An interactive clock that indicates energy consumption, the use of direct current to save energy, a large, shared space that makes living efficient and social: these are just some of the features of the innovative and sustainable house that Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) student team VIRTUe has built on the TU/e campus. With this house, they are representing the Netherlands in the international building competition Solar Decathlon, to be held in Dubai in November. On Monday 4 June, the house was officially opened, during Dutch Technology Week.
Connecting residents with technology and each other. That's what VIRTUe - a team of over 40 students from TU/e and Fontys University of Applied Sciences - wants to achieve with their self-designed residential building called LINQ. It is a multi-storey apartment complex with a 'sharing economy' for residents at its heart.
"The rooms are separated by a large, shared space that connects residents," says Ellen van den Bersselaar, project manager of VIRTUe. "Here there is a lot of greenery - 'a vertical garden' - and people here share facilities such as a kitchen, laundry room and gym." This encourages a diverse and social community, according to the team, but also saves energy and housing costs.
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With LINQ, the students are representing the Netherlands in the international building competition Solar Decathlon Middle East 2018 in Dubai, which starts on 14 November. During the competition, the team will actually build one of the houses from the complex. This is the top dwelling, which contains the sloping roof with solar panels: thanks to the slightly inclined angle, the energy yield is maximised and creates shade and coolness in the building.
"With this home, we are also giving a showcase of all the technology and innovation that the whole building contains," says Van den Bersselaar. For example, the flat contains one central module that contains all the technological installations, such as electricity and water. A smart system shows residents how the house is 'performing' on an ongoing basis via an interactive clock. The house also uses direct current, instead of conventional alternating current. "Alternating current was once the best option to transport power over long distances, but now we get our energy directly from solar panels. Then direct current is a lot more efficient," says Van den Bersselaar.
Official opening
In preparation for the competition, VIRTUe has already built their home on TU Eindhoven's campus, on the lawn in front of the Auditorium. On Monday 4 June, during Dutch Technology Week, the house will be officially opened. During the rest of the week, there will be various activities in the house for crowdfunders, such as an escape room, cooking workshop and overnight stays. On Friday and Saturday, the home will be open to the public.
The Solar Decathlon is an international building competition for universities aimed at promoting innovative and sustainable building. Teams are given ten days to build their houses. All designs are then judged on ten different categories - hence the name 'decathlon' - such as architecture, energy consumption and innovation. There is an overall winner and partial winners per section. The total prize pool is around €2.3 million. A total of 21 teams from 16 countries around the world are competing.
Source: TUe/e.
Photo: Team VIRTUe
