We are very excited to share that the New Norris House Project has been named by the AIA's Committee on the Environment (COTE) as one of the Top-10 Green projects of 2013! This award is one of the most prestigious in architecture in the US, and recognizes “exemplary and innovative...

We are very excited to share that the New Norris House Project has been named by the AIA's Committee on the Environment (COTE) as one of the Top-10 Green projects of 2013! This award is one of the most prestigious in architecture in the US, and recognizes “exemplary and innovative...

Earlier this week the project team began a seasonal experiment to test the passive performance of the envelope to resist exterior temperatures fluctuations over the course of 72 hours (3 days). To complete this study, the heating and cooling systems are completely disabled for the...

Hello friends, It is with pleasure and excitement that I invite anyone of interest to "attend" a webinar presented by the New Norris House team as part of the AIA Housing Knowledge Community.  Here is a link to the event, which will take place November 5th, 9-10am PT.  Registration is...

As part of our water system evaluation, monitoring efforts have recently been expanded to include a greywater (water from the bathroom sink, shower, and clothes washer) component. Here we will not be monitoring quality (as we are with rainwater), but rather soil saturation of the greywater bed...

It is our pleasure to announce that the New Norris House project has been selected for a Residential Architect Design Award! We have been awarded a Merit Award in the Single Family Housing category. Of over 800 applicants, only 36 were chosen as winners. This is a tremendous honor which we are...

Dear Archinect, Today is the last day to nominate (preliminary voting) projects into ArchDaily's Building of the Year Awards.  Please help us move into the top-5 in the Residential category! There are 855 other houses up for the award, so we only have to out-nominate 850 to make the top...

We are pleased to announce that the project was awarded an AIA East Tennessee Honor Award! Congratulations to all those involved, and thank you to all our supporters! On towards the state competition now...   www.thenewnorrishouse.com  

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single house in possession of occupants, must be in want of plenty of closed storage space.* Although the house has a relatively small footprint, we’ve found the cabinets and closets provide just enough storage space for the two of us (just...

Before talking about the latest New Norris House happenings, I should introduce myself. My name is Eric Bennett, one of the Graduate Research Assistants for the New Norris House. I am currently in my final year of the Master of Architecture program at UTK. I received my undergraduate degree in...

View out picture window in kitchen I made my first visit to the Norris House in June, at the end of the build part of the project. Finishing touches were happening inside—assembly of the bed platform, installation of bathroom shelves, sewing of slipcovers for the furniture cushions. The...

Our rainwater harvesting, treatment, and distribution system was put together by the BRAE rainwater group out of North Carolina. As part of our ongoing partnership, BRAE released this promotional video a few days ago describing the rainwater system as installed in the house.  Enjoy! BRAE...

BRAE Rainwater Harvesting at The New Norris House

Now that our water systems are up and running, it's time to begin the monitoring and analysis process. My task as a graduate assistant is to formalize a sampling and analysis protocol for testing water quality on both the supply side and the waste water side. A little about me: My name is Valerie...