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The Challenge involved the design and construction of 2 wooden ‘mini-houses’ by our Masters and Bachelor students from 4 of the School’s construction programmes. The aim of the Challenge was to promote resource efficient construction with one of the houses being built to current energy regulations while the other was built ‘passive house’ energy standards.
The houses then stood outside the Campus for a month, each trying to keep its contents, an 800 kg ice block, from melting.
On the Swedish National Day, 6 June, all was revealed! When they were opened, the current energy regulations house had 140 kg of ice remaining, while the passive house had nearly 340 kg. This gave students, staff, sponsors, friends and family a very hands-on demonstration that insulation works! For the university, it was also a chance to show the local community how students here test ideas and technology in reality.
The overall winner of the contest was Luleå University of Technology. However, our team was recognised in the category ‘Leadership in Material Reuse’, thanks to the inclusion of e.g. Dalarna sheep wool acting as insulation and old wooden boards upcycled from Folketshus skatepark as the façade; both would likely have been burnt if not used for our passive house.
The Challenge was documented via text and photos on the Sustainable Energy Research Centre's (SERC ) LinkedIn