Professional Documents
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HOME nd
SWEET 2
place in the Energy
OUR SOULS.
and ranked 9th amongst the
18 teams in the competition.
Moreover, they awarded us an
out of contest diploma for Social
PRISPA is back in town, or in the countryside as we might Awareness in Solar System
say, with the memory of an over the top experience, with Integration.
new friends all over the world and some wonderful stories
to share with the ones who waited for us.
PRISPA is
back from
Madrid just
to be ready
for another
chapter.
4 | PRISPA team
PRISPA. Our utmost goal was turning
the project into a real home.
The project... We wanted PRISPA to be
someone’s dream house so
So it all started early in 2011, when a
team of student architects, engineers we’ve tried to find loving
and designers had the dream of owners to take care of it
designing a sun-powered house to after the competition. Now
present it in Solar Decathlon Europe
2012. In the two years following, we’ve
PRISPA has reached its final
majored in drafting board operations, destination, being built in a
advertising for a house like no one did beautiful countryside scenery
before and then in building it both and providing a comfortable
in Romania and Madrid. We’ve even
become specialists in dissasembly, too.
life for a family that was eager
to embrace the sustainable
...that became a home. lifestyle we believe so much in.
6 | PRISPA team
2
CLOCK TICKING IN
MADRID – 13 DAYS AND A
COMPETITION HOUSE.
We managed to build a completely functional
house in 13 days, receiving the 5 points
bonus for finishing on time. After that, we
had 14 days for competition juries and visits
from the general public and specialists, as
well as 5 days for disassembly. PRISPA, along
with the other 17 houses, injected its surplus
energy in Madrid’s electrical grid. Our
experience of building PRISPA in Romania
turned out to be essential and the public
loved the warm atmosphere of our house.
The jury positively appreciated our energy
efficiency strategy and our strong response
to the local context.
3
THIRD TIME’S THE
CHARM – PRISPA, A HOME
FOR THE DARING.
Returning to Romania meant the final assembly
for PRISPA and finally reaching our goal and
making this solar house a proper home for a very
nice family. For some members of our team, site
operations were not over, moving from Madrid
directly to a village near Bacău, the final site for
our project. The end of a story is always the start of
a new one, so we wish PRISPA and her owners to
share a happy and prosperous life together!
8 | PRISPA team
2012:
Mission Values
PRISPA
PRISPA aimed at changing three major
fields in Romania:
…things done well
As the owners of PRISPA said: “There
is nothing better than a house built by
students.” We aimed for a product that
Country offers quality and efficiency without
costing a fortune. Decency as a value,
development this is what we stand for.
Apart from promoting a new type
of house, we acted on the grounds
…the ambition
of the rural revival which can be an to go further
alternative to horizontal urban density,
When we began PRISPA project, there
an answer to the generations that miss
were very few people who believed
the countryside and an influence in
in what we put forward. Things
the economical area. Moreover, we
are different now, and those who
offered an example as an incentive
encourage us do so because they’re
to encourage the change in mentality
aware we have a real shot to bring
towards sustainable principles.
about a positive change. We thank
Academia everyone who believed in us enough to
nudge us to invest time, research and
We are a student team. We are the energy in this project.
very definition of research that
generates improvement; it is through …the Romanian
us, students, that the world gets
started on finding the best solutions in
village
all fields. The village, source for Romanian
values and space for conserving
Tourism traditions, was the perfect site for
developing PRISPA prototype.
PRISPA says it is possible not to give
We wanted to integrate in such an
up Romania’s charm and revive all
environment, developing a decent
the trades that brought the Romanian
language and using passive strategies
villages’ acknowledgement. Agro-
perfected by the local constructor. We
tourism and eco-tourism may end up
give you contemporary comfort shaped
being fruitful businesses for Romania
on traditional sustainable principles.
to exploit for many years from now on.
COMFORTABLE
PRISPA is a house all Romanians can CONTEXT WISE
relate to, displaying contemporary
high-tech living standards without
being menacing. These standards By means of design, functions,
are set according to both legalized finishing, independence in use
European standards of living and and all of the above.
Romanian psychological thresholds.
The house provides complexity
hidden behind simplicity in concept
and design.
EASY TO BUILD
PRISPA is making great use of
prefabricated elements, structural
simplicity and technology so as to be
built with the minimum amount of
effort.
10 | PRISPA team
Target
public &
market
What they thought
of the project…
Students
It’s pleasant when your work is rewarded
formally. If you take part in an extra-
curricular project, chances are your work
Children won’t be formally rewarded in school, not
even if it fits your major. PRISPA is different. I
Hello, my name is Marian. I learn at Voievozi work a lot for PRISPA, but the school doesn’t
elementary school. I’m a 3rd grade student. see this work as wasted time. I get grades at
Today PRISPA team came to our class and the end of the semester. (L. , 23 years)
told us about solar homes. They even let
us draw some houses of our own. We then Young Professionals
planted trees in the school yard; it was all Their project is completely nuts. I think that’s,
part of the class - they taught us that being in fact, what I like about PRISPA. Their
“green”, or “eco” means in fact taking care team looks like it costs an arm and a leg
of our nature. I want to grow up to be able to get going, but they seem to have made
to make part of their team some day. They it. It’s impressive, really impressive. I think
looked like great fun! (M., 9 years old) they have a real shot with this little house
of theirs - it’s pretty, it’s not very expensive,
Teenagers considering everything you get when buying
I like that they’re doing hands on stuff. It it. I’d live in it, and I think my friends would,
looks serious, but fun at the same time. I’d too. (C., 42 years)
like to be in a team like that; I think doing
a project like this teaches you a lot about a
Families
lot, and you get to meet new people too. I You’re very bold to do this. It might take a
wonder what it would take to start my own while until you actually manage to see your
team and get into a competition like this. (I. , prototype industrialized, but it’s worth the
17 years old) try. I’d buy it, but only if you can add extra
bedrooms. I want my children to come visit.
(O, 52 years old)
Children
“Can this house recharge my toys’ batteries?
Because if it can, I want to live here!” (A., 4
years old)
Professionals
Teenagers “It’s all I ever dreamed of. I’ve always wanted
“I came here with my parents because a house with a “prispa”. It has the right
they’ve heard on TV about this house. Not a balance between space and comfort and any
very fun thing to do this weekend, I thought. initial costs in technology are worthwhile
But after seeing you people building this because you produce your own energy. I can
house with your own hands, I started to actually imagine myself living here.”(D., 31
wonder if it wouldn’t be a good option for me years old)
to study civil engineering after high-school.
To build something in your twenties, now Families
that’s something! ” (B., 18 years old) “Our daughter went to study abroad and she
Students married there, so there is no reason for us to
stay in the city, it’s too crowded and noisy.
“I know someone in your team and decided We both miss the garden we had when
to come and see what’s it all about. I found it we were little and we were thinking about
fascinating and started to come more often moving to the countryside. We hate that
and give a helping hand. I never thought that everybody builds huge houses nowadays,
building something with your own hands can so this one is perfect for the two of us. It’s
be this rewarding. I started to reconsider all comfortable and full of light! And we could
the theoretical knowledge the school offers have our little nephew come and play in a
me and I actually have a project idea I want healthy environment. We love it!” (M. and I.,
to start next year.”(N., 22 years old) 50 and 52 years old)
12 | PRISPA team
Their
opinion
online...
www.prispa.org
General statistics:
According to www.sdeurope.org,
“SDE2012 has been the most
visited edition in the history of the
competition. The Villa Solar has
received over 220 000 visits, 64 094
of which were guided tours.
Solar Decathlon Europe has also had
a notable presence in social networks:
Facebook, with 8 872 followers, has
reached, during de competition, 124
000 people; Twitter, with
2 165 followers has come, in the same
period, to 120 000 people. The www.
sdeurope.org web audience has also
increased with 144 213 visits in the
competition days, and the blog has
had 5 700 views.”
14 | PRISPA team
The house has to meet the needs
of an average couple (price, ease of
Project
living, adaptability, contemporary
comfort), but it also has to keep a
touch of the national identity, while
creating the kind of space Romanians
The logic of the storage comes from tradition Thoroughly following PRISPA’s strategy,
and it aims to come as a solution for the lack the architecture of the house must use
of space experienced in urban collective contemporary technology in such a way that
housing. This inherently led to improvised it is not threatening. Our approach is to have
attachments and altered living spaces. it hidden, efficient and low maintenance.
PRISPA house managed to recover some In order to achieve this, we grouped most
spaces in order to integrate storage in the of the HVAC systems in the technical room
design, starting from the northern area to and storage space (only the interior air-air
the vestibule, technical room and split level. converters being placed on the walls). This
Moreover, part of the furniture has this position helped us as much when it came
added role: the wall / closet between the to maximizing the efficiency of the kitchen
day area and the private area or the space and bathroom plumbing (straight pipes,
under the seats. proximity of water tanks). The photovoltaic
system is mounted on the roof metallic
boards using a simple technology while also
having its energy converters in this technical
area.
16 | PRISPA team
Windows are configured
in such a way that they
ensure a balance between
the incoming caloric energy
and the heat that reflects
from inside out. Depending
on orientation, different
treatments were applied to
the glass.
Comfortably, at home
Having the strategy in mind, we designed
our interior space using the traditional
principles of interior functionality and
decoration. In order to extract the essential
points we needed for the design process,
we considered a sum of common elements
present in traditional styles throughout
Romania.
18 | PRISPA team
FAQ
1.How much does the prototype cost? 4.What kind of structure does it have?
120.000 eur; this price includes structure, The load bearing structure for the PRISPA
finishes, both for interior and exterior, doors house consists of a system of load bearing
and windows, equipment (photovoltaics walls. Some of them are divided into
system, heating, ventilation and air structural panels and the rest are found
conditioning equipment, electrical and in structure for the two trans- portable
sanitary), and insulation. The prototype is modules: the kitchen + bathroom module
more costly than the industrialized version, and the technical module. The base
because some of the materials we used are materials are engineered wood products
slightly different than in the industrialized such as I-Joists and Oriented Stranded
version. The materials that differ from the Boards, also timber and, for the joining
industrialized version of PRISPA house, of the structural parts, a range of steel
have been chosen as such for the prototype connectors and bolts. For thermal
in order for the first PRISPA house to insulation, wool is used.
be able to bear 3 successive transports,
assemblies and disassemblies. The reason we went for a wood structure
is self-evident. Wood is one of the most
2. Is there an industrialized version of sustainable materials, it regenerates, and it’s
the house? If yes, is it more expensive, or flexible. The reason we chose an engineered
cheaper? wood structure is cost-related. Engineered
wood minimizes the wood consumption and
Yes, there is an industrialized version of it can bear the same load as plain wood.
the house and yes, it is cheaper. The more
successful the house becomes, the lower To add to the benefits and ease of
its price gets. Therefore, in the beginning, construction, part of the finishings
PRISPA house will be sold for about 90.000 are present in the structure when it is
eur, while after a year or so of selling, the transported, so it saves a lot of time when
price of the house gets 70,000 eur. assembling the house.
To be honest, we don’t feel the need As it happens with any other building, given
to invent anything, since our strategy the edifice is inhabited and maintained, its
advocates simplicity. We don’t mean to warranty lasts for 10 years.
reinvent the wheel, for fear it might come
out square. The technology already exists,
the things we lack are ways to regard it
and use it. What we’re doing here is new
methods of applying existing technologies.
20 | PRISPA team
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