The Swedish demo site consists of two pre-fabricated low energy wooden framed villas.

One building is assembled in a new attractive residential area near Varberg. It was first used as display house for a time, and then, it became the family home.

The second building of the same kind is assembled at SP main research facility in Borås and used as a full-scale test lab for energy efficient technologies and construction details, with artificial user behavior loads. Different HVAC equipment performance are tested and evaluated, as well as impact of different user behaviors and construction details. The building is in parallel used for smart grid research and as a showcase for journalist and visitors.

The two pre-fabricated buildings are similar with a size of 155 m2 each. By means of the SP building, new materials were tested to increase the indoor comfort without increasing the energy consumption. Thus, the technologies evaluated in Borås, were then adopted and improved to the building in Varberg suited to the private user. The Borås demo will be certificated according to Miljöbyggnad level Gold (which is a Swedish certificate like LEED and BREAM) and the house in Varberg will meet the same criteria.

The strength of the construction of these houses will show how the future will deal with the issue of energy in private homes and strive for ZEB. Pre-fabricated villas are a mass market product. The house model developed is not a prototype, but a real solution to be a part of the standard catalogue of DEROME. It is constructed and equipped with energy solutions that will work in various climates and countries from Helsinki to Strasbourg, including UK, Germany and as well as other countries with similar climate.

> Demo site team: SP, DEROME
Derome Hus AB constructed and manufactured the houses in their facilities (sawmills, factory). Then the houses were assembled in the selected locations. SP Research Institute of Sweden contributed to refine the design and construction details and to ensure quality assurance of the assembly process. SP owns the house situated in their facilities in Borås which is used for research purposes.
Derome Hus want along with the SP under NEED4B raise awareness of future housing and develop the Nordic market to become more energy efficient.

> Building process and schedule:
Architect’s work was one of the most important functions early in the project when the issue of design for maximum energy was of paramount importance. Then, a moist safe construction was done in the factory.

The “Forskningsvillan” house in Borås was finished in January 2014; The walls came in prefabricated elements which made the mounting time very low; in just two days the building elements were mounted and the envelope was sealed and water proof. This minimizes the risk of moist in the wooden construction from rain and mist. Three months later the house was finished. The monitoring equipment was activated in June 2014 and the behavior of a family of 5 members is simulated with energy loads.
The Varberg house was constructed in November 2014 and used as showcase until May 2015. In June 2015 a family of five members moved in the house and the measurement started.