Off the grid
Sustainability Habitat 2020 – The house as a living organism
Today, our habitat is highly dependent on energy and water. Energy crisis, scarcity of clean water, global warming and environmental pollution are global problems. The project is based on the development of sustainable construction for not so future urban megacities in China in 2020.
The Philips project explores the possible integration between electrical mechanisms and bio-chemical functionality in building materials. This type of concept fundamentally changes the current approach that the designer has with buildings and habitat. The materials for building the surfaces of buildings are no longer seen as “inert” as is currently the case, but “alive” and able to actively react to external environmental conditions, membranes used to harness energy. Membranes that create systems of strong relationships between the exterior and interior of the home, used as communication vehicles, collecting and redistributing water, air and light.
LUCE
The external cladding of the building acts like a “sensitive skin”, it actively reacts to sunlight and automatically switches to the most efficient position to radiate light and generate energy. By letting more or less light through, there will be a great saving of electricity during the day. Natural light will bring not only a great saving but also health and well-being to people.
AIR
The skin of the building reacts to the wind. The passage of air through these membranes generates energy and the appropriately filtered air will enter the building clean. Compressed and dissipated through these "natural funnels" the introduced air will be refreshed in order to condition the internal environments in a natural way.
WATER
The active skin of the building is able to recover water both in winter, by collecting rainwater, and in summer with the humidity present in the air condensed on the facade.
Through a purification process, it is recycled for internal uses in a closed circuit, thus optimising the consumption of fresh water.
WASTE
Organic waste will be transformed into energy through the exploitation of biogas, which will be used for heating the environment and for the production of hot water.
Source:
http://www.design.philips.com/probes/prtat_2020/index.page
