"Lumen" means "the power of light." In German, "haus" means both
"home" and "house." Put the words together and you get lumenHAUS,
Blacksburg, Va.-based Virginia Tech's winning entry into the first
annual Solar Decathlon Europe competition, which was held in Madrid
in June.
lumenHAUS, a student research project, is the pilot project of
Virginia Tech's new Center for Design Research, which is housed in
the School of Architecture + Design. lumenHAUS was designed and
built by Virginia Tech architecture and engineering students with
assistance from faculty advisers and industry partners. Inspired by
Bauhaus architect Mies Van Der Rohe's glass pavilion-style
Farnsworth House, the 800-square-foot moveable house is a
zero-energy home completely powered by the sun.
Among many other sustainability features, the home includes
north- and south-facing sliding glass walls that allow large
amounts of natural light to enter the home; an indoor lighting
system through which energy collected during the day is radiated
back out at night through a low-energy, long-lasting light-emitting
diode lighting system; and 45 grid-tied photovoltaic (PV) panels
that adjust automatically to best capture the sun's energy in
all seasons and weather conditions. lumenHAUS's white PVC roof
membrane also helps decrease the amount of heat absorbed through
the roof assembly.
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