TO- the new Solar Decathlon Europe Project of ETSAV (UPC)

TO – the new Solar Decathlon Europe Project of ETSAV (UPC) has been presented to the public as a 1:1 scale mock-up at the ETSAV central hall.

In the line of all earlier ETSAV Solar Decathlon Projects like LOW2, e(co) and Ressò, TO can be understood as a new, radical proposal for co-housing, a consequent approach to low-carbon architecture and a strong manifest for the sharing of resources and the respect for the environment. It rethinks the concepts of habitability, comfort and privacy and searches for holistic approaches to more sustainable lifestyles. 

TO starts now in its decisive stage of development: being build! 

Objective is the Solar Decathlon Europe Competition at Szendendre (Hungary) in the month of July 2019, and logistics for a successful participation will have to speed up in the next weeks, with the student team managing all essential developments of design, construction and operation as well as management, financing and marketing by themselves, with UPC faculties assisting only in the role as their advisors.

This radical project-based education of our students at ETSAV can be seen as a sign of identity of our school of Architecture and has trained and educated whole generations of young professionals which designed and build their first project before leaving university!

MOOC “LOW3: Living Zero!”- Students as SLA Energy Consultants

Students of our MOOC Course LOW3: Living zero! started their final exercise on energy efficiency and solar potential adopting the role of energy consultants to our SLA pilot families, analysing the specific energy parameters of a real private household.

In a first step students analysed existing data about energy consumption, type of energy used and other available information about the energy system and energy use of the households.

In a second step students did the energy certification of a specific household and describe possible improvements of the overall energy performance. This included the use of online tools and a visit to the family’s home for raising detailed data about the building envelope, façade and window qualities as well as existing active energy systems.

In a last step, students analysed the solar potential of the household for a roof-top PV installation, gathering data about the building’s roof and using an online simulation tool in order to calculate the possible annual PV electricity production.

All these exercises resulted in a report to the SLA pilot families, useful for them in order to optimize the energy performance of their home through behavioral change and building management, and for taking decisions about a possible investment into energy efficiency measures or a PV installation.

This approach to the real-world energy performance of existing buildings as part of our innovative educational offer at ETSAV is another example how our students are getting prepared for being active change agents of society, facing real problems of our buildings and cities within a holistic understanding of sustainability in its economic, social and environmental dimension.

More information about the SLA project: www.suslifespain.blogspot.com 

More information about our MOOC course LOW3: Living zero!: https://mooc.upc.edu