Casa Automática is a Prototype of a modular house. This project uses a new approach to the building of a modular house, with the following objectives:
- low cost to acquire, maintain and use
- easy to transport, without waste of materials
- user-friendly for everyone e.g. tall, short and reduced mobility
The materials used are easy to find and relatively cheap. Iron, lightweight steel, osb3, rock wool, pladur, roofmate, different plywoods etc. With all the materials we maintained an imaginative use of their potentialities. For example, the cement plates of the walls. These will perhaps be considered the trademark of this project.
To install the house it will not be required to waterproof the land or construct any kind of foundation.
This T1 has 45 m2 interior, a 21 m2 porch and a small separate unit for utilities. The inside height is 2.54 m. Obviously this is not transported in one piece, but is divided into movable parts. The preparation for this (full lorry) should require approximately 3 days for a team of 3 people. With very little stress (unless you want to take the stones as well!)
The small utility module is equipped for a laundry, washing, drying and ironing. It also houses the heating system and includes good storage space.
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The interior of the house provides a cool ambient in the summer and is warm in the winter with both: good protection from rain + sun inside the house. The walls and roof behave in different ways in the summer and in the winter. In comparison, it works in the same way we use clothing. They are different for each season. If this wasn't the case, we would need expensive clothes as well as spending a lot on energy. For the houses, it's the same … it's important to save energy and money on the isolation materials.
Space division
Living room and kitçhen: 25 m2
Bedroom : 10 m2 + cupboard
Bathroom : 9m2
Porch: 21m2
Utilities module: 6m2
Porch of the utilities module: 6m2
Custom made and product design
This house was planned and built step by step over a period of 2,5 years. At every phase there was a new look and eventual decision taken after careful consideration of the objectives, always bearing in mind the idealised final result. From the stove with a chimney not requiring a fume extractor, the basic structure (skeleton) of the house, the walls, floor, rooftop, cupboard, in fact everything. It was often necessary to correct, undo and start again. We learned all the necessary skills; we created machines, ways of fixing things, combinations, functionality, looks, pieces and execution process. There is nothing like it in the entire world. Nobody has a house that is simultaneously transportable, does not require electricity to adjust inside temperature and is suitable for users with reduced mobility.
The constructional approach does not uses internal support beams. We are free to create large spaces (e.g 3 modules = 73 m2). Some walls are transformed into furniture with 2 sides.
The furniture is adaptable to your needs. Two wardrobes of 115*230 cm are adjustable to your height.
We create no physical barriers for reduced mobility users ... while providing an excellent ambience for all.
Thermal performance
Imagine a hot cup of tea near your hands, you’re not touching it but you are very close. The heat your hands feel is reaching you via irradiation. Now imagine you grab the cup, the heat you feel now is transmitted by contact. This simple trial, demonstrates the different potential of irradiation versus contact in thermal diffusion on solids. A regular house (bricks, cement) is in complete contact with the ground. This one, as well as many others made in wood, have a small area of contact. Therefore, the reasons that make a wood house an excellent option in the winter are the same that make them a terrible option in the summer. The energy that reaches a volume of 7x6.5x3m is huge. Without the ability to defuse energy by contact, a house raised from the land, has a big heating problem in the summer. The graph shown below demonstrates the variation of temperature in the house over the period Jul 5 – Jul 9 (hottest days in Portugal on 2013).
Registered conditions:
The doors and windows were kept closed from 7am to 8pm (until 6pm on the 8th day)
We use a low consumption air extraction device
We used aprox. 100 Lt of water under pressure a day.
No other electrical equipment was used except what was needed to register the temperatures
The outside thermometer was placed in the middle wall facing south and down in the shade. The inside thermometer is placed at 1,6 m height, in the middle of the house.
What's next?
Find the human resources and capital to enable us to develop a project of 3 / 4 houses which:
Don’t need a contract with an energy supplier being therefore autonomous and co-responsible.
Share land, installation costs and various equipment needed for: source of heat, storage and production of energy, grass cutting, extraction, filtering and water pressure etc
We will launch an on job training program in which customers will participate in the building process of their house.
Q&A
So, what are you looking for with this post?
- to find an architect and an energy engineer willing to invest in this project.
What is unique in your project? Why is it special? There are many other mobile houses ...
- no other, offering this quality of living and mobility depends so little on electric energy. Currently no one, making a rational decision, plans to be independent from a power supplier.
About the plan to include customers in the building process... What skills do you think customers must have?
- two good hands, they will learn new skills ... the work is executed in pairs, a mentor and a customer. Together they will execute 90% of the tasks.
On July 5, the temperatures were at their highest – what happened?
- The windows were open until 4 pm, a bad move under these weather conditions.
Can you improve the results?
- Yes, I can :), but we also known that these are very good results. I don’t know of any other comparable project with similar or better results. If you know, please tell us.
Why did you open the windows earlier on july 8th (at 6pm and not 8pm as on the previous days)?
- Because I've realised I was making the test unrealistic. After 6pm, I’m sure that most people would open their windows.
There is air conditioning apparatus that is relatively inexpensive. Why don’t you consider their use?
- The air conditioning will only try to remedy the situation; the problem (heated house materials) is not addressed. When working the air is cooled. However, once you turn it off, the temperature will raise again. What really matters is to prevent the house from getting hot in the first place.
But with good isolation material ...?
- In conditions as these (40º c), the more isolation material you have, the longer it will take them to get cooler. In fact, it works against you, as more materials need to dissipate their energy. Remember the expensive clothes.
And, what about the winter... How the house behaves in the winter?
- Its very good, no humidity or condensation and requires very low energy input. So low, that one central heating boiler (on pellets) should be enough to handle the central heating and hot water needs of 3/4 houses.
For more infomration please contact:
E: josecaramelo@gmail.com
W: http://casaautomatica.net/
Blog: http://casaautomatica.blogspot.pt
