INTERVIEW: Ikaros. University Of Applied Sciences Rosenheim Team (Rosenheim-Germany)

How many have you got in your team ?

We're 35 students.

Your average age ?

27 years.

What is the distribution of your gender ?

We're 7 women and 13 men .

What are your original subjects : architecture , electronics , computer science , ..... ?

Architecture , electrical engineers , computer science engineers , wood construction engineers , wood material engineers , commercial engineers.

The house you construct has been designed for the climate in Madrid ( Spain ) , but would its adaptation be simply possible to other climatic characteristics ( resistance to strong winds , hours of light , temperatures of environment , antiseismic preparation ..... ) ?

Our house isn't designed for the climate in Spain due to being the concept of a passive house ; this type of house adapts itself to any climate condition . Moreover , due to the fact that our construction is based on a concept of modules whose structures are corresponding to wooden frameworks , it is easily transportable and resistent to winds and seismic conditions . Our house fulfills the German construction norms ( norms
DIN ) for the calculation of the statics and loads in wood constructions ( DIN 1052 ) .

What sales price would this prototype have for the public ?

Our house - as prototype - costs 500.000 € and it costs 600.000 € with an additional terrace . But this only at the level of the prototype ; if this prototype would be destined to its production , the costs would reduce to half the amount , as to say , to 250.000 € .

Is this house presenting itself as a kit , being able to be set up or removable , or does it need a special human team to build it up in its final location.

A specialized personnel isn't needed for the construction and setting up of our house . Our own student team realizes the setting up of the house , and any person with a title as a carpenter , construction staff members , and electricians can carry out the setting up of the house as well .

What kind of total amount of energetic consumption / production ( and referring to m3 as well ) has the house got you're presenting ?

We're still inside the process of depuration ( purification ) . Due to that reason , we're unable to answer this question .

Number and typology of supported electrical household appliances ..... , f.e. how can someone dry his laundry ?

Our house has got all the conveniences of a house of European standard : heating system , kitchen , refrigerator , dishwasher , washing machine , dryer , coffee machine , plasma TV , audio system , and Internet .

Concerning the construction and installation of the house , what is the amount of emission of CO² to the atmosphere ?

This question is covering many direct and indirect processes which we cannot calculate and where we would miss the true result , due to this reason , even if we would indicate the most approximated value as possible .

What kind of user profile is your creation aiming at ? Town people , rural people , young people , old people , number of habitants .... ?

This house is for a couple , and 2 guests ; in total for 4 persons . Due to the fact that the house is totally autarchic ( self-sufficient ) , it is producing more energy than it is consuming ; due to this reason , the house is totally independent of the electrical supply net , and it can be used in any location , as inside towns or also in rural regions . Because it is a house of one floor only , this means it can be used by people with physically limited abilities and persons of the third age .

Have criteria been considered for the accessibility for the communities of disabled persons there ?

Yes.

What type of materials does your construction prevail and contain : construction material ( brick and cement ) , wood , ceramics , natural stone , thin walls of cardboard and plaster .... ?

Wood , synthetic insulators , insulators of biological origin , plaster , cement , materials of natural origin .

Do you use some sort of process of the recuperation and portable water purification of rain water ?

No , but we're going to use the rain water for the cooling system which is helping the air conditioning system in its turn .

Is some kind of system , recycling waste materials , as development for biomass, biogas , etc . , presently implemented or anticipated ?

 No.

From a technical or architectonic point of view : What kinds of improvements , concerning I+D , have you implemented in the development of the solar house ?

We wish to present an innovative system of façades which is corresponding to a system of lamellas containing solar plates .

What kinds of technical requisites are distinguishing your solar house from the rest of your competitors ?

We really don't know , due to the fact that we don't know any other existing prototypes in depth . For that reason it wouldn't be very serious
to answer your question without any basis .

Is your solar house 100% self-sufficient ? Does it need the electrical supply net for any kind of consumption ? In case of the opposite , what percentage of energetic self-sufficiency have you achieved during its development process ?

Yes , it's 100% self-sufficient , and we don't need electrical energy for its self-supply .

Apart from the Technical Codex of Construction , what kind of norm standard of study have you taken into consideration else during the construction process of your solar house ?

We don't work with the Spanish norm standard , but we work with the German norm standard due to the fact that our house will be presented at fairs in that according country subsequently , and later on it will be installed inside a residential park for its following use .

Starting from the point of differing between the value of construction and the value of the solar installation , how long is the solar installation going to need to amortize for the purchaser of a solar house ?

What would the amortization period be , counting with possible assistances and subventions ? - Due to the big support , which the German Government is annually inserting in the incentives for the use of renewable energies ( subvention for the installation of plates , which means that we can borrow from the banks at very low rates of interest ) in the installation of solar plates in the fields and inside the houses of private individuals in towns , and due to the good price , being paid for the electricity so that private individuals can be connected to the electrical supply net of the country , it is thought that the amortization period shouldn't be bigger than 10 years .

How many square meters has the roof of the solar house ?

70 m2.

Is it easy to design a solar house where the roof has a good orientation ( this said without lessening the design and elegance of a house , like f.e. with a roof of four sides ) ?

Due to the fact that our house is passive , meaning that our architecture and design is viewed with big and large windows at the southern side , the solar radiation is going to enter and heat our house this way , avoiding thus the loss of heat with a very good isolation . Moreover , our solar panels are established at the roof and aren't seen by the user , so that in our case the architecture is independent in its orientation towards the sun and also totally independent of the necessities of the photovoltaic system . We believe that we can achieve a big efficiency in the supply of electric energy with the new solar technology ; this said without lessening the architecture of the future houses using this system .