It’s hard to believe that our year of living in the New Norris House is over. During our time there, it was a bit like living in a lab; our energy and water usage were monitored, and we tested the design and systems installed in the house. Although we’ve moved out, there are several... View full entry
The garden was planted a little over a month ago, and I’m amazed at how fast things have grown. Since this is the first garden I’ve ever had, I don’t have a point of reference for plant growth patterns; I suppose they’re growing at typical rates that just seem fast to me... View full entry
One of the rooms in the house that hasn’t been mentioned often—yet gets daily use—is the bathroom. With the bathroom being the top water user in the house, the water features installed here are helping conserve water in several ways. The New Norris House was built with a... View full entry
Here is a link to an article published last month in PHC News. The article focuses on the rainwater harvesting system at the New Norris House. Credits have been earned in all LEED for Homes categories and we expect to earn 12 out of 15 credits in the Water Efficiency (WE) Category. 4 of these... View full entry
After several months of research and continued efforts from TDEC and the college of Biosystems engineering we finally collected our first set of water supply samples! We have been working to create a custom list of contaminants to test for based on our source, rainwater, and our goal of providing... View full entry
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
The New Norris House is a design/build effort from the University of Tennessee's College of Architecture and Design. Began in 2009, the home was designed and built by UT students in collaboration with Clayton Homes. The built project is now complete and the final phase of the project has begun. A team of 4 people (2 living in the home, and 2 graduate researchers) will rigorously document the experience via qualitative assessments and quantitative measurements, posting results to this blog.
