美国国家公共电台 NPR--Maine home can stay at 70 degrees without a furnace, even when it's freezing out

Maine home can stay at 70 degrees without a furnace, even when it's freezing out

Transcript¹

In the middle of a Maine winter, a super insulated house keeps its family warm. There's no furnace — just a small heat pump. The same heat pump is used to cool the home in the summer months.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

What if you could design a house that on a cold day would stay at 70 degrees inside without running the furnace? It's already being done. Building upon the work of North American passive solar pioneers of the 1970s and '80s, today's passive houses are even better at keeping warm or cool without much energy. Keith Shortall of Maine Public Radio visited one of these houses in the tiny town of Hope.

KEITH SHORTALL, BYLINE²: As I arrive at the home on a rural road in the rolling hills of Hope, I check my phone for the temperature.

AUTOMATED³ VOICE: It's 31 degrees outside.

(SOUNDBITE OF CAR DOOR SLAMMING)

SHORTALL: I'm greeted at the front porch by Patrick McCunney, a mechanical engineer who moved from Philadelphia to this newly built 1,500-square-foot passive house with his wife and their two young daughters a little over a year ago.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Hi.

SHORTALL: Hello.

PATRICK MCCUNNEY: So, welcome...

SHORTALL: Thank you. So it's 31 outside right now. But it's very cozy⁴ in here.

MCCUNNEY: Yeah, exactly. It's about 70 degrees in here. And it's - you know, once you set that temperature, the house - because of its air tightness and, you know, amount of insulation⁵, it maintains that temperature pretty efficiently⁶.

SHORTALL: So you don't have a furnace going?

MCCUNNEY: No furnace, just this small little heat pump.

SHORTALL: The same heat pump is used to cool the home in the warm summer months. Most of the heat is provided by the sun, which streams in through a wall of windows on the south side of the home and on to a rooftop solar array that, McCunney says, on bright days like this will generate four times as much energy as the house needs. That means that the only heat or electricity bill they pay in the winter is the connection fee to their local electric utility, about $13 a month. The builder of this passive house, Alan Gibson of the Maine-based firm GO Logic⁷, says they do cost about 10% more to construct than conventional homes simply because they have more stuff in them.

ALAN GIBSON: There's more insulation. There's more care taken to making it airtight. There is a ventilation system. There's better windows and doors. And people have a hard time getting beyond that, even though we can show them pretty easily that the economic payback is there.

SHORTALL: Gibson says a conventional home that might cost $400,000 could run about 40,000 more to be made into a passive house. But it would use just 10% of the energy. And, says one advocate of passive design, it can also be used in warmer, more humid parts of the country.

NAOMI BEAL: This is a system that works no matter where you are globally.

SHORTALL: Naomi Beal is executive director of the nonprofit passivhausMAINE. She says with some modifications⁸, the same principles of super insulation, airtight construction and a mechanical heat-retaining ventilation system can keep buildings cool with very little energy.

BEAL: The heat recovery system will free heat or pre-condition the air as it comes in. And in the southern climates, then, it's a similar system, although the air is being precooled as it comes in rather than preheated. That's the efficiency. That's where the savings⁹ are.

SHORTALL: The national organization Passive House Institute U.S. says it has certified¹⁰ more than 7 million square feet or more than 7,000 units in 42 states and provinces.

For NPR News, I'm Keith Shortall.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 automated   

a.自动化的

参考例句：

• The entire manufacturing process has been automated. 整个生产过程已自动化。
• Automated Highway System (AHS) is recently regarded as one subsystem of Intelligent Transport System (ITS). 近年来自动公路系统(Automated Highway System,AHS)，作为智能运输系统的子系统之一越来越受到重视。

4 cozy   

adj.亲如手足的，密切的，暖和舒服的

参考例句：

• I like blankets because they are cozy.我喜欢毛毯，因为他们是舒适的。
• We spent a cozy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。

5 insulation   

n.隔离；绝缘；隔热

参考例句：

• Please examine the insulation of the electric wires in my house.请检查一下我屋子里电线的绝缘情况。
• It is always difficult to assure good insulation between the electric leads.要保证两个电触头之间有良好的绝缘总是很困难的。

6 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

7 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

8 modifications   

n.缓和( modification的名词复数 )；限制；更改；改变

参考例句：

• The engine was pulled apart for modifications and then reassembled. 发动机被拆开改型，然后再组装起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The original plan had undergone fairly extensive modifications. 原计划已经作了相当大的修改。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

10 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。