Using high-performance textiles to reinvent the sustainability of Passivhaus

DESCRIPTION:

Techstyle Haus is a solar powered high performance textile house that was developed and built by students from Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design and the Fachhochschule Erfurt. The house competed against 19 other schools in the summer of 2014 in the gardens of Versailles in a competition call the Solar Decathlon. 

The design of the house is unique due to its incorporation of high performing textiles into its structure, using a thick layer of insulation to capture heat and to repurpose for healing and cooling needs. The textile shell is anchored to steel ribs that arch over the open floorplan, creating airy interiors. With the flexible solar panels that are sewn into the top portion of the textile exterior, the house is able to generate 50% more energy than it uses. 

As one of the founding four team members I was able to play a large role on the communication team and headed the structural engineering team. Through the development of the complex structural rib system I was able to work closely with professional engineers, builders and architects. 

DATE: 10.2012-06.2014

LOCATION: Providence, RI

Erfurt, Germany

Versailles, France

PRESS: Exhibited in European Solar Decathlon 2014

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