You might think building a house that meets the Passive House Standard - using 90 percent less energy for heating and cooling than average - would be pretty innovative in itself. You might think multi-disciplinary and international collaboration would be icing on the cake. A group of students competing in the 2014 Solar Decathlon Europe have their cake, and they plan to eat it too.
The students behind this project are from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Brown University and the University of Applied Sciences Erfurt, Germany. This diverse cross-section of innovators has been busy for the past two years perfecting their unique concept for sustainable living. The solar competition will be held June 28 through July 14 on the grounds of France’s Palace of Versailles.
There will be 20 homes comprising a solar-powered village which display design from college students around the world. The RISD/Brown/Erfurt entry incorporates some very clever design choices which are sure to make it stand out among the crowd.
The most noticeable aspect of this house is that it up-ends the traditional lines in home building. The Techstyle Haus, as it’s called, is largely constructed of high-performance textiles forming sweeping curves. The curvature can actually aid in solar energy collection, but requires flexible solar panels. The photovoltaic array used to cover the curved surfaces is lightweight, flexible and efficient.
Aside from the challenge of incorporating solar collection onto a curved surface, there are many other tasks which must be uniquely addressed with what amounts to a very well-engineered tent. Think of issues that might arise with fabric walls like sound, temperature control and structural rigidity. This is no ordinary fabric and no ordinary design team.
The material used to cover the 800 sq. ft. structure is Sheerfill® II Architectural Membrane which is made of a flexible fiberglass material and incorporates an EverClean® Photocatalytic Topcoat. This sort of material has been used in large formats such as stadium domes, but it is basically unheard of in residential construction.
The cleverness of the design is the product of multi-disciplinary teamwork. The team includes art and design students from RISD, engineering students from Brown, and architecture students from Erfurt (who specialize in passive house design). The group also consulted with companies from all over the world as they designed and built their house. A diverse set of skills really can converge on a single, innovative solution.
For more about the project, see the video below.
Images courtesy of Brown Engineering