Home for Life produces more energy than it consumes. With an energy surplus of 9 kWh/m2/year, it takes approximately 40 years for the house to generate the same amount of energy that was used to produce its building materials. At that point, the house will have returned more to nature than it consumed. A solar heat pump and 7 m2 solar collectors generate energy for heating and hot water, while 50 m2 solar cells generate more electricity than the home consumes.