting indoor tests, set up the houses so that incandescent or heat lamps will be equally trained on each home. Ask each group to insert the thermometer into their home in the top of the door (with the door closed). They should allow their thermometers to normalize for a minute and record the temperature as a baseline temperature. 9. Distribute plastic bags to each group, each filled with 8 ice cubes (or a similar mass of ice). Instruct groups to open their doors and place the ice inside the center of the home and close the door. If indoors, turn on any lamps that are providing heat and allow them to remain on. 10. Record the temperature after 10-15 minutes. Students will slide the thermometers back into the closed door, and allow them to normalize and record the final temperature. 11. Ask students to review their data as a group and identify design elements that might have improved their results or contributed to their results. 12. Discuss that insulation works both ways. While we often think of insulation keeping something hot, it can also help to keep an airconditioned home cool, or a warmed home warm. Discuss the energy savings that insulation can produce, related to cost—the more insulation you use, the more energy savings. At some point, however, the increase in cost is not economically worthwhile. The cost up-front may outweigh the energy saved, or you may reduce the amount of usable space too much. Materials that are really good insulators usually cost more than less-efficient insulators, so you need to consider the trade-offs and balance the energy saved with the cost. While the energy savings may not be obvious in this activity, homeowners can look at their bills to calculate savings. Discuss why homes in warmer climates might choose to opt out of insulation. 13. Discuss other materials the groups could have used as insulation, such as foam board. Discuss what each group would change if they could do the activity again with additional materials. Ask students why they think building codes are necessary and discuss how the building code can have benefits and limitations.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

Energy House Village Sampler

www.NEED.org

Extensions Because air infiltration plays such a big role in keeping the interior of a building at the appropriate temperature and humidity level, students may benefit from exploring this concept as they look at the Energy House they have constructed. NEED’s Building Science unit includes an Energy House model that incorporates air infiltration. You can download Building Science by navigating to https://shop.need.org/products/building-science-kit. Substitute a hand warmer in place of ice cubes to represent heating in colder climates. Have students draw blueprints of their houses to scale and devise written plans to insulate their houses before they begin the activity. See NEED’s Energy House guide for more extensions and ideas.

Answer Key For Insulators and Conductors Master Metal Pan with Plastic Handle: Metal is a conductor—it conducts heat to the food inside to cook it efficiently. Plastic is an insulator—it does not conduct heat from the pan to a person’s hands. Metal Kettle with Wooden Handle: Metal is a conductor—it conducts heat to the water inside to warm it efficiently. Wood is an insulator—it does not conduct heat from the kettle to a person’s hands. Metal Spoon with Plastic Handle: Metal is a conductor—it conducts heat. Plastic is an insulator—it does not conduct heat from the spoon to a person’s hands. Fabric Oven Mitt: Fabric is an insulator—it does not conduct heat from hot pans to a person’s hands. Discuss blankets and clothes as insulators. What would happen if the fabric mitt got wet? Is water a conductor or insulator? (conductor) Thermos (Vacuum) Bottle: There is a space between the inside liner and the outside material of a vacuum bottle in which most of the air has been removed. Since heat travels from molecule to molecule, a space with few molecules is a good insulator. Double pane windows work on the same principle. Ceramic or Plastic Cup: Ask the students whether the cup would be hotter if made of ceramic or plastic. (ceramic) Which is the better insulator? (plastic)

Sample Rubric for Evaluating Homes Follows building code _________ / 15 points Budget (lowest = 10 points / highest = 0 points)

_________ / 10 points

Insulation Effectiveness (change in temperature, ∆T°) (greatest ∆T = highest score, lowest ∆T = lowest score)

_________ / 20 points

Aesthetics _________ / 5 points *Assess budget and insulation effectiveness on a sliding scale. If, for example, you have 10 groups, the group that spends the least to build their home will receive 10 points. The next lowest budget will be awarded a 9 out of 10, and so forth.

Energy House Village Sampler

www.NEED.org

OFF

ENergy House Student Guide

Challenge You have been chosen to build a house that meets the local building code, while efficiently insulating the home in order to save the homeowners energy costs for years to come. A well insulated home will be able to maintain a different temperature than outside conditions.

Question What materials will most efficiently insulate your energy house?

Building Code 3 You must have at least 1 door, at least 10 cm x 6 cm. The door must open and close. 3 You must have at least 2 windows, each at least 5 cm x 5 cm. The windows must be transparent (you can see through them). 3 The ceiling must be at least 5 cm above the top of the door. 3 Insulation on the floor and walls cannot exceed 1 cm in thickness. 3 No insulation can be exposed. All insulation must be covered by a ceiling, wall, or floor (poster board).

Procedure 1. Assemble your box home so it stands up, but do not apply tape to all sides yet, as you will need to be able to install insulation. You will seal your home as the last step before you test! 2. Draw your windows and door to fit the building code requirements. These can be located on any side or face of your house. 3. Carefully cut out the windows and the door, leaving one side of the door attached. The door should remain open and unsealed. Windows will be covered with transparency paper and sealed closed. Additional doors and windows are allowed, but all must fit within the building code requirements. If you add a storm door, it also must open and close. 4. Examine your home to determine its insulation needs. Look at the materials available and read the building code thoroughly. Decide which materials you want to use and the amount you will need of each. Follow the Building Code and place the desired insulation materials in your home. Use the mailing tape as the method to secure and affix your insulation and attach wall coverings. Remember, no insulation can be exposed. 5. Seal the home with tape and utilize weather stripping as needed. You may make your roof flat or pitched, based on your desired architectural design. 6. Take your home to the desired testing area (as outlined by your teacher). Place your home so it receives equal amounts of direct light or shade. All houses tested should be in similar conditions, where possible. 7. Measure and record the temperature of your home to start. Inserting the thermometer into the home through the top of the door. Wedge the door closed so the thermometer stays inside but the door is mostly closed. Turn the thermometer on and wait 30 seconds to allow the thermometer to adjust. Record this as your starting temperature. 8. Gather the bag of ice from your teacher. Make sure the bag is sealed and place the bag flat on the floor in the center of your home. Close the door. Allow your home to stay outside for the time prescribed by your teacher. This ice will act as a “cooling unit” for your home, creating a temperature difference outside versus inside. This “cooling unit” will also help you demonstrate how well the insulation you designed does its job to hold the temperature inside. Warmer air will want to come inside and cooler air will want to escape - insulation acts like a security guard to stop this from happening. If your insulation does its job, your home will be cooler at the end of the test than the outside air when you started. 9. After the time has passed, record the temperature of your home by inserting the thermometer into the home through the top of the door. Wedge the door closed so the thermometer stays inside but the door is mostly closed. Turn the thermometer on and wait 30 seconds to allow the thermometer to adjust. Record this temperature as the final temperature. 10. Calculate the total temperature change for each home. Record observations about the ice cubes after taking your measurements. How much has melted? How much longer do you think the ice would take to melt completely? Why?

Energy House Village Sampler

www.NEED.org

OFF

Energy house student guide

Data & Observations 1. Room temperature (°C): __________ 2. House temperature (°C): __________ 3. Difference in temperature (°C): __________ 4. If I did the activity again, I would change____________ about my house:

Conclusion 1. Analyze your home design, the insulating materials you used, and your budget. How efficient was your home at maintaining its temperature? How did your cost for materials compare to the temperature change? What would you do differently if you could design your house again? Cite evidence from your trial in your response.

2. Compare your results with other groups. What did other groups do differently and why?

Energy House Village Sampler

www.NEED.org

OFF

Cost Sheet

AMOUNT

TOTAL COST

________ Mailing Tape

$0.50 roll

________________

________ Plastic Film

$0.25 each

________________

________ Aluminum Foil

$0.20/meter

________________

________ Poster Board

$0.50 each

________________

________ Bubble Wrap

$1.00/meter

________________

________ Cotton Batting

$0.75/meter

________________

________ Padded Paper

$0.50/meter

________________

________ Caulking

$0.01/cm

________________

________ Weatherstripping

$0.01/cm

________________

Total Cost for Materials: ________________

Energy House Village Sampler

www.NEED.org

OFF

Insulators and conductors

Energy House Village Sampler

www.NEED.org

OFF

Energy House MultiFamily DWELLING

Grade Levels Elementary, grades 3-5 Intermediate, grades 6-8 Secondary, grades 9-12

 Time 2-3 class periods

Background Of all the occupied residential buildings in the United States, about thirty percent are buildings with two or more residences in them. Having more than one family, with different behaviors, values, and comfort levels in the same building creates additional challenges when managing energy use. This activity explores some of those factors and challenges and tasks students to work creatively to develop ways to overcome them.

Objectives Students will be able to explain how insulating materials enable energy efficiency with respect to heating and cooling. Students will be able to explain how multi-family housing differs from single-family housing with respect to heating and cooling efficiency. Students will be able to infer real-world applications of heating and cooling efficiency based on a model.

Materials PER STUDENT GROUP

Materials OPTIONAL

Large, corrugated cardboard box Additional pieces of cardboard Poster board Utility knife or scissors Ruler Digital thermometer Sheets of heavy transparency film

Cost Sheet Insulators and Conductors Master Play money

Materials FOR THE CLASS TO SHARE 1 Roll of aluminum foil 1 Package or roll of small bead caulking 1 Package of small self-stick weatherstripping 1 Roll of bubble wrap 1 Roll of cotton batting Ice cubes in individual, resealable bags or hand warmers 1 Roll of padded mailing paper

Preparation Gather materials for student use. Boxes students use to construct their multifamily dwellings should be large, recycled or repurposed boxes may be helpful. Decide if you will incorporate the Cost Sheet into this version of the activity. If so, set a budget for students, or another parameter for controlling costs that will be incorporated into judging student buildings.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

Energy House Village Sampler

www.NEED.org

Decide if you will assign students to a certain number of dwellings for their buildings or if you will allow students to choose. Make copies of the Multifamily Energy House Student Guide and Cost Sheet, if desired, for each student. On the day of the activity, designate an area for shared materials and supervise their acquisition.

Procedure 1. Introduce the activity. If necessary, use the Insulators and Conductors Master from the Energy House - The NEED Original activity to review insulation and conduction. 2. If you are incorporating building costs into the activity, distribute the Cost Sheet and explain to students their budget or how their costs will be incorporated into judging their final project. 3. Distribute the Multifamily Energy House Student Guide page to students. Walk through the activity. Assign a number of residences to students or explain that they may choose. 4. Review safety with utility knives and cutting boxes with scissors. 5. Allow students sufficient time to complete the activity. 6. Discuss the energy savings that insulation can produce, related to cost—the more insulation you use, the more energy savings. At some point, however, the increase in cost is not economically worthwhile. The cost up-front may outweigh the energy saved, or you may reduce the amount of usable space too much. Materials that are really good insulators usually cost more than less-efficient insulators, so you need to consider the trade-offs and balance the energy saved with the cost. While the energy savings piece isn’t evident here, homeowners can look at their bills to calculate savings. 7. Discuss other materials the groups could have used as insulation, such as foam board. Discuss what groups would change if they could do the activity again with additional materials. Ask students why they think building codes are necessary and discuss how the building code can have benefits and limitations.

Exension Operate this activity simultaneously so that some students are working on the original design (single-family), while others are working on multifamily dwellings. Compare results, strategies, challenges, and successes. Ask students to pretend they are on their dwelling’s condo board/HOA. Have them develop an energy efficiency contract or guidance plan for their dwelling’s residents.

Energy House Village Sampler

www.NEED.org

OFF

Multifamily Energy House Student Guide

Question How does the number of residential units in a building affect the ability of residents to control the interior temperature of their home?

Materials Large, corrugated cardboard box Additional pieces of cardboard Utility knife or scissors Ruler Tape Transparency film Insulating materials Poster board Digital thermometer

Procedure 1. Decide how many units, or residences, your building model will have. Your teacher may assign this to you. 2. Fold and tape the flaps of your box in place so that only one side is accessible. Ideally this will be the top of the box, but that may not be possible depending on your box and design. 3. Use additional pieces of cardboard to divide your box into the number of residences you are creating. For example, if you are making two residences, divide the interior of your box in half. Tape this cardboard firmly in place. 4. Draw, then cut one 6 cm x 10 cm door for each residence, leaving one side of each door attached. If you have two units in your building model, you will cut two doors, one for each. The doors must open and close. 5. Give each residence in your model at least one 5 cm x 5 cm window. The windows do not need to open and close, but they must be transparent. 6. Obtain insulation materials as directed by your teacher. If you are using the Cost Sheet, use it to plan which materials you will use and how much you are spending on insulation. 7. Insulate only the exterior walls of one residence inside your building. Walls between residences do not need to be insulated. The other residences will remain uninsulated. 8. Cover all the walls, the floor, and the ceiling of each residence with poster board to represent dry wall. The shared walls between residences must be covered with poster board. Do not cover the window and door with poster board! 9. Measure and record the temperature of your classroom setting for the trials. Record it on the data table. 10. Obtain a bag of ice or a hand warmer packet as directed by your teacher. This will simulate cooling or heating, respectively, for the residence you insulated. Place it inside the residence you insulated and close the door. 11. Carefully insert the digital thermometer through the crack across the top of the door so the probe extends into the interior of the insulated residence. 12. After three minutes, record the interior temperature of your residence. 13. Open the door of the uninsulated residence(s) in your building model. This simulates poor energy conservation or insulation in the units surrounding the study residential model.

14. After three more minutes, record the interior temperature of your residence. 15. Remove the ice or hand warmer packet and locate it to one of the other residential units in your building, that has not been insulated. This simulates central heating or cooling that is not controlled by the occupants of each home. 16. After three minutes, record the interior temperature of your residence.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

Energy House Village Sampler

www.NEED.org

OFF

MultiFamily Energy House Student Guide

Data and Observations Make a sketch of your multifamily residential building. Identify where the insulated residence is located.

Use the data table below to record your temperatures. Condition

Temperature

Temperature of classroom or lab setting Temperature - All doors closed Temperature - Adjacent residence doors opened Temperature - Relocation of heating or cooling

Conclusion 1. How well was your sample residence insulated? Did it keep the interior as warm or cool as you would have liked? Use evidence from your investigation to support your answer. 2. What happened when you opened the doors of the adjacent residential units? 3. What was the result when you moved the ice or warmer packet to another location inside the building? Was the interior temperature still well-regulated? 4. Using the knowledge you have gained from this activity, write a paragraph describing how living in a multifamily unit, such as an apartment building or row of townhouses, might make saving energy while heating and cooling more challenging as compared to single-family, detached housing. 5. Imagine you are in charge of a proposal that will build affordable housing for 100 families. Based on what you have learned in this activity, would you choose a high-rise, low-rise apartment buildings, townhouses, or individual, detached units? Would you have central heating systems or individually-controlled units? What other modifications would you make to enable the residents to conserve energy while keeping the cost of the build affordable? Justify your answer with evidence collected in this activity.

Energy House Village Sampler

www.NEED.org

OFF

Energy House MINI Heat Island

Grade Levels Elementary, grades 3-5 Intermediate, grades 6-8 Secondary, grades 9-12

 Time 2-3 class periods

Materials Note The materials for this activity are largely the same as the Energy House – The NEED Original, as students will be using the same framework for this challenge. In addition, this activity calls for “simulated building materials.” These will be used for the exterior of the house and landscaping can all be sourced from a local big box or hardware store, recycled materials, or similar. You may also ask students to check at home for “junk” and leftover materials they may have to simulate building supplies.

Background This modification of the original Energy House activity incorporates an investigation of how the materials used on the outside of a building can amplify or reduce the heat island effect in urban and developed neighborhoods. Common construction practices and materials, such as dark, flat roofs, brick and stone facades, concrete sidewalks, and asphalt streets and parking areas can create “heat sinks,” which absorb and retain thermal energy throughout the day and slowly release it at night. When an area is largely made up of these materials, it can effectively raise the temperature several degrees in an isolated area, or heat island. This is commonly observed on weather maps that show the temperature – an urban area, or even highly developed suburban area will appear warmer than its surroundings. As climate change effects continue to lead to hotter summers, the heat island effect, particularly in areas where energy burdens are greatest, such as densely populated urban centers, can become a public health issue. In this activity, students construct the standard Energy House model, but omit the insulation. They will then cover and surround the house with various materials designed to simulate common building supplies, like vinyl siding, asphalt, concrete, metal, brick, and wood. Students will use an infrared (IR) thermometer to measure the temperature of different surfaces on the outside of their models and the areas surrounding them to observe how the heat island effect could be created, amplified, or reduced.

Objectives Students will be able to identify which materials and surfaces contribute to the heat island effect. Students will be able to explain temperature differences between suburban and urban areas given identical weather conditions.

Materials PER STUDENT GROUP

Materials FOR STUDENT CLASS TO SHARE

Cardboard boxes Sheets of heavy transparency film Clear packing tape Baking sheet/tray Scissors and/or utility knife Ruler and/or meter stick Light fixture with heat bulb Digital thermometer IR thermometer

Simulated materials (asst.), such as: Aluminum foil – corrugated metal roofing Asphalt shingles – asphalt, roofing Ceramic tiles – concrete Vinyl folders – vinyl siding Rubber mat – rubber roofing Astro turf – grass/green roof White poster board – paneling Popsicle sticks – wood shingles Sandpaper – various exteriors Paint - different colors for various exteriors White foamboard - white rubber roofing Soil, sand, sod, or other landscaping materials (include options for hardscaping driveways and sidewalks) Hot glue guns

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

Energy House Village Sampler

www.NEED.org

Preparation Preview the activity and brainstorm materials you can use, that you or other teachers have on hand, to simulate building materials commonly found in developed, populated/urban areas. Students could also assist with this brainstorming and provide materials they might already have at home. Decide if you will assign specific construction materials for student groups to use on their buildings or if you will allow them to choose. If you assign them, make sure you assign a wide variety to facilitate student discussion. Decide if you desire a more specific building code outside of the sizes and function for doors and windows. If necessary outline this on the board or post visually for the class. Gather materials for student use. Make copies of the Mini Heat Island Student Guide as needed. Build and test a cardboard box house with no cladding, roofing, or surrounding surfaces. This will serve as a “control” for comparison.

Procedure 1. Define the concept of heat islands, using weather maps or online resources like the EPA, NASA’s Climate Kids, or National Geographic to get students thinking about urban heat islands and solutions. 2. Introduce the activity, providing a brief overview of the building requirements. 3. Explain to students the materials you have provided and which surfaces or construction materials they are intended to simulate. 4. Allow students time to construct their buildings. Emphasize building code requirements and that windows must be transparent and the door must open. 5. As students place their buildings on their trays, remind them to center them and that the tray surrounding their building must be completely covered (landscaped) with some kind of material. Remind them to give some thought as to the placement of the building, where the door and windows are, and which surfaces are most likely to be found outside of those areas. 6. Allow students enough time to test their buildings. If you have more than one light fixture available, more buildings can be tested or a longer testing period can be accomplished. 7. Reconvene class and ask each group to summarize what they learned. Which surfaces were hottest? Which remained cool? What do these surfaces have in common? 8. Ask students how the heat island effect can improve or impede residents’ efforts to use less energy for heating and cooling. Discuss how this could affect residents’ heath and safety. 9. Ask students which is more important, interior insulation or external materials, in efficiency with respect to heating and cooling?

Extensions Depending on your class, their familiarity with the Energy House models, and your geography and the students’ understanding of climate science concepts, you may wish to have each student or group simulate a different setting (rural, urban, suburban), or you may wish to have them all create models that simulate an urban neighborhood. Have the class create a plan, like an urban or city developer might, to counteract the heat island effect. Ask the class to consider solutions for how they might subsidize (pay for) their plans. If comfortable, have the class look at temperature maps of urban areas compared to suburban and rural areas nearby at various times throughout the year.

Energy House Village Sampler

www.NEED.org

OFF

Mini Heat Island Student Guide

Question How do construction materials and landscaping on and around a building affect the temperature inside and around it?

Materials Cardboard box IR thermometer Digital thermometer Transparency film Scissors or utility knife Ruler Packing tape Roofing materials Surface materials Landscaping materials Baking sheet or cafeteria tray Light fixture with heat bulb

Procedure BUILDING 1. Use the box to build a flat-roofed building that has at least one door, 10x6 cm, and two windows, 5x5 cm. The door must open, and the windows must be transparent. Seal the roof closed as if you were packing the box. 2. Your teacher may assign materials to you, or you may choose the materials that will cover your building. Whichever is the case, cover the roof with the roofing material, and the sides with the surface materials. 3. Place your building on the tray. 4. Surround your building with landscaping materials you have chosen or been assigned. These materials may be representative of asphalt, concrete, or grass and soil. TESTING 1. Turn on the digital thermometer, set it to read degrees Celsius (°C) and insert it in the crack between the top of the doorway and the door, leaving the door closed. Wait for the temperature to equilibrate and record it in your data table. 2. When directed to do so by your teacher, place the tray with your building under the light fixture. Use the infrared (IR) thermometer to measure the temperature of the roof and walls of your building and the surfaces surrounding it. Record this in the data table. 3. Turn the light on and wait for 5 minutes. Measure the roof, walls, and surfaces again and record the temperatures in your data table. Read the digital thermometer in the doorway and record the temperature inside your building. 4. If time allows, wait another 5 minutes and measure again. 5. Turn the light off and wait 5 minutes. Record temperatures inside and outside of the building. 6. If time allows, wait another 5 minutes and measure again.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

Energy House Village Sampler

www.NEED.org

OFF

Mini Heat Island Student Guide

Data and Observations Make a diagram of your building, identifying the materials you have used. Alternatively, take a photo of your building, print it, and paste it below.

TEMPERATURE DATA - DAYTIME Material Covering

Initial Temperature

After 5 Minutes

After 10 Minutes

Total Change in Temperature

Temperature When Light Turned Off

After 5 Minutes

After 10 Minutes

Total Change in Temperature

Interior Roof Outer Walls Surface in front of building Surface in back of building TEMPERATURE DATA - NIGHTTIME Material Covering Interior Roof Outer Walls Surface in front of building Surface in back of building

Energy House Village Sampler

www.NEED.org

OFF

Energy House with Solar

Grade Levels Elementary, grades 3-5 Intermediate, grades 6-8 Secondary, grades 9-12

 Time Energy House, plus an additional 10-20 minutes

Materials Note Solar House kits can be found within NEED’s solar curriculum kits. Solar curriculum can be purchased by visiting shop.NEED.org.

Background This is a simple, one-step modification of NEED’s original Energy House that demonstrates how adding a residential solar system can lower a homeowner’s energy costs while reducing residents’ fossil fuel consumption.

Objectives Students will be able to describe how residential photovoltaic systems can or should be installed to maximize their efficiency. Students will be able to describe how residential solar systems contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Materials Materials from Energy House, page 5 Solar House kit

Procedure 1. Follow the procedure for Energy House - The NEED Original as given on pages 5-6, but do the following before students test their houses: a. Distribute solar house kits to students. b. Explain the components and what each is designed to represent on a full-scale residential solar system. c. Explain to students that these simple models do not have some of the components residential solar systems need, such as racking systems, charge controllers, battery storage banks, and inverters, or running water (solar water heater). d. Instruct students to install the solar systems such that they can light and cool the interior of their models, and so the solar water heater model can capture the most thermal energy from your simulated sun (the lamp). e. Allow students enough time to install the solar systems on their models. 2. Proceed with testing the Energy House models as described in the original activity.

Extension For more information about photovoltaics and how we use solar energy, see the NEED solar energy curriculum guide appropriate for your students: A free PDF download of the following guides is available at shop.NEED.org: Elementary: The Wonders of the Sun Intermediate: Energy from the Sun Secondary: Exploring Photovoltaics

Energy House Village Sampler

www.NEED.org

OFF

Energy House Electrified Grade Levels Elementary, grades 3-5

Background This is a simple, one-step modification of the original Energy House activity, where students add one or more simple, direct current circuits to power LEDs inside or outside their model houses.

Intermediate, grades 6-8

This activity incorporates light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, and much of the lesson includes a primer on how LEDs work. You can decide if the information is appropriately leveled for your students and whether you want to include it or skip right to wiring.

 Time

Objectives Students will be able to describe a DC circuit and identify its parts. Students will be able to construct a DC circuit. Students will be able to troubleshoot a DC circuit with LEDs as the load.

Materials Materials from Energy House, page 5 Adhesive-backed copper tape, 30-50 cm per student 3V coin batteries, one per student 1 or more LEDs, per student Series and Parallel Circuits Master, page 22 Inside an LED Master, page 23

Secondary, grades 9-12

Energy House, plus an additional 20-30 minutes

Materials Note Copper tape, LEDs, and coin batteries can all be sourced from hobby shops or online retailers. LEDs can also be spliced from a string of holiday lights.

Preparation Prepare as you would for Energy House. Gather the supplies for constructing a simple DC circuit: copper tape, coin batteries, and LEDs. Practice working with the copper tape as the paper backing can be tricky to remove. Decide what requirements you will have of students, whether it be interior or exterior lighting, or if you will require one or two LEDs be lit. Alternatively, you may decide to allow students to make all of these decisions for themselves.

Procedure 1. Follow the procedure for Energy House as given on pages 5-6, but do the following before students test their houses: a. Explain a simple DC circuit. Identify the source of power, the battery, the LED load, and the pathway electricity travels. If you wish, draw a circuit schematic using the correct symbols for these. b. Project the Series and Parallel Circuits Master. Show how a series circuit will only provide one pathway for electricity to travel, and that the current throughout the entire circuit remains constant. Show how a parallel circuit allows for multiple pathways for electricity to travel, and that the voltage across each branch of the parallel circuit remains constant. c. Project the Inside an LED Master. Explain that an LED will only work if electricity flows in the correct direction. d. Distribute batteries, copper tape, and LEDs to students. Have students observe the different length of the leads on the LEDs. e. Demonstrate pushing the coin battery in between the leads of the LEDs to show the correct orientation of the battery with respect to the longer and shorter leads on the LED. Instruct students to make a note of this orientation.

Energy House Village Sampler

www.NEED.org

f. Explain to students that you want them to include at least one electrical circuit on their house models. These can be exterior lights, such as porch lights, or interior lights. Tell students how many LEDs they must light. g. Allow students enough time to attach their circuits to their Energy House models. 2. Proceed with testing the Energy House models as described in the original activity.

Helpful Hints One LED requires at least 3V to operate correctly. If two or more LEDs are desired, they must be wired in parallel to ensure each receives the 3V from the battery. You can tell students this, or you can let them figure it out on their own. The current must be flowing in the correct direction for an LED to light. If a student’s LED will not light, try reversing the polarity of the coin battery by flipping it over, and try again. Coin batteries can be easily short-circuited if the copper tape comes in contact with both the textured, negative pole and the positive pole which is found on the sides as well as the smooth surface of the battery. Students should take care to not accidentally short-circuit their batteries in this way. The adhesive on the back of the copper tape may interfere with conduction from the tape into the LED leads. To work around this issue, have students lay the leads on top of the copper tape, and stick them to the copper tape with another small piece of copper tape or masking tape. Make sure there is a good, solid connection between the LED and the pieces of copper carrying the current.

How Light Emitting Diodes Work 1. Diodes are made of semiconductors and conducting materials that need to be added to the semiconductor. In an LED the most common conductor added is aluminum-gallium-arsenide (AlGaAs). The AlGaAs is “doped” by adding small amounts of another material. One material will have more valence electrons than AlGaAs, and another doping material will have fewer electrons. The two doped materials are put together in a crystal. The material with more electrons is the “n-type” (n for negative) and the material with fewer electrons is the “p-type” (p for positive). When these materials are sandwiched together, the electrons move to balance themselves out. The area between the materials, called the p-n junction, is also called the “depletion zone.” 2. Connecting a power source to the diode, such as a battery, provides electric current that carries electrical energy. The electrons in the n-type are repelled by the electric current, and move through the depletion zone to the p-type. They are energized, and will want to return to their original, unenergized state in the n-type. 3. When the electrons move back through the depletion zone to the n-type, they release energy as light. This is the light that we see from the LED. This process continues over and over again–electrons absorbing energy, moving, then moving back and releasing the energy, until the power supply is disconnected or depleted.

How Light Emitting Diodes Work

Current Flow

n-type

p-type

Battery Current Flow

p-type

n-type

Battery

No Current Flows

n-type

4. Connecting the power supply in the wrong orientation does not allow the LED to work. Instead, it merely increases the size of the depletion zone. Therefore, it is important that LEDs be wired to their power supply in the correct orientation.

p-type

n-type

p-type Increased Depletion Zone

Battery

Energy House Village Sampler

www.NEED.org

OFF

Series and Parallel Circuits Series Circuits

Energy House Village Sampler

Parallel Circuits

www.NEED.org

OFF

Inside an LED Master

emitted light epoxy case

LED chip

reflecting cup photons p-type layer p-n type junction n-type layer cathode lead

anode lead

Energy House Village Sampler

www.NEED.org

OFF

Energy House Design Challenge Grade Levels Intermediate, grades 6-8

Background Sustainable building design is becoming more and more prevalent in architecture and construction. Obtaining an ENERGY STAR®, LEED, Living Building Challenge or other efficiency certification status is important to companies wishing to reduce their carbon footprints and promote a more sustainable way of living and doing business. The purpose of this challenge is to introduce students to sustainable design, architecture, and construction. This activity is based on NEED’s Energy House. However, here we are allowing more creativity and design elements to enter into the activity by allowing students to be a little more creative and develop their own house size and shape and choose their own materials.

Secondary, grades 9-12

 Time 2-5 Class periods

Design Parameters Using the scale of 1 inch = 1 foot, students must construct a house that provides at least 1,800 ft2 of living space. Garages, porches, and basements do not count toward the living space requirement. Use corrugated cardboard to construct a frame for the house to include floors, corners/joints, ceilings, and interior walls. Exterior walls can be constructed from a variety of materials and should include openings for doors, staircases, etc., just as they would exist in a regular house. Interior walls are not insulated. Students may use any construction materials they desire, but the exterior walls must have a total R-value of 14 and the attic/roof must have a total R-value of 47, including exterior coverings such as siding, shingles, or brick. House designs must include two doors, and one square foot of window for every ten square feet of floor space. For a 1,800 ft2 house, 180 ft2 of windows must be included. The doors must open and close, but the windows do not need to open. Houses must have at least 2 ft2 of attic space, or a fully insulated roof/ceiling. Houses can have a basement, crawl space, or slab-style foundation. All houses must have an insulated floor. All walls must be covered so that no insulating materials are exposed.

R-Value Chart for Modeling Materials The materials listed in the chart on page 26 are common construction materials, with suggested modeling materials that have similar properties to the materials they represent. The actual R-value of your students’ houses will not be the same as if the walls were actually constructed of those materials, but it will give a good idea of how well your students’ choices will perform in keeping the interior insulated from the exterior weather. Students should come as close as possible to making materials as thick, to scale, as their regularly constructed walls would be. For example, a two-inch foam board would be modeled with a foam material that is 1/6” thick, or 0.17 inches thick. To calculate the total R-value of a wall constructed with different materials, add the individual R-values for each material in the wall. For example, if the wall is made of concrete block, insulated with fiberglass, and covered with sheet rock, the R-value is 1+13+0.45 = 14.45.

Energy House Village Sampler

www.NEED.org

Construction Material

R-value

Model material

Cellulose (blown-in)

4 per inch thickness

Mechanically shredded paper

Fiberglass

13 per 3” batt

Quilt batting or polyester fiberfill

Polystyrene foam board

4.5 per inch thickness

Craft foam, polystyrene sheets, foam-core board, egg carton foam

Plastic fiber batt

3.5 per inch thickness

Polyester fiberfill

Spray foam

7 per inch thickness

Canned, aerosol spray foam*

Reflective facing

Aluminum foil

Wood siding or plywood sheathing

0.7

Hobby plywood**

Concrete block

Ceramic or slate tile

Drywall / sheet rock

0.45

Poster board

Brick

0.44

Ceramic or slate tile

Roofing Materials Asphalt roofing shingles

0.44

Thick plastic, or leftover roofing materials***

Wood roofing shingles

0.97

Small wood chips or doll house shingles

Cob

6 per 12” thickness

Cob at scale thickness (1” thick models 12” thick wall)

Rammed earth

2.5 per 12” thickness

Sliced garden hose, constructed the same as full-size walls, to scale (1” thick models 12” thick wall)

Insulating Materials

Wall Covering

Alternative Construction

*Canned, aerosol expanding foam should only be used under the supervision of an adult with masks, goggles, and gloves. ** Wood siding or plywood sheathing is usually less than one inch thick in most construction applications. Therefore, students will not be able to model this material to scale, because they will need a piece that is only 0.08 inch thick. Therefore, they will have to use the thinnest wood they can find to obtain the correct insulating properties. *** If you are able to get leftover pieces of tar paper or cut roofing shingles, they will be good materials to use to model actual asphalt roofing products in your students’ houses.

Other Considerations The cost of materials should be a factor in the design. You can either provide a maximum budget, or you can add to the challenge by creating a separate competition recognizing the design built at the lowest cost. Students may use any transparent materials for their windows. One good material is overhead transparency film. Another using recycled materials is to cut the walls of 2-liter soft drink bottles into sheets. Students can construct double- and triple-paned windows from this material with little difficulty using caulking or clear silicone adhesive to hold them in place in their frame. Salvaged, repurposed, and recycled materials do not add any cost to their building for this challenge. Thus, if they use cereal boxes, egg cartons, and similarly clean recycled materials, they are modeling how old products can have new uses. Discuss how accurate this may be in current markets and supply scenarios. Not all materials students might want to use are listed in the R-value table. Students can find R-values of other building materials at https://www.archtoolbox.com/materials-systems/thermal-moisture-protection/rvalues.html. Some materials might need reasonable substitutes in student models. Concrete, for example, can be substituted with ceramic tile or slate tile scraps. Encourage your students to think outside the box, so to speak. The most efficient spaces that transfer the least amount of thermal energy might not be square or rectangular.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

Energy House Village Sampler

www.NEED.org

The insulation and convection activities from NEED’s Building Science can be helpful for your students to fully understand how building construction and materials affect the way thermal energy is transferred.

Testing the Design 1. Fill a resealable plastic bag with ice and zip it closed. Place the bag on the ground floor of the house. 2. Record the temperature of the classroom. 3. After ten minutes, record the temperature in both the lower level as well as the upper level, if appropriate, of the house. If an attic is present, record the temperature of this space. 4. Houses that are the coolest compared to the classroom temperature have the best design for minimizing thermal energy transfer.

Extensions Download the Energy Savers booklet, or explore the website, from the U.S. Department of Energy, and use the R-values for walls and roof / attic spaces recommended for your region. You can also contact your local government to find out the building code R-values for homes in your community and use those. Purchase or borrow a work light or clip-light that is rated to use a 150W incandescent work light. Mount the light above the table such that it stays high enough above the houses to not pose a fire hazard, but does heat up the roof of the houses in a similar way as the sun heats our homes. Be careful to keep combustibles and students’ fingers away from the light as it gets very hot. Reverse the setup for testing if the weather outdoors is cold. Open a handwarmer packet and place it on the floor of the house, and set the houses outside on a cold day. Advanced or older students can be challenged to develop a heating or cooling system using fish tank tubing or a similar type of material. They can circulate air or water through their system as desired. If your students do this, the bag of ice or the hand warmer would be placed inside the heat exchanger of the heating or cooling unit. Have students research alternative building methods such as cob and rammed earth. The tires used in rammed earth construction can be modeled with sliced pieces of garden hose. Building a model cob house can be messy but it will be a lot of fun and help students see how other materials can be used. Conduct a recycling drive to accumulate useful materials for constructing your houses.

Energy House Village Sampler

www.NEED.org

National Sponsors and Partners Adapt2 Solutions Alaska Electric Light & Power Company American Electric Power Foundation American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers Arizona Sustainability Alliance Armstrong Energy Corporation Robert L. Bayless, Producer, LLC Baltimore Gas & Electric Berkshire Gas - Avangrid BG Group/Shell BP America Inc. Blue Grass Energy Bob Moran Charitable Giving Fund Boys and Girls Club of Carson (CA) Buckeye Supplies Cape Light Compact–Massachusetts Central Alabama Electric Cooperative CLEAResult Clover Park School District Clovis Unified School District Colonial Pipeline ComEd Confluence ConocoPhillips Constellation Delmarva Power Dominion Energy, Inc. Dominion Energy Foundation DonorsChoose Duke Energy Duke Energy Foundation East Baton Rouge Parish Schools East Kentucky Power EcoCentricNow EDP Renewables EduCon Educational Consulting Enel Green Power North America Eugene Water and Electric Board Eversource Exelon Exelon Foundation Exelon Generation Foundation for Environmental Education FPL The Franklin Institute George Mason University – Environmental Science and Policy Georgia Power Gerald Harrington, Geologist Government of Thailand–Energy Ministry Green Power EMC Greenwired, Inc.

Guilford County Schools–North Carolina Honeywell Houston LULAC National Education Service Centers Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council Scale Up Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation Illinois International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Renewable Energy Fund Illinois Institute of Technology Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico Jackson Energy James Madison University Kansas Corporation Energy Commission Kansas Energy Program – K-State Engineering Extension Kentucky Office of Energy Policy Kentucky Environmental Education Council Kentucky Power–An AEP Company League of United Latin American Citizens – National Educational Service Centers Leidos LES – Lincoln Electric System Linn County Rural Electric Cooperative Llano Land and Exploration Louisiana State Energy Office Louisiana State University – Agricultural Center Mercedes-Benz USA Minneapolis Public Schools Mississippi Development Authority–Energy Division Motus Experiential National Fuel National Grid National Hydropower Association National Ocean Industries Association National Renewable Energy Laboratory NC Green Power Nebraskans for Solar NextEra Energy Resources Nicor Gas NCi – Northeast Construction North Shore Gas Offshore Technology Conference Ohio Energy Project Oklahoma Gas and Electric Energy Corporation Pacific Gas and Electric Company PECO Peoples Gas Pepco

8408 Kao Circle, Manassas, VA 20110

1.800.875.5029

www.NEED.org

Performance Services, Inc. Permian Basin Petroleum Museum Phillips 66 PNM PowerSouth Energy Cooperative Providence Public Schools Quarto Publishing Group Prince George’s County Office of Sustainable Energy (MD) Renewable Energy Alaska Project Rhoades Energy Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources Rhode Island Energy Efficiency and Resource Management Council Salal Foundation/Salal Credit Union Salt River Project Salt River Rural Electric Cooperative C.T. Seaver Trust Secure Futures, LLC Shell Shell Carson Shell Chemical Shell Deer Park Singapore Ministry of Education SMECO SMUD Society of Petroleum Engineers South Carolina Energy Office SunTribe Solar Tri-State Generation and Transmission TXU Energy United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey University of Kentucky University of Louisville University of Maine University of North Carolina University of Rhode Island University of Tennessee University of Texas Permian Basin University of Wisconsin – Platteville U.S. Department of Energy U.S. Department of Energy–Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy U.S. Department of Energy - Water Power Technologies Office U.S. Department of Energy–Wind for Schools U.S. Energy Information Administration United States Virgin Islands Energy Office We Care Solar