07 SUNFLOWER HOME

Sunflower leaves are phototropic, will follow the sun's rays with a lag of 120 behind the sun's azimuth, and it is exactly this property that served as example of how we were to tackle the problem of a universal Eco-House to cover all world's climates. On the other hand, from igloos to African huts and Mongolian yurts, the dome is a form of architecture that humanity has used over and over again, a pattern found in nature itself, featured in various life forms, the planetary globe, and other planets of the universe.
Sunflower Home creates an interior of warmth, conviviality and light while responding to the desire of many people concerned with using materials and technology compatible
with our fragile environment.

The highly Eco-Tech Sunflower Home is an Eco-House that spins around its axis to follow the movement of the sun or, otherwise, escape the sun in excessively hot weather. Bearing on a  powerful electric motor placed in the static basement, the dome of the house can be revolved along its horizontal base to make best use of sunlight, but also moonlight, windpower and external views, as required. This means that you would be able to literally expose your, say, Living Room to maximum sunlight in the winter, as well as protect it from excessive sunlight in the summer. You could expose your bedroom to maximum moonlight in the night thus creating a romantic atmosphere, avoid or expose rooms to winds throughout the day, week, month, season or year, as
you see fit, or set the entire dome to follow the sun all throughout the day by moving at 40cm/h - the exact speed at which the Earth moves around the Sun throughout the day.

The Ground Floor is divided into two zones:

1. The inner, static zone, featuring the central core with vertical installations shaft/duct and utilitarian spaces that require installations, such as the Kitchen, the Restroom, Laundry, Storage, the Greenhouse and the fireplace, as well as a circular corridor, enveloped by walls with installations to supply parameter rooms
2. The external dome with rooms, windows, and the main entry door, that can be spun using the electric motor to accommodate the household as described above.

The dome, the floor and the partition walls between rooms are entirely made of one of the world's most perspective building materials, called Aerogel – made available by various manufacturers at quite moderate commercial prices. A highly insulating solid material, Aerogel has the lowest density of any known solid on Earth. One form of this extraordinary substance is 99.9 percent air and 0.1 percent silica dioxide, by volume. One thousand times less dense than glass, Aerogel has earned the nicknames “blue smoke” and “solid smoke.” It is an important material for our future. A block of Aerogel as large as a human may weigh less than half a kilogram (or less than a pound), yet support the weight of a subcompact car (about 454 kilograms, or 1,000 pounds), which means that it is an excellent loadbearing material as well. Thanks to its outstanding insulating properties, Aerogel is used by NASA in space, and in that sense, it is an ideal insulating material for any world climate, too. In space, Aerogel looks completely transparent, whereas on Earth, it is of light blue colour for very much the same reasons as our sky appears blue. However, Aerogel can be painted, too. Best used is thermochromic carbon-based pigment that fades as the temperature rises and brightens as it cools, if affordable. The material can be used as an exterior house paint that would darken and absorb heat from sunlight during colder seasons. For better part you would not need to paint Aerogel at all, as it provides sufficient visual indoor privacy when viewed from afar, but if you so wish, light colours can be applied in climates requiring reflection of sun's rays (e.g. Hot Dry Climates), whilst darker ones in cold climates that need considerable absorption of solar energy. It can be sprayed with a silicone agent and dispersed in petroleum distillates. When fluid paint is applied, however, the surface of aerogel is slightly damaged (shrinkage, marring, loss of transparency) be damaged but the paint adheres and colours the material.
Alternately, the dome can also be a geodesic dome with Aerogel panel fillings, or constructed of curved aluminium frames and filled likewise.

Ventilation, Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and heat recovery from within the Eco-House have been catered for. The Utility Room, located in the basement, serves to accommodate bulky equipment belonging to all these systems.

Surface water collection and biological treatment has been envisaged and water-saving toilet seats and other water-saving sanitary equipment have also been employed in the design. Recycled glass floor and wall tiles were employed for sanitary and utilitarian spaces, while the fine insulating properties and simplicity of cork flooring was used in rooms.

Sunflower Home provides a healthy homestead yielding lower humidity, electromagnetism and radioactivity than found in traditional houses. It resists earthquakes as it does not offer any perpendicularity to the seismic ray. Thanks to its aerodynamic shape, it can resist winds of up to 250 km/h, making it hurricane (cyclone / typhoon) proof.
As an option, it is possible to equip the Sunflower Home with solar panels in order is accumulate solar energy. This option, together with the programmed automatic rotation allows it the acquisition of the necessary, uninterrupted energy during the day, when following the course of sun.

AREA SCHEDULE

REGISTER OF WORKING DRAWINGS (PLANS)

ECOTECTURAL DESIGN FEATURES

Feature 1: Aerogel

Legend:

1. Image Left: Aerogel is as delicate as a flower, yet durable enough to withstand extreme environments;
2. Aerogel is nicknamed “blue smoke” and “solid smoke” due to its appearance and low weight.

At first glance, Aerogel resembles a hologram. A highly insulative solid material, Aerogel has the lowest density of any known solid. One form of this extraordinary substance is 99.9 percent
air and 0.1 percent silica dioxide (by volume). One thousand times less dense than glass, Aerogel has earned the nicknames “blue smoke” and “solid smoke.” It is an important material for our future.

A block of Aerogel as large as a human may weigh less than half a kilogram (or less than a pound), yet support the weight of a subcompact car (about 454 kilograms, or 1,000 pounds).

An enhanced form of Aerogel has been developed for use in several space related applications.

Aerogel was discovered in the late 1930s. Since then, numerous attempts have been made to further understand and develop Aerogel technology. The research leading up to use of Aerogel in
modern applications has further exposed the remarkable physical properties of the material. Aerogel holds six “world records” for physical properties.

Often called the "Material Made for All Humankind", Aerogel starts as a silica dioxide gel, similar
to the gelatin dessert one might make at home. Then the liquid in the gel is removed without collapsing the gel (normal evaporation causes the gel to collapse). Through a process called supercritical drying, the material does not collapse but retains its original size and shape.

In conctruction, Aerogel can be used for the following building elements:

• Walls - Being nontoxic, non-flammable, it is an excellent alternative to current thermal and sound insulation materials;
• Windows - The “see-through” quality of Aerogel, with its high thermal insulation properties, saves a lot of money by lowering utility bills in the summer and winter alike;
• Floors and Roofing - Owing to its extremely low weight, Aerogel has found a wide application in floor and dome construction.

Feature 2: Rainwater Collection and Treatment

Surface water was easily utilised in this EcoHouse design to reduce domestic water consumption and expenses. Being earth-sheltered, the water tank is protected from extremely low or high temperatures. The falls around the tank are profiled in such a way as to funnel stormwater into the
tank.

Collected water is then thoroughly treated for domestic consumption using a 'state-of-the-art' stormwater treatment system, processed by 100% biological means which is 100% safe for domestic use.

Feature 3: Greenhouse | Conservatory

A greenhouse (or conservatory) creates a new living or working area - in fact a space that will remove the dividing line between inside and outside, so that each environment is enriched by the awareness of the other. It can extend your home on one or more levels, opening it up to light, sun and the surrounding landscape. Imagine a conservatory design studio, or a greenhouse as poolside lounge! On top of all that come rooflights as atria, combining natural light with a moderating micro-climate.

Thus, much contrary to popular belief, greenhouses do not serve just to provide the heating effect of the "greenhouse" effect and heat up the house interior (which is its primary technical function), but also to enhance one's lifestyle and replenish the soul.

The greenhouse also serves the purpose of space for socialising, which can be used for growing vegetables as the additional or supplementary food supply to homestead.

The two unique properties described above are made possible through a solid state phase change, that is a molecular rearrangement, which occurs in the shape memory alloy. Typically, when one thinks of a phase change a solid to liquid or liquid to gas change is the first idea that comes to mind. A solid state phase change is similar in that a molecular rearrangement is occurring, but the molecules remain closely packed so that the substance remains a solid. 

Feature 4: HVAC & IAQ

Legend:

1. Warm, stale air from the home is returned to the Air Furnace;
2. Outdoor air travels through the fresh air intake and is brought into the integral HRV;
3. The fresh and stale air pass through opposite sides of the HRV aluminium heat exchange core;
4. Heat from the stale air is transferred to the fresh air;
5. Stale air is exhausted outside;
6. Hot water is sent from the water heater to the furnace heating coil;
7. A PSC type high-efficiency fan blows the tempered fresh air from the HRV into the coil;
8. The circulation pump distributes hot water through the coil;
9. The circulating hot water heats the air to the desired temperature;
10. Warm, fresh air is distributed to registers throughout the Eco-House;
11. The hot water travels through the coil and returns to the water heater for domestic use.

Even if you do not live in an ultra-efficient home, you have probably spent some time recently weather stripping doors and windows, caulking around frames, filling walls and attics with insulation. Yet our homes today are built to keep fresh air out. All in the name of energy-efficiency.
As a result, you may have cut your heating and air conditioning costs. Excellent. But at the same time you have made it more difficult for fresh air to move into your home and for stale air to move out. The indoor air quality has deteriorated, and that makes the home environment uncomfortable and unhealthy.

Our proposed solution for HVAC (Heating, Ventialtion and Air Conditioning) and IAQ (Indoor Air Quality) uses a domestic water heater as its heat source. The efficient system creates a healthier, more comfortable home environment while lowering energy bills. This combination heating system results in higher efficiency ratings than are possible with conventional furnaces i.e. - lower fuel costs for you. It offers a solution to protect the occupants from the pollutants in your eco-home while reducing heating and air conditioning costs and has a built-in Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV) that replaces stale air with fresh.

Our proposed system brings outdoor air through the built-in HRV, ensuring fresh, healthy heating of your home - all for the cost of a high efficiency furnace. Although your Eco-House will not always require heating, the ventilation component of the HRV works year-round to provide a constant stream of fresh air to every room of your house.

The system operates safely and quietly. Instead of the periodic bursts of hot air distributed by conventional furnaces, a steady stream of warm air is released throughout the house - reducing
drafts, and creating a more even temperature distribution. The atmosphere in your Eco-House will be noticeably improved.

This heating system provides constant ventilation and a steady stream of warm air for the healthiest, most comfortable home environment possible, with efficiency of up to 90%.

The Clean Air Furnace allows for the addition of a plenum-mounted air conditioner. As long as the furnace is controlled by a thermostat with a fan auto/on switch, users can select heating or cooling with ventilation to meet your climate control needs in every season.

The compact Clean Air Furnace uses hot water as its heat source. Water is pumped from your home water heater to the furnace heating coil. A fan with a PSC high-efficiency motor blows the fresh air from the HRV into the heating coil where the circulating water warms the air. Water leaves the heater, travels through the hot water circulation pump, and returns to the water heater. As the water travels through the furnace's heating coil, air is warmed ad sent to registers throughout the house.

The HRV removes stale, contaminated air from inside the Eco-House to the outdoors. At the same time, it draws fresh, oxygen-laden air from outside and distributes it throughout the house. Polluted air is constantly being replaced by an equal quantity of fresh, clean air.