Solar house is livable, adaptable and sustainable
Posted on Sunday, January 18, 2009 - 12:00AM GMT by Mark Blackwell
Solar house is livable, adaptable and sustainable
Wood, water, stone and light.
The conceptual design for the Alberta Solar Decathlon team’s solar-powered home reflects the landscape of Alberta and western Canada by incorporating these four powerful elements. The home will be built using wooden post-and-beam construction, a traditional design seen in lodges in the Rocky Mountains, including in the national mountain parks.
The timber posts and beams—joined by sleek steel pins—are tactile, strong and efficient. They support other building components, such as structural insulated panels, windows, solar thermal panels (to provide heating) and a roof-top deck. Stone is used to protect and house the solar thermal water storage in the core of the home. This stone mass—echoing the majestic Rocky Mountain range —thrusts upward from the floor and through the adjacent rooflines, connecting the west and east sides of the home as well as the south façade with the north.
A glassed “key-way” provides space between the stone and wood components of the core, allowing the sky and sunlight to penetrate through the roof and walls to the floor. Windows on all sides of the home are oriented to track the movement of sunlight throughout the day. Photovoltaic (solar-generated electricity) cells are incorporated into the roof, clerestory windows, roof balcony railing and custom-built louvers to maximize solar energy collection.
The louver system, encased in glass to collect and store heat, consists of a wall mounted on tracks. During the warmer seasons, the wall can be moved away from the house, creating shade for the interior space. In the cooler seasons, the wall is pushed up tight against the house, creating a layer of insulating air space.
The open-plan layout has a centrally located services area for the kitchen and bath, adjustable (through movable walls) living and bedroom spaces, and a roof-top garden and terrace. To reduce the environmental footprint, all materials used to build the home will be locally available, durable, recyclable, reusable and renewable. It is a home meant to be eminently livable, adaptable and sustainable, while also being readily transportable to the National Mall in Washington, D.C. for the Solar Decathlon competition.
To enhance the home’s market appeal, its design allows the homeowner to add components or modify building materials based on his or her specific
needs, budget, locale and locally available sustainable materials. The Alberta team says its home, which would require much less power than a conventional house, could provide a pragmatic residential housing solution to several issues in the province. These include: a large and rapid increase in population and similar projected growth; rising costs of natural gas and electricity for home heating and power; and an over-heated economy resulting in a decline of affordable housing.
The team believes that its home would be ideally suited for what is expected to be a growing market for stand-alone “garden suites” (essentially, smaller secondary homes on the same property), as a housing option for seniors, young couples and families with limited incomes.