The Solar Decathlon is a biennial collegiate competition challenging student teams to design and build full-sized, solar-powered homes with an emphasis on sustainability. This year, 11 teams from institutions across the world will participate in 10 contests that emphasize innovative design, energy efficiency, water use, resident comfort, and market potential. The DOE-sponsored competition, which is open to the public, will be hosted in Denver from Oct. 5-15. In this daily series, BUILDER takes a look at the innovative features of each of the homes.
Children’s building blocks inspired students from HU University of Applied Science Utrecht to design Selficient, a smart home with wall panels that act like Legos, allowing homeowners to expand or downsize living spaces according to their needs.
Team Netherlands started off its project with the goal of designing an affordable and sustainable home to satisfy any homeowner, but team members found that no single blueprint design could offer this. Instead, the Dutch students decided to hand homeowners the building blocks for their own, custom design.
Selficient involves a 2D modular building approach, with standardized wooden panels that serve as wall, floor, and roof surfaces. These panels can be removed from the frame and reused several times in a different area of the home, the team says.
A pun on “selfie” and “self-sufficient,” Selficient is inspired by both the technology and the natural world’s energy cycles of use and reuse. Solar panels work in conjunction with a battery and inverter system that stores energy, protects from outages, and returns excess to the grid.
A greenhouse not only extends the growing season, but also includes a warmth recovery unit that collects warm air for efficient home heating. Homeowners can monitor and control all energy features and temperature settings from their smartphones.
Selficient’s wooden wall panels are insulated in a way that allows humidity to escape without letting moisture in, according to the team. Team Netherlands has selected biodegradable and affordably manufactured building materials in order to make the sustainable home affordable.
Selficient is oriented to the south to maximize solar energy production while offering residents sunrise and sunset views. Homeowners can wake up and eat breakfast on the east-side porch, enjoy sunlight throughout the day from the south-side, and have dinner in the west-facing kitchen.
Team Netherlands considers Selficient a prototype with commercial potential. Students specifically want to market their adaptable design to “Doorstromers,” a Dutch term for individuals who are in a transitional stage of life, and perhaps looking to start a family. The Dutch team plans to put Selficient on the market and reinvest initial profits into further sustainability research, with the aim of cutting down on production costs and improving affordability.
