The house is energy efficient and environmentally friendly

The most interesting houses under construction today are energy efficient and environmentally friendly.

Some of these houses fully use solar energy. If you're not ready to build a new house like that, you can still cut your electricity bill by changing your current home to make it more energy efficient.

1. Sun house (Solar House)

Maybe you think that the design of these houses is clumsy and unattractive? However, take a look at the solar home designs below to change that mindset. They are designed and built by college students in the ' Solar Decathlon ' competition funded by the US Department of Energy. Although they are small houses, they are provided with 100% solar energy.

This competition is held every 2 years to showcase innovative energy-saving designs. Finalists of the ' Solar Decathlon ' competition will go to Washington DC where they assemble energy-saving homes at the National Mall.

Although the interior of the house is no wider than 800 square feet (~ 240m2), the small corridors and courtyards provide a feeling of spaciousness. Using unique energy from the sun, these homes provide enough energy to run TVs, computers, washing machines, stoves, air conditioners and other facilities.

1. University of Maryland students have been inspired by nature as the foundation for drawing LEAFHouse.The house won the runner-up position in the Solar Decathlon competition.
Inside the house there is a waterfall with a solution to absorb moisture in the air. Dry air makes us more comfortable, so there's no need for an air conditioner.
2. Outside Casa Solar is the floor with seats and potted plants. This solar house was designed by University students Politecnica de Madric.
3. This solar home is designed by Texas A&M University students with interchangeable rooms, so the owner can arrange each room to suit their needs.4. Cornell University students have created a light dome to support absorbent plates, solar heat pipes as well as 'curtain' plants covered on the house.

 

5. New York Institute of Engineering students design a solar home with a rooftop lake to provide heat pump.
6. The Georgia Institute of Technology's solar home uses light to transform and open living space. The transparent wall made the space look wider.
7. The transparent wall of this solar house shines in the night. The house was designed by the Georgia Institute of Engineering students.
8. Designed by the University of Kansas student, the Kansas solar home project is a wide-area structure with insulation panels.

9. Fence with 120 solar heat pipes installed in the solar home.The house and the pipe are designed by University of Cincinnati students.
10. To maximize the space and flexibility, the solar house is arranged into living areas instead of rooms.The home of the University of Technology Darmstadt won the competition.

 

11. Above this solar-powered house, the oak roof creates a shade and a separate space.The house is also from Darmstadt.
12. Student of the University of Darmstadt, Germany covered the solar house with wooden shutters.The roof of the lightning has a solar panel controlled by a computer to monitor the direction of the sun.Inside this house, students use a special mortar containing paraffin.Throughout the day, paraffin absorbs heat and blankets.At night they stiffened and radiated heat.

2. Dome (Geodesic Dome)

You may have never seen a house with a geodesic dome - the type of dome is constructed of many such triangular planes. But this dome-style house is the most energy-efficient and sustainable model you can build.

How to build a domed house (left photo);exterior architecture and interior (3 photos right) (Photo: about.com)

Geodesic arches are spherical structures with a complex triangle system. The system of these triangles creates a home frame that helps increase the sustainability of the house structure while using very little material. This ingenious technology of geodesic arches allows it to cover a wide space without internal support. The term Geodesic is of Latin origin, meaning ground boundary. The Geodesic line is the shortest distance between two points on a sphere.

German engineer Dr. Walther Bauersfel pioneered the idea of ​​connecting the triangles into arches when he designed the world's first astronomical project, built in Jena, Germany in 1922. However, Buckminster Fuller is the one who developed the concept of a domed house. And Fuller was granted the first patent on the Geodesic dome in 1954.

A domed house in Tasmania (pictured above) and an application model of the domed house - a research station in Antarctica (Photo: facts.net)

Geodesic arches not only save energy but are also sustainable and inexpensive to build. A family with a difficult economy costs only $ 350 to build such a house. The Geodesic dome model is also ideal for mobile emergency homes and mini houses such as military camps.

The domed home initiative with a triangle-shaped structure helps it look like a luxury home. That is the reason that Geodesic arches are overpowered as an awakened house of both wealthy families.

3. Dome (Monolithic Dome)

Monolithic arch house

If there was a more certain type of house than the Geodesic dome, it would be the Monolithic dome. Structured in steel and concrete, Monolithic dome houses can survive despite storms, hurricanes, earthquakes, fires. Moreover, the concrete wall of the house can be kept warm during the cold season or insulated during the hot season very well. This helps Monolithic arches especially save energy.

Monolithic dome houses a piece of concrete and steel but only half of the traditional house. Monolithic Dome Institute uses the term EcoShells meaning economical, environmentally friendly and slender appearance to describe the Monolithic dome structure.

Monolithic arch house

The idea of ​​building a domed structure dates back to prehistoric times, but the development of the modern Monolithic dome with reinforced concrete originated from designer David B. South.

As a young man, South heard Buckminster Fuller talk about how he developed a Geodesic dome. South was fascinated and he started experimenting. In 1975, South worked with his brother Barry and Randy to build a domed potato store in Shelley, Idaho. 105 feet wide and 35 feet high, this architecture is considered to be the first modern Monolithic dome in the world. South was granted a patent on construction methods and he set up a business to build Monolithic dome structures for houses, schools, churches, stadiums and commercial buildings.

4. Assemblies (Modular House)

Not all assemblers save energy, but if you choose carefully, you can buy a factory manufacturer that refines technical factors to minimize energy consumption. Such as the sustainability of the house, the rate of application of solar energy. Moreover, previously calculated and manufactured parts at the factory will reduce the impact on the environment during the process of building your home.

A form of Modular house

Assemblies built from ready-made parts can be arranged into a whole. A complete kitchen or bathroom can be booked in the house. Wall panels, house frames and prefabricated parts of the house are transferred from the factory to the construction site by trucks. You can see half of the house moving along the highway. At the construction site, each part of the house is placed on the foundation where the house is fixed. Unlike mobile homes, assemblers must follow the construction site regulations where they are erected. The builder is known by names like Modular house, factory-built, panelized, prefab or pre-fab.

When it comes to assemblers, mention Marianne Cusato and Katrina Cottage. We all know that American Hurricane Katrina destroyed homes and claimed many lives. Many architects have dealt with the crisis by designing cheap relief houses. Katrina Cottage homes become popular solutions for simplicity and warmth.

Katrina Cottage was developed by Marianne Cusato and other leading architects, including renowned architect Andres Duany. Later, the 308-foot-wide prototype of the house designed by Cusato was adapted by many architects and builders to create more than 20 different versions of the house.

Typical Katrina Cottage is compact, ranging from 500 square feet to 1000 square feet (about 150m2 - 300m2). While floor sizes and floor plans may vary, Katrina Cottage has many common features. The beautiful houses are prefabricated houses, structured from ready-made composite panels from the factory. For this reason, Katrina Cottage is built quite quickly (within a few days) and very economical. This type of house is also very sustainable. It meets international construction regulations as well as most emergency response requirements.

Katrina Cottage house

Katrina Cottage houses often have the following characteristics:

 Usually only one floor
 The corridor ahead
 Details such as pillars, split beams (cantilever) are polished smooth
 Anti-termite plywood
 Door, steel roof
 Dry and damp walls
 Energy saving device