A+HOUSE
lunes, 26 de agosto de 2013
CARBON SAVING
As you ask
me for, I will try to put some figures about Carbon Savings related to A+HOUSE.
You ask me to use as baseline a new building as Part L home in the UK. The fact
is that I have studied this regulation deeply, and I can not present rigorous
results to you, since I would need to define the project in detail, use UK
climate variables, use SAP2009 software and obtain previous figures from a
similar house.
What I have
done is to calculate CO2 emmision of one possible A+HOUSE typology located in
Madrid, following the new law about Spanish
Energy Performance Certification and Official
Calculation Software “CEX”. Then I have made some comments and comparisons
with Part L regulation. I have located de A+HOUSE in Madrid, because it is a
place where temperature is really high in summer and very low in winter.
Therefore we will see how effective the A+HOUSE is.
CO2 figures obtained, have into account all thermal transfer and hot water production that occurs in the house, as Part L regulation does, but house lightning. CO2 produced by A+HOUSE lightning has been calculated aside.
Some data that you could find interesting are:
Global U value Part L regulation.
- Roof 0,19 W/m2K 0,20 W/m2K
- Walls 0,16 W/m2K 0,30 W/m2K
- Floor 0,20 W/m2K 0,25 W/m2K
- Party walls 0,15 W/m2K 0,20 W/m2K
- Windows 1,50 W/m2K 2,00 W/m2K
- Air permeability < 5 m3/hm2 (50Pa)
Standard facilities.
- High efficiency (air to air) water heater. Performance 340%
- High efficiency heating and cooling system. Pe rformance 420%
- Solar (thermal) contribution. 70% hot water and heating demand.
CO2 produced by lightning
In A+HOUSE, only LED lights will be used. In our example the house includes 20 LED lamps, that means an average of 0,01825 CO2 Tons/year per lamp that result in 0,365 CO2 tons/year in the house. House surface is 101m2, what means a total of 3,61 CO2 kg/year m2.
Then, global CO2 emmisions are 7,48 CO2 kg/year m2
The equipment chosen for this example are standard ones, and from this baseline, figures shown can be improve. For example adding:
- Photovoltaic panel in order to get the electricity consumed in the house.
- Solar (thermal) contribution, to improve cooling performance in summer.
- Blinds or other solar control measures to be used in summer to low cooling demand.
Now that we
know energy performance of a single A+HOUSE, let me talk about how ideas and
inventions that I have already included in this competition would help to even
improve this performance. We have to be
aware that some energy aspects are not taking into account when calculating CO2
emmision (DER and TER in Part L), such as electricity used by appliances in the
house, or standby mode consumption, but obviously, as they consume electricity
they produce CO2. This is why I have included some inventions that
help to reduced electricity consumption.
- “You´ve
been green today”, the device that monitor every energy consumption in
the house, will alert the owners when it´s being using more energy than needed.
(Part L regulation states that, owners should be trained about how to use the
house and its facilities in order to get the best performance possible and the
lowest energy consumption)
- “Standby
off”, the sockets that will alert when any appliance is consuming in
standby mode. (Even not being included in DER and TER calculation, it will help
to reduce energy consuption)
- “Lightwall”,
will clearly help to reduce CO2 produced in the house by the reduction of
artificial lightning needed.
- “Smartdrain”
and “Smarttap”
are two devices that apart from saving water, will reduce the amount of energy
needed to heat the water that is to be used in the house.
- “Algae
lamp”, or other CO2 eater appliances, will contribute to reduce the
global CO2 emmision of the house.
- “Saving
foot”, will save tons of water, cold and hot, what means less heating
energy needed.
- “Smartwindows”,
when completely develop, will contribute to adapt solar contribution and
isolation level of the house windows, what will also reduce energy needed to
cool or heat the house.
All this
devices and others that already can be introduced, some of them already seen in
this competition, is what turns a High Energy Efficient house in a new concept
called A+HOUSE.
TWO IDEAS MORE
Very few
days left to finish this competition, but I couldn´t help but showing you two
Ideas that will complement A+HOUSE. One is called “Saving foot” and the
other “Smartglass”. They are really two existing technologies, that I
have found really interesting in order to apply in a house to save energy
without losing confort.
Some entries in this competition have been related to save water when using sinks and basins. It has to be said that saving water is also saving energy when we are using hot water.
Please find this figures (approx. % of water wasted at home when...)
- Washing hands and face: 50%
- Shaving: 70%
- Brushing teeth: 50%
- Washing the dishes: 40%
All this water is lost because people do not close the tap, all the time that water is not being really used. It happens because normally because people have their hands occupied with dishes, soap, scourer, razor, towel, etc.
But, their feet are free. Then the solution is to use already existing “pedal sinks”. This is a kind of tap that works by steping over one or two pedals. Then people only step over the pedal when water is needed, and due to the fact that this is an active action, people will free the pedal naturally when they do not need water to be running. We just have to adapt this technology to home sinks and basin taps.
Tons of water will be saved and therefore, tons of CO2. And it is so simple...
“Smartglass”
Recently it has been published in the frontpage of Nature magazine, a window that has been recently developed, with amazing properties, that can be applied at home in order to easily save a lot of energy.
This is the kind of development that would make us step forward in energy saving at home. Hopefully, this technology will be commercialize soon and A+HOUSE, will be there to include it in its homes.
miércoles, 21 de agosto de 2013
PRACTICAL
IMPLEMENTATION.
Now it´s
time to justify a little about Practical Implementation, as you ask me for.
First of all, I will briefly justify practical implementation of the small
devices that I have invented to be included in A+HOUSE. At the end, I will try
to briefly summarize practical implementation of the A+HOUSE itself. It will not be easy to be done in one entry, since
this is such a big project, but I will try.
Standby off (a
simple device that let users to disconnect any electrical appliance without
unplugging it, alerting visually when any appliance is consuming electricity
even been off), can be install in any house world, new or actual. In the
same way Algae Lamp (a lamp that lights while consuming CO2),
can also be used in any house.
Smarttap (an
autonomous system that saves a lot of water, in hot water demand, by simply
recirculating water until hot water reaches the tap) and Smart drain (a system that saves energy by preheating cold water before entering
into the heater, by using hot water coming from showers, sinks, etc), can
be installed in new houses easily and in actual houses with some changes in
plumbing installation.
Selflight walls ( a system
that lets sunlight enters to any room in the house, no matter where it is
located, daytime or even if it is a no-window room), is something a little
more complicated to do as an standard product out of A+HOUSE.
A+HOUSE itself is a major project. It´s a whole new
concept. The concept is about designing, promoting, distributing and building
worldwide, customizable High Energy
Efficiency Modular Houses.
The idea is
that, based on a catalog of housing modules that can be combined however
customers want, anyone can design a house according to its preferences, budget,
urbanism law and soil available. This product will be distributed by an e-commerce platform, and it will be all
based on a website, where customers will personalize their house, get budget,
consult technical documents, etc.
A+HOUSE
modules are thought to be build by a group of factories located in different
countries, depending where the houses are to be sold. There are a number of
factories that are specialize in precast building products. Those factories
have all facilities needed to make this modules. (Please, visit this link in order to see some precast products that are
already been commercializing in Spain. http://tabiclicksystems.com/. This
is not A+HOUSE idea, but I find it interesting).
A+HOUSE, assembly will be done in some phases. First
one, based on geotechnical report, foundations will be calculated. Then foundations can be done in-site or also
be transported at the same time than the modules. Modules will be done
off-site, and then they will be assembled by certified workers. A+ HOUSE will offer a whole pack of
professionals that could build the house from the beginning to the end. But,
customers can also hire local workers, that will be assisted by A+HOUSE architects and engineers, as if a normal precast building process it was.
Interested companies, could be certified by A+HOUSE, as certified workers, that
means that they have received specific training about the A+HOUSE product.
A+HOUSE has,
apart from the standard project documents
and plans, an additional
document called “step by step”, that
gives precise information about the steps to be followed while module
assembling, as those that IKEA attach to any piece of furniture they sell. This
document, will give specific assembly instructions to each house sold. That is something new, that any building project
nowadays has, but A+HOUSE, considers, that, the assembly should follow an
standard path in order to get the best outcome possible.
Once the
house is finished, A+HOUSE staff will visit and certified it, as an original A+HOUSE.
A+HOUSE modules
are designed to be mostly transported by trucks
or ships. I have thought a lot about
adjusting the size of the different modules, in order to not require special
size means of transport. Then every module in the catalog could be transported
by standard flat bed trucks.
I have
thought in UK and central and
northern countries in Europe as the
most suitable target market to launch this product. Then, the first factory will be placed in the UK or
Central Europe, and depending where the house is to be placed, transport will
be done only by truck or also by ship. Australia
and the US seems to be also a good
place to move this business.
domingo, 18 de agosto de 2013
MODULAR CONCEPT
First of all, it has to be said that A+HOUSE is a whole new modular housing concept. Far from tradicional modular houses, A+HOUSE gathers High Energy Efficiency, Awesome Design, High Quality, it is Customizable and based on E-commerce.
It can not
be said that modular houses hasn´t been successfully commercialized so far. The
fact, is that from the 60´s, thousands of houses have been made this way. The
problem is that until now, modular houses have been sold as “low quality
houses” and most of the time they have been installed as “social houses” or
“temporary homes”.
But there
are a lot of advantages about modular houses over in site houses:
-
speed
of construction and return of investment. (reduction the overall completion
schedule by 50%)
-
Indoor
construction. (Independent of weather, increase work efficiency)
-
Ability
to serve remote location. (Not many facilities to be move to assembly)
-
Low
waste. (Industrial process with optimal material control)
-
Environmentally
friendly construction process. (Reduce time, waste and noise in site)
-
Environmental
benefits.(Uk goverment, recognize modular houses as extremely enviromentally
friendly compared with a new equivalent manufactured house.)
-
Flexibility.
(easily to extend or to change its configuration)
-
Healthier.
(Indoor and controlled process prevent from risk of mold, mildew, rust and sun
damage and human respiratory problems. Risk at site are also much lower.)
Then it can
be say that if we can cross the psychological barrier that already exists about
modular houses, and we can present it as a High quality product, full of
advantages, and in this case, with A+HOUSE, High Energy Efficient, a great
future could be waiting for this product.
Some steps has
been done, and in UK (out of major cities) and in Australia, modular houses are
being accepted. In china there is a company that is rising whole precast
building in record time ( http://www.idealista.com/news/archivo/2012/01/10/0379973-como-construir-un-edificio-de-30-pisos-en-15-dias-video)
It is time
to place A+HOUSE in the market with a modular concept full of advantages and
with an innovative design, customizable, and high energy efficient houses.
martes, 25 de junio de 2013
IKEA FLATSTOOL. 4€, FLAT, PORTABLE AND RECYCLE STOOL.
A House is not only what it´s made of and how. It´s also what does it has inside. Furniture, is another aspect to be controlled in order to make a more sustainable house. The use of recycled materials and low carbon footprint production processes, helps to make a "A+House" too.
I present you another idea. This is a stool, made 100% of recycled material, really cheap to produce, easy to assemble and disassemble, low carbon footprint production process, almost no place ocuppied when dismantled.
lunes, 24 de junio de 2013
SMARTTAPS. A SIMPLE WAY TO SAVE WATER.
This new Idea is about saving water. As you all know, every time we have a shower, we waste some water at the beginning, when the water is still cold. We have to keep the tap open, until hot water comes.
I have designed a smarttap, that works automatically. As long as there is no hot water coming from the hot water tube, the water, will be redirected to the main water tank. During this time, no water coming from the hot water tube, will be wasted.
It´s a really simple way to save water. This is an idea that could be useful for new houses, or houses where a renovation is to take place, because it is needed to introduced new tubes to make it work.
I am aware that there are some systems, that keep water hot, close to the taps, but, there is always some water that it is wasted while we are waiting for hot water to come. Existing systems, uses both electricity and thermic energy. (Electricity, for the pump that recirculate the water, and thermic energy to keep water hot while it´s been recirculating)
I have designed a smarttap, that works automatically. As long as there is no hot water coming from the hot water tube, the water, will be redirected to the main water tank. During this time, no water coming from the hot water tube, will be wasted.
It´s a really simple way to save water. This is an idea that could be useful for new houses, or houses where a renovation is to take place, because it is needed to introduced new tubes to make it work.
I am aware that there are some systems, that keep water hot, close to the taps, but, there is always some water that it is wasted while we are waiting for hot water to come. Existing systems, uses both electricity and thermic energy. (Electricity, for the pump that recirculate the water, and thermic energy to keep water hot while it´s been recirculating)
1.- Place a tank inside the house, that will supply the boiler. Normally cold water enters the house below 59ºF. Inside the house, normal temperature is about, 71ºF. If we place this tank inside the house, water will reach 71ºF temperature, what mean that the boiler will work less, saving energy.
2.- A smart drain, conected to two different draining tubes.
When the water in the shower is hot, the smart drain will connect the tube that will preheat the tank I said before. In this way we will use the termic energy included in the water. Once the water has passed the tank, it will pass a filter and ther fill another tank for gardening or cleanning use.
When the water is cold, the smart drain connects with the filter that fills the tank for further use (gardening or cleaning)
This drain will work automatically, by a termic sensor that will make it turn a device, in order to connect to one or another drainning tube.
viernes, 21 de junio de 2013
ENCOURAGING DEVICE. "YOU´VE BEEN GREEN TODAY"
One thing I know for sure, is that, if people are aware of how much energy they are wasting every day, they will change their behavior, at least a little. And it we can do it encouraging them to "think in green" the better.
This device, is a simple one, that is installed close to the main electrical box of the house. It controls how much energy is been used in lighting, heating, cooling, and power points. The device has one electrical input from each of this supplies.
Then the installer, will program the device for every house, depending on the size, typology, meteorological conditions, etc.
Everyday, this device, that will be easily visible for the occupants, will display a green light with the message "You have been green today", in case that the electrical energy used is under the limits entered. If not, it will display a red light with the message "You are polluting much today".
The device will also specify, where the energy has been wasted (lightning, heating, cooling or power points)
For example, if the device detects that at night, power points have been used more than normal, it could mean that any appliance hasn´t been disconnected from power supply.
Another variant, is to use a similar device as thermostats for cooling or heating systems. The device obviously detect inner housing temperature, and when it´s higher than really needed, it will alert the occupants about this fact. It all will be done with a friendly message such as "for a greener world, please wear a jumper and down the heating a little"
martes, 18 de junio de 2013
SELF LIGHT HOUSE
Lightning means 4.1% of the energy and 11,7% of the electricity consumed in housing, even when low consume bulbs are introduced in 83% of the houses.
In North hemispheres, the sun always light South facades most of the say, East facades in the morning and West facades in the evening. North facades have normally reduced natural lightning, and inner rooms have no natural lighting possibilities. Therefore artificial lightning has to be used, in different rooms of the houses, even when the sun is shinning outside.
Self light walls, is a concept that introduces natural light in walls, wherever the Sun is. As you can see in the drawing below, with a mirror technology, we introduce light in a hermetic gap created in the inner wall of the house. This way, rooms with little or no natural lightning availability, will have a new lightning source.
The system can be turn off whenever the occupants want. A simple tap that can be moved from the inside of the house, closes or opens the light entry into the wall. The mirror gap, is hermetically closed by a transparent fixed tap on top of it. It also makes that the wall will be better isolated from the outside, reducing thermic gain or lose.
To summarize, the A+ House self light wall, will directly reduced artificial light consumption and will increase wall isolation, reducing heating or cooling needs. It will also create beautiful and creative walls.
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