Could we live in a guilt-free future with a luxurious house that produces more
energy than it consumes, and gives back to the national grid? The architects
Diller Scofidio + Renfro think that we can. Collaborating with the
environmental-design firm Atelier Ten, they have designed a luxury house for
a fictional couple, using cutting-edge technology, both real and in
development. Julia is an engineer for a software-development firm; Martin a
consultant for an internet marketing company. Their home, The Phantom House,
sits in a desert overlooking a fast-growing city in a globally warmed
future. An indoor, climate-controlled living space hovers over its outdoor
double, so household tasks can be performed inside or out, depending on the
weather. Energy produced by everyday activities can be banked for later use,
and the house anticipates inhabitants’ needs as they move from room to room.
SYSTEM DIAGRAM
05:00
Martin is sound asleep. Julia gets out of bed. She has spent a restless night
after their argument the previous evening. As Martin and Julia slept, a
ground-coupled cooling system 1 adjusted the temperature of the
bedroom to a comfortable 12C lower than the air outside.
06:00
The alarm clock goes off. Martin hits the snooze button. In the bedroom, the
OpaciView 2 facade is triggered by the alarm; it goes from opaque to
80% clear in three minutes. Martin begins to stir. The Rent-Your-Roof 3 system
starts to harvest the energy that the house needs for the day.
07:00
Julia is preparing breakfast in the upper kitchen. Martin passes through,
kisses Julia and goes downstairs to retrieve The Sunday Times Magazine 4
and a bagel from the RotoFridge 5. He sits and reads at the lower
dining table. Julia eats in the upper study while scanning the news online.
08:00
Martin hops into the EasyShower 6 and then dresses for work. On his way
out, he steps into the study to pick up his recharged hand-held device.
Julia abruptly clicks onto a web page. She asks Martin to pick up fresh
chillies and turmeric on his way home for tonight’s dinner party.
10:00
Talking nonstop into a hands-free headset, Julia exercises on the WorkOut
Generator 7: 20 minutes each on the treadmill, stationary bicycle and
rowing machine. The glass in the gym dims to 30% transparency as the sun’s
intensity and Julia’s body heat increase.
11:00
Julia cools off in the EcoPool 8. Then she showers, extends the
LawnDrawer 9 and dries off in the sun. The pool returns to the
evaporation-saver position. As the day gets hotter, Julia naps under a
CoolingBlanket 10, then goes upstairs, grabs an ice-cream bar and
settles in front of the Fire-Ice-Place 11.
13:00
Julia selects a sundress from the DryerCloset 12, unplugs her electric
car and drives to a meeting. The DomestiSleep 13 system is triggered
by her departure: glass facades dim, the air-displacement system, RapidCool 14,
is shut down and the cooling panels are set to 10% of their capacity.
15:00
As Martin’s car nears the house, the Home-on-the-Go 15 unit
triggers the DomestiSleep and RapidCool systems to awaken the house. He
arrives and prepares a martini. Realising he has forgotten the chillies and
turmeric, he leaves a note and rushes out, overriding the DomestiSleep
system.
16:00
Julia arrives in time to let in the Rent-a-Rug 16 installer, who is
scheduled to exchange the living-room carpet. She reads Martin’s hastily
scribbled note as she sips his untouched martini. She changes into a
swimsuit and brings her laptop to the lower living space.
17:00
The installer replaces the old rug with a recycled felt rug to cover the wood
floor 17. Julia pulls off the CoolingBlanket and tries to sleep. The
glass becomes 90% clear as clouds hide the sun. The retractable RoofFunnel18
senses rain and begins to activate.
18:00
Julia plucks fresh tomatoes from the EcoFlow Garden 19 and begins to
prepare for dinner. Monsoon rain lashes down for 15 minutes; more than 6,500
gallons of water are collected. Martin returns. He has forgotten the
chillies.
19:00
Julia is agitated as she continues to cook. She changes into a new minidress
minutes before the guests arrive. Martin retrieves several bottles of red
wine from the wine cellar in the RapidCool under the pool.
21:00
Their guests, Leonard and Casey arrive. After margaritas, dinner is served in
the lower dining area. Julia apologises for the blandness of the south
Indian soup – rasam – and a conversation ensues about travel in southern
India.
23:00
After dessert, Martin and Casey take a dip. Julia goes online in the upper
study, then joins Leonard in front of the gas fire.
24:00
Martin dims the lights 20 and gives the house a Nightflush 21 to
prepare for the next day, and then climbs into the PiezoSleeper 22.
FOOTNOTES:
1 Ground-coupled heating and cooling uses the steady temperature of the earth
(about 55c) as a source of heat, sending the excess from the house back into
the earth.
2 OpaciView is a high-performance, double-layer, low-emissivity glass wall
system. It’s made up of a gasochromatic outer layer with a porous film of
tungsten oxide that lightens or darkens, depending on the heat of the sun
and whether anyone is home. An inner layer of liquid-crystal glass can be
activated for privacy, or used as a projection screen. A ventilated cavity
between the layers is controlled by dampers that are opened during the day
to remove heat and closed at night for insulation.
3 Rent-Your-Roof provides photovoltaic cells for rooftop surfaces. They are
owned and operated by the local utility provider and leased to consumers.
When energy generation exceeds domestic use, electricity is returned to the
grid.
4 It takes thousands of trees to print a Sunday paper.
5 RotoFridge is a highly insulated conveyor refrigerator that serves the
kitchen areas. Food is displayed one layer deep and can be delivered to and
retrieved from a small opening. No energy is wasted hunting for items with
the refrigerator door open.
6 EasyShower uses a water-efficient shower head that produces large water
droplets without a wasteful waterfall.
7 WorkOut Generator converts the energy residents expend exercising into
110-volt AC, which can be used to power various devices.
8 The chlorine-free EcoPool has a water-bed lid on hydraulic legs that
minimiSes evaporation when the pool is not in use and also creates a lounge
surface.
9 LawnDrawer is a mobile turf surface that slides on a track and can be used
as a front or back lawn, or for sunbathing or sitting in the shade. Turf
grows in 12-inch-deep soil planted in cells, with a drainage-aeration layer
that prevents erosion.
10 CoolingBlanket uses water-retaining fibres that allow body heat to escape
through evaporation. It is stored in the RotoFridge.
11 Fire-Ice-Place cools and warms ambient air. To cool the house, it acts as a
reverse chimney: water sprayed on pads at the top evaporates, which cools
the air and forces it down into the living space.
12 DryerCloset is a convertible closet that shuttles among upper and lower
open-air rest areas, where clothes can be line-dried.
13 DomestiSleep regulates energy output. The house can be put into hibernation
mode when nobody is home.
14 RapidCool uses a ventilation system supplied by a thermal mass labyrinth,
made of corrugated concrete walls, beneath the pool. Cool night air is
stored within the labyrinth and drawn into the house, as needed, via an
under-floor system. The cool end of the labyrinth doubles as a wine cellar.
5 Home-on-the-Go is an add-on service for mobile phones that communicates with
the home’s interactive control systems.
16 Rent-a-Rug is one of several local leasing agencies that recycle
home-flooring products.
17 The house is built from recycled and renewable materials. Wood species are
selected from the nearest sustainably managed forest.
18 RoofFunnel is a flexible roof membrane triggered by humidity and
precipitation sensors, doubling the roof’s surface-catchment areas. A
cistern collects water for the toilet and the irrigation system.
19 EcoFlow Garden uses waste water filtered through natural treatment
terraces; plants are selected to thrive on available nutrients.
20 Independent fixtures for each function ensure energy is used only as
needed.
21 NightFlush uses the desert’s nocturnal drop in temperature to cool the
labyrinth at night and the house in the day.
22 PiezoSleeper incorporates transducers in the mattress to convert excess
human energy into electricity stored in the house’s rechargeable battery.
Are Cooling Blanket for sale yet? I live in a Victorian semi detatached house that is very exposed to the elements, I can cope with the cold during winter but find the heat during the summer too much and would love one of these blankets
Clare Bermingham, London, UK