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Twenty-one projects, including four from Spain, are competing in this international competition
Vallès School of Architecture students unveil (e)co, a low-cost greenhouse-inspired home
The new sustainable, low-cost house, designed for the 2012 Solar Decathlon Europe, offers greater efficiency, more features and more comfort but uses fewer resources, less energy and less money, thus putting affordable, sustainable, future-oriented design within everyone’s reach. The building’s outer shell, which mimics that of a hermit crab, acts as a greenhouse and provides shade for a habitable interior space containing three independent wooden modules.
17/05/2012
A team of students from the Vallès School of Architecture (ETSAV) at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. BarcelonaTech (UPC) will be competing in the 2012 Solar Decathlon Europe with a project called (e)co. This low-cost, self-sufficient house, based on the principles of zero ecological footprint and zero economic footprint, will be powered exclusively by solar energy.
Construction of (e)co at the Vallès School of Architecture will begin in late February. The project is one of four Spanish entrants that will compete alongside international candidates at Solar Decathlon Europe from 14 to 30 September in Madrid. Of all the projects participating in the competition, (e)co is the least expensive.
With the goal of offering a real sustainable housing alternative, the (e)co team designed a 150 m2 house that offers greater efficiency, more features and more comfort while using fewer resources, less energy and less money, thanks to its particular combination of components.
The building consists of a hermit-crab-like outer shell, which acts as a greenhouse and provides shade, and a transformable, flexible, biodegradable interior. The house’s cellular polycarbonate outer skin will be mounted on a galvanised steel structure. The greenhouse effect achieved in the winter can be avoided in the summer by means of a system of nets designed to shade the roof. In addition, the roof and outer walls can be opened to achieve cross-ventilation. In other words, the house is an energy-generating machine that offers thermal comfort at no cost by means of passive cooling and heating strategies.
The interior of the house consists of three interconnected wooden modules, each measuring 15 m2 (for a total climate-controlled area of 45 m2). These flexible modules allow a variety of different uses in order to meet inhabitants’ every need. They are thermally isolated from one another and thus can be heated or cooled independently. The attic is designed as an alternative usable space.
The interplay between the three modules and the outer skin generates a sequence of outdoor, intermediate and indoor spaces that enable controlled energy management for specific uses. With the garden penetrating the dwelling as a yet another living space, the outside world peeks inside and the intermediate space becomes the central element joining the three independent modules.
The (e)co house is equipped with structural wooden plank flooring, as well as a home-automation system to control heating and cooling and to operate the roof and sliding doors. It also has 20 photovoltaic solar panels to generate electricity, three solar thermal collectors to produce hot water, and a system for reusing greywater and rainwater.
In addition, the various construction systems were organised according to the life cycle of each material. The high-tech, mineral-based outer skin can be repurposed at any time during its useful life. The indoor modules are made from biodegradable organic materials. The (e)co team is designing and building furniture for the house using recycled materials such as wood, metal, drywall and glass as part of the "Do It Yourself" subject taught at the Vallès School of Architecture.
Conceived as an alternative to the current relationship between architecture, economics and energy, (e)co aims to achieve sustainable architecture with a low environmental impact. The house was designed to be within the means of the general public. If built on an industrial scale, each house will cost an estimated €100,000, which means €1000/m2 —considerably less than the current market price for a house of these characteristics.
According to the (e)co team, (e) is meant to put a new twist on @, the symbol of the current decade, and to denote a balance between systems and self-sufficiency, while co alludes to the incorporation of new fields of research, development and dissemination through cooperation.
Several of the (e)co team members competed in last year’s Solar Decathlon Europe with the LOW3 project, which won first place in the architecture category.
The contest culminates with the full-scale construction of prototypes, which will compete in ten different categories from 14 to 30 September in Madrid. The 2012 edition will welcome 21 teams from 15 countries: Germany, Brazil, China, Denmark, Egypt, Spain, France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal, the United Kingdom and Romania.
Construction of (e)co at the Vallès School of Architecture will begin in late February. The project is one of four Spanish entrants that will compete alongside international candidates at Solar Decathlon Europe from 14 to 30 September in Madrid. Of all the projects participating in the competition, (e)co is the least expensive.
With the goal of offering a real sustainable housing alternative, the (e)co team designed a 150 m2 house that offers greater efficiency, more features and more comfort while using fewer resources, less energy and less money, thanks to its particular combination of components.
The building consists of a hermit-crab-like outer shell, which acts as a greenhouse and provides shade, and a transformable, flexible, biodegradable interior. The house’s cellular polycarbonate outer skin will be mounted on a galvanised steel structure. The greenhouse effect achieved in the winter can be avoided in the summer by means of a system of nets designed to shade the roof. In addition, the roof and outer walls can be opened to achieve cross-ventilation. In other words, the house is an energy-generating machine that offers thermal comfort at no cost by means of passive cooling and heating strategies.
The interior of the house consists of three interconnected wooden modules, each measuring 15 m2 (for a total climate-controlled area of 45 m2). These flexible modules allow a variety of different uses in order to meet inhabitants’ every need. They are thermally isolated from one another and thus can be heated or cooled independently. The attic is designed as an alternative usable space.
The interplay between the three modules and the outer skin generates a sequence of outdoor, intermediate and indoor spaces that enable controlled energy management for specific uses. With the garden penetrating the dwelling as a yet another living space, the outside world peeks inside and the intermediate space becomes the central element joining the three independent modules.
The (e)co house is equipped with structural wooden plank flooring, as well as a home-automation system to control heating and cooling and to operate the roof and sliding doors. It also has 20 photovoltaic solar panels to generate electricity, three solar thermal collectors to produce hot water, and a system for reusing greywater and rainwater.
In addition, the various construction systems were organised according to the life cycle of each material. The high-tech, mineral-based outer skin can be repurposed at any time during its useful life. The indoor modules are made from biodegradable organic materials. The (e)co team is designing and building furniture for the house using recycled materials such as wood, metal, drywall and glass as part of the "Do It Yourself" subject taught at the Vallès School of Architecture.
Low-cost architecture
The basic principle of (e)co is equilibrium through cooperation —in other words, architecture understood as a set of processes that must be in balance with nature (cooperation between users, systems and resources). Conceived as an alternative to the current relationship between architecture, economics and energy, (e)co aims to achieve sustainable architecture with a low environmental impact. The house was designed to be within the means of the general public. If built on an industrial scale, each house will cost an estimated €100,000, which means €1000/m2 —considerably less than the current market price for a house of these characteristics.
According to the (e)co team, (e) is meant to put a new twist on @, the symbol of the current decade, and to denote a balance between systems and self-sufficiency, while co alludes to the incorporation of new fields of research, development and dissemination through cooperation.
Team
The (e)co team consists of 25 students and receives support from faculty members from the Vallès School of Architecture and other schools at the UPC and other universities, as well as representatives of companies and public institutions. It is one of 21 university-affiliated groups participating in this year’s edition of Solar Decathlon Europe, an international competition organised by the Spanish Ministry of Public Works in partnership with the Polytechnic University of Madrid and the United States Department of Energy. Several of the (e)co team members competed in last year’s Solar Decathlon Europe with the LOW3 project, which won first place in the architecture category.
Partners
Partners to project include Rockwool, KLH, Schott Solar, Schneider Electric, Roca, the Spanish Federation of Wood Industries (FEIM), the Spanish Association of Wooden Window Manufacturers (ASOMA), Ininsa, Aislux, Rehau, the Barcelona City Council and the Sant Cugat City Council. The project also receives support from the Vallès School of Architecture, the Solar Research Centre (CISOL) and the UPC’s UNESCO Sustainability Chair and the interuniversity group Architecture and Sustainability Platform (PAuS), as well as from several companies (Because Lab, Transporte Sostenible, EIG, ambSol, SJ12 Enginyers and AdR Ingeniería) and architecture studios (Pich-Aguilera Arquitectos, H Arquitectes and DATAA).Solar Decathlon Europe
Solar Decathlon Europe is an international competition that invites universities around the world to design, build and use energy-self-sufficient, grid-connected, fully solar-powered dwellings equipped with technology that enables efficient energy use. The contest culminates with the full-scale construction of prototypes, which will compete in ten different categories from 14 to 30 September in Madrid. The 2012 edition will welcome 21 teams from 15 countries: Germany, Brazil, China, Denmark, Egypt, Spain, France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal, the United Kingdom and Romania.
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