Rhome (A Home for Rome) is a part of a program of the city planning to regenerate the neighborhood of the Tor Fiscale, replacing in particular illegal settlements with efficient and ecological prefab housing. On these recovered spaces a small communities with neat aesthetics must set up. The ground floor consists of a reinforced concrete seating on which rest the four floors in wood frame, for a total of 12 apartments. These are distributed around a central column housing the technical services for kitchens, bathrooms, ventilation, etc. The peculiarity of Rhome is to integrate solar panels on the roof and in facade. Photovoltaic modules are also integrated into removable details of the main windows. The design team presented in Versailles a prefab house (one apartment of 60 sqm) which representes a part of the last level of the building.
Photovoltaic modules covers a continuous strip from the slope of the roof to the foot of the facade, on the south facade of the prototype. The chosen technology is Solbian's flexible monocrystalline modules because of their light weight and good resistance to hostile conditions (salt water, shocks, etc.). The photovoltaic facade panel can be raised by 15° to be placed in the extension of the roof modules, in order to increase the productivity of the system.
The new urban standard
The world is called to solve the challenge of the balance between development and resource consumption, and this change is entrusted to the city, which must be able to change the way they manage population growth, energy use and administration of the territory. Lately, news reports have highlighted the critical issues related to the city that governs itself through methodologies related to a society that is no longer there. New technologies, the different way of living social relations, new utilities, require a new way of enjoying the city and its spaces.
Historically, social changes were associated with a crisis of the cities, which had to change their way of being planned and lived, in order to solve the problems. Currently many such solutions have been proposed and implemented among difficulties and successes, but they need to be empowered in order to ensure that the planning and direction of the future towns are based on these values. The RhOME project accepts the challenge and takes the opportunity to define and propose new planning standards, adapted to the needs of a modern, multi-ethnic and different society.
For example, the current legislation ensures that 18 square meters per person will be dedicated to urban standards; 2.5 square meters of these are for parking. To encourage mobility slow this standard is too high and also exacerbates the problems of overbuilding. The process then starts from reviewing the current data to which add new features, like the ability for everyone to have an internet connection, to have clean energy and to re-use what it produces and consumes. Currently we are focusing on quantifying those standards.
RE-USE – Why “One thing leads to another”
The smart city is facing an environmental and economic sustainable reform of production processes and resource management, in an environmental and economic direction. This revolution feeds on concepts such as integration, interdependence and the “closed loop“. There is no waste, but resources. Eco- products that can be processed, consumed, abandoned and refed into the production cycle in other forms, in the logic that “ one thing leads to another.”
At the base of the crisis of consumptions, there is a “linear” model production, high waste of energy and natural resources. The products resulting from these resources, at the end of their life cycle become waste. The high cost required for their disposal, resource scarcity and price volatility have undermined this system. One response to this difficulty comes from the realization of an “circular” economy, based on reuse and regeneration values.
In order to become innovation, it must be the result of a new conception of the production process of goods, as well as their design. The basic conception of this innovation process is the will to reduce the production of waste by re-inserting the components of a product in production cycles, thereby limiting the dependence on natural resources. The beneficiaries of the assets are no longer seen as consumers, but as users. This means that unless a product has to be changed for its reuse, faster will be its reinstatement in the process. Also it can be reused several times, and its potential savings will be higher. Product innovation starts then by the choice of materials, which must be environmentally friendly and reusable.
In September 2012, teams of students from 12 countries gathered at Villa Solar, an open public space in Madrid. They participated in Solar Decathlon, a competition to build prototypes of innovative energy-efficient homes. Each prototype had to be installed in 11 days on the site of Villa Solar and to respect a certain number of constraints, in particular:
living area 45 sqm - 70 sqm with a footprint of not more than 150 sqm;
integration of an autonomous energy system using solar energy with a maximum power of 10 kW (solar panels);
temperature permanently maintained between 23° C and 25° C.
This initiative, with a dual educational and scientific ambition, was started in the United States by the Department of Energy before being developed in Europe and China more recently. In Madrid, the various installations were rated according to 10 criteria, including architecture, comfort, economic viability and electrical balance of the structure. And it is the Canopea project, bringing together students from different schools in the Rhone-Alpes region supported by numerous public and private partners, who won this friendly competition.
The Rhone-Alpes team, carrying the award-winning Canopea project, has developed a concept of modular "home-towers", inspired by the canopy, the upper part of the forest that captures nearly 95% of solar energy. The modular buildings consist of up to 10 floors, each apartment ideally occupying a whole floor as a small house and enjoying a 360° view. Different modular "home-towers" are interconnected by external passageways to create meeting places without harming the need for privacy.
In Madrid, the solar energy modular house prototype presented simulated the last two floors of a modular "home-tower", an innovative tower of limited size and with a good "connection" to the networks, with an optimized energy system. This type of solar energy modular house is tested locally at two sites in Lyon as well as at the scientific campus in Grenoble as part of the GIANT program.
“A solar house should be made from a solar material such as wood.”
Salvador Rueda, Urban Ecology Agency of Barcelona
“Rather than making solar houses, we can create self-sufficient habitats that are able to produce energy, food and other goods.”
Vicente Guallart, IAAC
“The Fab Lab House is developed on a network of fabrication laboratories using CNC machines to design and produce houses that can be customizable by the inhabitants, and at the same time adaptable to the environmental conditions”
Neil Gershenfeld, Center for Bits and Atoms, MIT
The Fab Lab House won Solar Decathlon Europe 2010 people’s choice award. In Madrid more than 20,000 people, who interested in solar house design, have visited the most liked and popular solar house in Spain, designed and manufactured by the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC).
Prince Felipe of Spain said it looked like a wooden boat but the spectacular prefab solar house produced by Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia was also called “peanut house” “cinnamon submarine,” “forest zeppelin” or “whale belly”.
The queues to visit the Fab Lab prefab house have greatly surprised the design team of the project: more than 20,000 visitors saw the solar prefab house during the ten days of Solar Decathlon Europe competition. The design team has been awarded with the people’s choice award. “This is a really important award for us – said Daniel Ibanez, Co-Director of the Fab Lab project – because compared to other solar houses we wanted to achieve a very human house. We wanted to make a house to live more than a technology showroom.”
However the Fab Lab house has also introduced significant innovations and state-of-the-art technologies such as the most efficient in the world flexible solar panels, designed and made with both American and Spanish technologies. This created a great interest among people and companies who visited the solar prefab house and it represents an important and significant breakthrough in the sustainable architecture and using of flexible solar panels in facades and roofs. “We wanted to overcome the idea that a solar house is a traditional house with solar panels on top and a lot of modern technology inside. Our project is a full solar house, a new generation of building that visitors have come to appreciate.” says the co-director of the Fab Lab project.
“The competition has been a great way to push the spirit of innovation in the field of architecture and construction in these times of crisis. We will propose that future editions will add tests where they value passive energy solutions in the design of buildings rather than the high consumption of energy to achieve comfort conditions. A solar house competition in Europe should overcome the American technical understanding, and bring values related to outdoor space and the social use of energy” says Vicente Guallart, Director of the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia.
So far the solar prefab house has already attracted the interest of the media and the public. The Fab Lab house has been put up for sale from € 45,000 + VAT. Various possible house configurations are defined: Villa (96 +96 sqm), House (60 +60 sqm), Studio (36 sqm), Shelter (24 sqm) and Cottage (12 sqm).
The Fab Lab project, which involved experts, engineers and architects from 20 countries, is being developed by the worldwide network of Fab Labs, The Center for Bits and Atoms from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC). The project participants include following companies: Schneider Electric, Endesa, Visoren, Santa & Cole, Roca, Vincon and Nani Marquina.
Design: Students of the TU Darmstadt, Department of Design and Energy Efficient Construction, Prof. Manfred Hegger (Project Management) Project: Solar House Location: El-Lissitzky-Straße 3, 64287 Darmstadt, Hesse Year: 2007 Client: TU Darmstadt (+ operator + user) Gross floor area: 72 m² Heated net floor area: 50 m² Gross volume: 182 m³ Heating requirement (EnEV): 12,00 kWh / m²a Usable area (according to EnEV): 58 m² A / V ratio: 1.15 m-1 Architecture and engineering systems: thermal insulation, façade systems, glazing + windows, daylight planning, ventilation + heat recovery, active cooling, regenerative + passive cooling,
thermally activated component systems, heat pump, heat / cold storage, control engineering, plant management, building automation, solar thermal energy, photovoltaics, biomass utilization, building materials ecology
The solar power off-the-grid prefab home "Solar House" designed by students of the TU Darmstadt has won the international competition "Solar Decathlon 2007" for the most attractive and energy-efficient solar house. The energy self-sufficient prefab home was built on the campus of the TU Darmstadt and transported to the USA after completion.
The house is a wooden lightweight construction with low heat storage mass compared to massive new buildings. In order to combine maximum living comfort with the lowest energy consumption, a compact and highly insulated building envelope was chosen. During the hot summer days, the shading of the windows help to avoid overheating the interiors. The shading elements consist of the southern roof overhang and the lamellar shell of oak, which opens and closes when needed.
Plasterboard with integrated phase change material (PCM) compensate for heat peaks. They store the heat energy generated during the day and release it at night. Per volume unit, the material can store six times as much heat as concrete and thus acts as a latent heat storage. Once the wax contained in the PCM has completely melted, no further heat can be absorbed. Cooling can be achieved by cross-ventilation between the north and south sides during the night or by passive cooling system of the PV modules on the roof. For this purpose, a built-in double soil water reservoir is used, which is connected to a heat exchanger. On the opposite side of the heat exchanger is the cooling circuit, which consists of capillary tube mats in the ceiling. These absorb the heat of the phase change material and transport it into the water tank. This allows the PCM to actively cool constantly.
The prefabricated modular design of the smart solar energy prefab modular home for sustainable development allowed FutureHAUS to be constructed in just two days. Following the two week construction period, a ten day competition period challenged the team to complete tasks simulating real-life tasks, give tours to the public and juries, and perform tasks like hosting dinner parties and driving electric vehicles. International juries scored the house on criteria including Architecture, Sustainability, Innovation, Energy Efficiency and Engineering and Construction.
In addition to winning the competition, FutureHAUS Dubai took home the following trophies:
First Place in Architecture
First Place in House Functioning
First Place in Sustainable Transportation
First Place in Create Solutions
Second Place in Interior Design
Second Place in Sustainability
Second Place in Innovation
Third Place in Engineering and Construction
Third Place in Energy Efficiency Measures
Third Place in Comfort Conditions
Concept
Inspired by the best production practices of the automotive and airplane industry, the FutureHAUS (smart solar energy prefab modular home for sustainable development) explores the process of prefabrication to deliver modular structures that integrate smart technologies, energy efficient systems, and new materials. Our innovative prototype proposes a factory produced, energy-positive, smart home. The goal is to not only invent the future of housing with the integration of smart technologies, but also invent the future of how they will be built.
Housing is about to get a whole lot better
In recent years, innovations in digital technologies, such as smartphones, computers and robotics for fabrication in construction have revolutionized the way we live, work and build. The presence of technology in everyday life has become so engrained that it would be impossible to function today without it - as we have fully embraced the expectation of convenience and support that high performance technology offers. While present cutting-edge technology has been well integrated into the design and manufacturing most high-performance products like aircraft, automobiles, appliances and computers, the construction industry, by contrast, has been slow if not resistant to change in its operations.
With the FutureHAUS, the research team is challenging the construction industry by demonstrating the use of advanced manufacturing processes to make an energy positive smart solar energy prefab modular home for sustainable development.
The aim of the Swiss Living Challenge project is to encourage people to reduce their energy consumption and ultimately preserve the country's natural resources.
How are we going to do it? To really reduce our energy consumption, we must act on a daily basis, from our mobility to our food. The Swiss Living Challenge project (which brings together 4 universities) offers alternatives that suggest to the inhabitants of a district to adopt sustainable features thanks to its sustainable solar power prefab house, the NeighborHub.
NeighborHub
The team has built a sustainable solar power prefab house for a neighborhood, initiating changes and integrable in different urban areas. Named NeighborHub - this space aims to converge the inhabitants of a neighborhood and imagine with them solutions to consume less and better.
We must act together to reduce our consumption. The NeighborHub will be a place for meetings and exchanges where activities will be held and where we will share moments of life. There will be tools and alternatives for seven levers of action we can act on:
energy
water management
waste management
mobility
food
materials
biodiversity
Local residents will benefit from advice, interactive activities and conferences around these themes. The NeighborHub is also architecturally designed to adapt to all these moments of sharing with a large multifunctional space.
By changing our habits today, we can change the world of tomorrow.
7 Levers of Action
Energy
The electricity production is provided by 29 photovoltaic solar panels arranged only in frontage. Two batteries make it possible to manage the production and consumption flows to ensure a supply corresponding to needs of sustainable solar power prefab house inhabitants.
Water Management
With regard to water management, the aim of the Swiss Living Challenge is not simply to reduce its consumption. Indeed, it is essential to differentiate the various qualities of water that enters and leaves a sustainable solar power prefab house, assigning it the proper use or valuation. For example, the rainwater collected on the roof is fed to washing machine.
Biodiversity
The vegetated roof and the phytopurification basin serve as habitat for flora and fauna. In addition, vertical greenhouses integrated in the structure of the doors welcome shoots of local plants. One of the most important energy consumption items is mobility.
Mobility
A change in our habits supported by the provision of shared electric cars, bicycles or tricycles would reduce our consumption in this area.
Waste management
As far as waste management is concerned, the aim is first of all to reduce waste and this goes through choices such as shopping at the market and buying vegetables without packaging. Since zero waste is not so easy to achieve, product reuse and recycling remain important points in the economy of our resources.
Materials
Choosing to be surrounded by healthy materials that do not release harmful particles and promote good air quality is important for our health but also for the environment. The entire structure of the sustainable solar power prefab house is made of wood. In addition, the kitchen worktop is made of 75% recycled materials such as porcelain, ceramic, glass or mirror.
Food
In the NeighborHub, a common kitchen is available to the inhabitants. They can organize courses to share their culinary knowledge and together find tips to consume more sustainable. Around the NeighborHub there are also vegetable gardens where gardening classes take place.
Description from Solar Decathlon
The bar was set sky high from the very start. As soon as the Swiss Living Challenge team set foot in the Solar Decathlon arena when scouting the SDE14 event in Versailles, they knew; they could go the extra mile. And they did. One house for a single family? Why not for a whole community? The Swiss Team thrived, and three years later they won first place during the SD17 competition in Denver, USA. The secret to their success? A big part was the social aspect, which was key to the NeighborHub project.
The Swiss Team’s NeighborHub sustainable solar power prefab house was immediately identified as an instigator of change. The notion of a communal space where neighbours are inspired toward energy-efficiency & behavioural change was embraced by visitors touring the NeighbourHub at the SD17 event, all in the name of resource-responsibility. In this process of learning by doing, the emphasis on human interaction to incite change reflected the collaborative and integral character of both the Swiss team and the NeighborHub itself. “Innovation is about integration on all sorts of levels,” says former decathlete Florian Meyer. He was part of the Swiss Team’s engineering group and worked on the electrical systems of the house.
To the Neighborhood
It took total dedication and a fundamental joint effort to turn the NeighborHub concept into reality. The Swiss sustainable solar power prefab house was designed by a total of 250 students and professors from four schools: École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, the School of Engineering and Architecture of Fribourg, the Geneva School of Art and Design, and the University of Fribourg. “The connection between team members was very strong,” Florian said. Besides the hands-on approach, what drew him to the project was the interdisciplinary spirit of the team: “It was incredible to work with such a diverse team from beginning to end.” In addition, The Swiss Living Challenge team was supported by 150 teaching staff members from industry and academia. Recently, Florian and his former team members joint forces again as the NeighborHub came back to life in April, 2018 at the smart living lab of blueFACTORY in Fribourg, Switzerland. “We built the NeighborHub such that it would be robust to adaptations in various contexts and urban settings,” Florian explains.
Vegetated Roof
He continues, explaining that the NeighborHub might not include the most state-of-the art technologies; however, the ways in which all elements come together are unique, maybe even cutting edge: the Swiss Team worked toward a seamless integral system of technology and design. One of the NeighborHub sustainable solar power prefab house’s eye-catching features is its vegetated roof, free of solar panels, designed to stimulate biodiversity in urban settings. The roof houses very particular nectar-giving plants that provide sustenance to bees, whose alarming decline in numbers is currently a pressing EU issue. Simultaniously, the roof absorbs rainwater via its plants and gathers it elsewhere for use in certain household appliance such as the washing machine. Wastewater from such appliances is treated in a phyto-purification basin next to the NeighborHub where reeds absorb a large quantity of pollutants out of this wastewater. Purified wastewater can then be infiltrated in the ground, for example, to water other plants. It is a beautiful example of how the Swiss Team aimed to create closed systems to maximise efficiency in and around the NeighborHub sustainable solar power prefab house.
Snow Proof
Instead of placing solar panels on the roof, the Swiss Team ingeniously attached their photovoltaic solar panels to the facades and doors of the NeighborHub sustainable solar power prefab house. They designed the doors to open vertically like a garage door where the wall rotates towards the exterior and then towards the top. As such, solar panels can adapt their orientation according to the position of the sun, allowing the sustainable solar power prefab house to capture more energy as the seasons change.
This means that in winter, the external walls remain closed in vertical position to accommodate the solar panels to the lower position of the sun. During the SD17 Competition this characteristic proved itself exсeptionally useful when falling snow in Denver had no effect on the effectivity of the NeighborHub’s solar panels. In summer, the external walls remain open and the solar panels are inclined at a 35-degree angle to maximize the high position of the sun. In this configuration, the wall creates a covered terrace that goes all around the prefab house, enabling the NeighborHub to capture solar energy while simultaneously providing shade to the people moving around the house. As such, design and optimal comfort for the community go hand in hand.
Talk to the Neighborhub
As for Florian, he knows the business of making systems and devices communicate with each other to exchange information, and developed the ‘Talk to the NeighborHub’ app. The application monitors and integrates all sorts of technological house data, which is then translated into engaging information that its users can comprehend. “If all lights in the NeighborHub prefab house are switched on, the app prompts the question whether it is necessary to keep them on,” Florian explains. The above and many other aspects of the NeighborHub solar power prefab house’s design makes the community sustainable house an inspiring meeting place for local residents to co-create solutions for consuming both less and better.
In the coming five years, the NeighborHub prefab house opens up room at the smart living lab of Freiburg for a range of activities such as eco-friendly cooking classes with local foods, bike repair workshops, gardening lessons or coworking days and other social gatherings. As such, the NeighborHub solar power house carries on as a social hub in Switzerland to work together towards sustainable solutions on energy, water management, biodiversity, waste management, mobility, materials, and food.
