Solar Decathlon Contest

FabLab House – The Fab Lab House uses the resources of its environment sun, water and wind to create a microclimate that passively optimizes the basic conditions of habitability.

Home+  – The volume of this house is divided into modules which can be rearranged. The modules are installed with some gaps in between which are used for lighting, ventilation, heating in winter and passive cooling in summer. Simulations show that after a year not only the power needs of the building will be covered, but there will be even additional energy to feed in to the net. This way the building will be a “plus energy” house.

The MIT solar home must appeal to a large segment of the US population both aesthetically and practically. We seek to design a house that integrates passive thermal technologies with active controls and solar collectors in order to control the energy flows to and from the house with a minimum of resident intervention.