Case Study: Techstyle Haus

The Techstyle Haus prototype has excellent green bonafides; it’s bedecked in high-tech flexible solar panels, and it’s a passive-house construction as well. But … rather than being made of solid brick or stucco walls, it’s actually made of stretched fabric that’s backed with a netting system, into which is tucked a glass wool insulation. Thus, the building can be extravagantly curvy but well insulated as well.
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– Fast Company Magazine

Techstyle Haus is entirely solar-powered and conforms to the Passive House Standard, the highest international standard for energy efficiency. It is built with tensile fabric walls, giving it unique curves. The project utilized Zola’s Thermo Wood windows. After the summer 2014 Solar Decathlon Europe, the house was moved to its current location at Domaine de Boisbuchet, an arts retreat in Lessac, France that is using the structure as a dormitory for visiting artists.

Between 2013 and 2014, a team of 60 students at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Brown University and the University of Applied Sciences Erfurt, Germany (FHE) designed and built a solar-powered fabric house as part of the 2014 Solar Decathlon Europe – an international competition in sustainable architecture (held in Versailles, France). The 800-square-foot house gets its name from its highly durable woven-fiberglass fabric walls.  The house features Zola European windows and doors. In addition, Zola Windows partnered with the Techstyle Haus team, providing expertise on window design and on-site installation support to get the most out of the high-performance products.

‍Passive House Plus magazine noted that this project’s designers faced a daunting task: create a highly efficient solar-powered house from scratch, build it with materials that had never been used before in residential constructions, then get the entire assembly to France for an international competition. This mammoth task was more than just successfully executed. Techstyle Haus finished third in the “comfort conditions” category and received significant attention from the international press, including the New York Times, Le Monde, and the Huffington Post.

Praising the project for “excellent green bonafides,” Fast Company Magazine named the Techstyle Haus one of only nine finalists in the Students category of Fast Company magazine’s 2015 Innovation by Design Awards.  Zola Windows recently took a closer look at this project to understand what makes it extraordinary.  

What makes this project outstanding?

This projects uniqueness lies in its ultra minimal energy consumption. “The Techstyle-Haus was designed to use only as much energy as a blow dryer to keep it warm in the winter and cool in the summer. This prototype building has its own intelligence. To analyze regularly the atmosphere and energy consumption, all metrics behind the architecture are constantly collected.” ~ Domaine de Boisbuchet. The Providence Journal called it “super-efficient.”

‍What Zola Windows product lines does the Techstyle Haus use?

The project utilizes Zola’s Thermo Wood windows.

How do these product lines contribute to the success of the project?

Zola’s Thermo Wood windows are built in R-11 glass standard with an industry-leading 18mm spacer thickness. Thermo Wood is a high-performance product line suitable for projects seeking the beautiful contribution of wood windows without compromising energy efficiency. A triple gasket system provides an air and weathertight seal, increasing the thermal performance of the windows and doors, and increasing the interior comfort provided by this line. These high performance windows result in comfortable, even indoor temperatures. Techstyle Haus finished third in the “comfort conditions” category at the Solar Decathlon.

What were some of the challenges of building a fabric house to such rigorous energy standards?

The Techstyle Haus team were fortunate to have two partners who helped realize the unique architecture of the project. The Performance Plastics division of Saint-Gobain provided the engineering, patterning and the material for the exterior membrane. The woven fiberglass shell called Sheerfill, commonly used for large-scale roof structures such as stadiums and airports, is rarely used for residential applications but provided the perfect product for the complex curves of the exterior.

Transformit, a leading designer, producer and installer of interior tension fabrics, provided assistance and teaching for the interior fabrics. The upper skin, closest to the insulation, was made from light-blocking fabric, and the lower, visible skin was made from stretch polyester spandex. The two layers were held apart by an aluminum frame, which in turn was attached to the house’s steel frame. Transformit won the Outstanding Achievement award from the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) international fabrics awards.

‍What is the science behind this cutting-edge building?

Passive House Plus: When the outside temperature rises, phase-change materials in the house’s mechanical core change from solid to liquid, trapping unwanted heat in the process. When the temperature cools, the materials solidify, releasing that trapped heat to keep the house warm. Read the full article about the Techstyle Haus in Issue 12 of Passive House Plus.

The Techstyle Haus project was initiated by Jonathan Knowles, RA, Associate Professor of Architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design and managed by Jonathan and his colleagues Derek Stein, Associate Professor of Physics at Brown University, and Ludwig Rongen, Professor of Architecture at FHE. Jonathan is an expert in building technology and experiments in unconventional construction systems. He has over 25 years of experience designing and managing large-scale architectural projects. Knowles has been teaching at RISD since 2001. He was co-project director for RISD’s 2005 Solar Decathlon entry in Washington, DC and project director for RISD’s 2014 Techstyle Haus entry in Versailles, France. He has taught at the Parsons School of Design, Cornell University and Columbia University.

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