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1_MedPress
MED in Italy: the Mediterranean house
Solar Decathlon Europe 2012 is a contest that aims to produce innovative, sustainable, self-sufficient housing prototypes, especially thanks to solar energy. The Solar Decathlon competition started in the United States in 1999, promoted by the Energy Department, and in 2002 was carried out the first event in the National Mall of Washington DC. In 2010 the competition was also moved to Europe, in an area around the city of Madrid, with the name of Solar Decathlon Europe. From 2013 the competition will take place in Beijing, China.
During the course of each edition, which has biennial alternation, 20 selected University teams from all over the world compete in building a house supplied by solar energy and with technologies fit to maximize its energetic efficiency. Universities take part in the contest with multidisciplinary teams through the scientific contribution of teachers and students’ work, who are involved throughout the entire conceptual and accomplished process.
For the first time Italy has been selected to participate at the competition.
The «Med in Italy» team, formed by several teachers from the faculty of Architecture, Economy, and Engineering of Rome3 University and by a small team of industrial design from the Sapienza Rome University, supported by the active contribute of students, aims to design a house rooted in the tradition of the Southern Mediterranean and in its real culture, in a dialectical relationship with the contemporary world.
Within an advanced and contemporary language and building-technique method, the project is oriented towards environmental sustainability sceneries based on the optimization of climatic and material local resources.
The project includes the economic sustainability: low cost transport thanks to lightweight materials, low cost buying by using poor and economic materials, low embodied energy thanks to natural and renewable materials, low environmental impact thanks to local materials and a dry assembly.
At last also the social sustainability, generated by a strong adaptability of the housing project to disadvantaged territorial environments, whether depressed areas depend on climatic and / or economic and political conditions (see some North African areas ) or areas to be urbanised after natural disasters (like earthquakes).
«Med in Italy», even remaining a sound model also in its detached house configuration, for a wider flexibility of use can generate multiple configurations, leading to different residential building types, through assembly operations among building units.
This objective will allow a more resalable model with a wider and more varied spread.
Since the concept of a highly innovative building involves very high engineering and prototyping costs, and also know-how specialized technicians, it also needs the financial and technical support of industries.
The housing prototypes in the competition will be exhibited in Madrid in the summer of 2012 where they will be subjected to 10 contests (hence the name “decathlon”): Architecture; Engineering & Construction; Energy Efficiency; Electrical Energy Balance; Comfort Conditions; House Functioning; Communication and Social Awareness; Industrialization & Market Viability; Innovation; Sustainability.
