130 km south of Oslo, the architects Snøhetta, together with the Zero Emission Buildings (Zero Emission Buildings), implemented the ZEB pilot house project. To achieve the desired ZEB-OM environmental standard, a home must generate the amount of energy it needs to power itself and can offset 100% of the greenhouse gases emitted during the production of building materials.
A slanted, metal-clad volume, with roof-mounted solar panels and solar collectors facing southeast, creates a striking appearance. The 19 ° tilt angle represents a compromise between a sharper and more efficient solar harvesting angle and the convenience of interior layout. According to the authors' calculations, solar panels and collectors in conjunction with geothermal pumps will not only heat the house and cover all its electricity needs, but also generate additional power, which will be enough to recharge an electric car for a year, which is approximately 20,000 km.
From the southwest, an atrium cuts into the volume of the building, which illuminates the ground floor space and creates an open-air living room, where, sitting by the fireplace, you can comfortably relax from early spring to late autumn. The brick wall of the atrium facing the sun is not so much a decorative surface with an interesting texture, but an important element of passive design: possessing a high thermal mass, it accumulates heat in the daytime and gradually releases it to the premises of the house after sunset, allowing it to maintain a constant temperature there.
In the house with an area of 220 m2, water heating is used, where rain and "gray" water, heated by solar collectors, heat pumps and recuperators, acts as a heat carrier. For optimal use of energy, the building is equipped with a variety of technological devices that allow you to program and control the operation of all devices: for example, when the owners remotely turn on the washing machine from their smartphone during the day, the smart home understands that for its operation it is necessary to use the energy supplied directly at the moment. and leave the accumulated reserves until the evening, when the whole family gets together at home.
In pursuit of all this adaptability, the architects, however, set themselves the task of not losing the feeling of home comfort: a lot of wood, a lot of old brick, a lot of tactile sensations. So, the pool and shower in the garden heated by excess generated electricity are accompanied by a wood-burning sauna, the breakfast area is lined with old wooden blocks, the atrium is surrounded by high walls-woodpiles and a surface imitating old masonry with bricks actively protruding from the plane, the site is fenced by a gabion fence, in the yard is broken small vegetable garden.
The authors note that the main feature of designing such an environmentally friendly house is a multidisciplinary approach: the joint work of all related disciplines, including the selection of building materials, begins at a very early stage, literally from the sketch stage.
