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Norwegian eco home is a real powerhouse |
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7 Jan 2015, 6:21 PM
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A Norwegian eco home incorporates a heated pool and a sauna, but still produces three times more electricity than it uses.
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Researchers designed the house with a solar-powered roof in collaboration with architects firm Snøhetta. Heat exchangers use excess energy to heat the outside swimming pool and the house even has its own sauna.
Insulation is so good that each floor has just one radiator. Each room has sensors to ensure that light and heat is directed efficiently. It produces 23,200kWh of energy a year but requires just 7,272kW to run
It may look like a Portacabin that has been involved in a nasty accident, but this slanting roofed building is actually the ultimate ecohome.
The house was designed by Norway's Research Centre on Zero Emission Buildings and architecture firm Snøhetta; built in Larvick, Norway, this prototype for what could become the home of the future, has a roof covered in 1,614 square feet (150 square metres) of solar panels to produce electricity.
The roof has been slanted at exactly 19 degrees and is angled towards the south east to ensure that it can capture as much sunlight as possible and also incorporates thermal solar panels for heating water and uses rainwater collectors for use in the toilet and in the garden.
The windows are also designed to capture as much sunlight as possible to help keep the home warm while heat exchangers warm incoming air and tap water.
The designers claim that the house should produce 19,200kWh of electricity from its solar panels each year while solar collectors used for heating water gather a further 4,000 kWh annually. In total is produces enough energy to boil a kettle 185,600 times.
However, the building needs just 7,272 kWh per year - the equivalent of boiling a kettle 58,000 times.
Perhaps surprisingly for an energy efficient home, it also includes a swimming pool and a sauna.
The water for the pool and shower is heated using surplus heat from inside the building while the sauna is heated using firewood.
The house also features an outdoor dining area made from recycled timber and has a vegetable garden to enable small scale food production.
Snøhetta, which also designed the National September 11 Memorial Museum & Pavilion at the World Trade Center site, claims that the house can also use energy from geothermal wells - drawing heat up from underground.
They claim it should produce enough surplus energy to run an electric family car.
Norwegian researchers and architects have designed the house to meet the needs of an average family without connecting to the grid
The house has been constructed from materials which will make as little impact on the environment as possible, and many of the materials used to construct the house have been chosen to keep the house's carbon emissions as low as possible.
Snøhetta said: 'The volume of the house describes a single family house, however, the building is intended for use as a demonstration platform. The house has a characteristic tilt towards southeast and a sloping roof surface clad with solar panels and collectors.These elements, together with geothermal energy from energy wells in the ground, will serve the energy needs of the family house and generate enough surplus to power an electric car year-round.
'The project has a strong focus on retaining home-like qualities through non-quantifiable properties.
'Emotive comfort and sense of well-being have governed the design process to the same extent as energy demands.
'The grounds employ a variety of spaces that can be enjoyed year-round.'
Credits:: Richard Gray - MailOnline
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| Positive review of this story |
Er.R.Thiyagarajan  |
15 Jan 2015, 10:50 AM |
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Thought provoking An amazing architectural cum solar powered design developed using recycled material keeping environmental protection as well as easy energy production process by adopting thermo insulation and radiators.
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