Houses that could make electric energy for itself and the community
Buenos Aires and got his chance in June this year, and continued their journey home. For two weeks, Buenos Aires had the opportunity to visit the prototype that has the potential to revolutionize sustainable architecture.
The German House, designed by a team from the Technical University in Darmstadt, Germany, beat 19 other teams in the Solar Decathlon. The decathlon is an annual competition, commissioned by the Ministry of Energy of the United States. It aims to design and build the solar-powered house most innovative and efficient.
This year, a team of Virginia Tech University in the United States won the gold medal architecture. The prototype, called Lumenhaus can not only generate enough electricity through solar energy to supply itself, but may also return three times the amount. At first, everything seemed distant architectural vanguard. But then I started considering it more and I realized what it could mean in reality. A home that not only energized but also serves as a mini-power plant could begin to reverse our energy shortage to the point where not even have a need for new power plants.
The whole debate over the safety of nuclear plants and the dangers of mining would become history. I also felt relatively skeptical because I could imagine the home as straight out of a sci-fi. According to Richard King, the creator of the Solar Decathlon, previous attempts to green architecture were not well received by the general public.
“This collection [prototype] is clearly better, collectively, all the last event in 2007,” King said. “They are getting greener, are becoming more technologically advanced. Some of these cases can be handled by an iPhone. “
The houses have facades definitely not traditional, but the benefits far outweigh the sacrifice should be done to adapt to the new aesthetics of environmentally responsible household. In fact, I would consider it a welcome change-the prototypes are smaller than traditional houses. A smaller house, less clean. Moreover, a great design feature Lumenhaus Virginia Tech is the possibility of extension. Each house is composed of parts of expansion, when a couple decides to start a family, for example, can buy and add a piece of another family in the neighborhood who just sent to the university to their own children.
I find many people establishing environmental responsibility as an enormous economic burden. I would like to hear what these people have to say about the houses-the prototype of Lumenhaus cost $ 500,000 and could be mass produced by one half of that. Not only would cost about the same as a house of solar energy that a traditional house, but the days off would be to pay electricity bills and energy. What a welcome day.