Our Project

• Look again! What appears to be a typical suburban Maryland home is a highly-engineered, $2.6 million NIST laboratory that was awarded the US Green Building Council’s LEED Platinum certification.
• The project is a prototype for the ultimate energy-efficient dwelling and is part of NIST’s long-term study that will revolutionize the way sustainably-built homes of the future are designed and constructed.
• The Net Zero Energy Residential Test Facility Overview

Why ThirdWall?

• ThirdWall was an early advocate of energy-efficient construction methods. Senior leaders earned LEED accreditations and ThirdWall eventually achieved enough expertise to conduct sustainability information sessions.
• NIST officials who attended one of ThirdWall’s sustainability sessions saw ThirdWall as a potential resource for this budding landmark energy efficiency project.

Challenges and Results

• Highly specialized design and performance criteria, concerning every aspect of construction, demanded changes in accustomed means and methods. Adherence to these requirements, for example, led to a building envelope that exceeded all industry standards for air tightness in the first stage of construction.
• The client’s requirement for all American-made materials (ARRA) was a major challenge, but the ThirdWall team was able to meet the budget and schedule despite this unusual specification.  
• ThirdWall identified design conflicts by doing a Building Information Model (BIM) that was not required by the contract, but essential for early resolution of potential coordination issues.
• Quality control, commissioning, oversight, and team coordination were critical because ThirdWall couldn’t alter design elements. Despite challenges, the project was completed on time to the client’s satisfaction and standards—remarkable for a project of this complexity.