HABITAT + WATER/ENERGY CONCEPT
BARTEK NAJMAN, CHRISTA HÖRBURGER
MAEBB 2021
Compared to the status quo building, HABITAT+ reacts to increasing water scarcity. To use water as a resource sparingly, greywater gets recycled. Greywater includes wastewater from the shower and hand basin. With the treatment of this water, 100% of the demand for garden irrigation as well as toilet flushing is permanently covered.
GREY WATER TREATMENT SYSTEM
Modern compact water treatment plants recycle 95% of the greywater. To not treat more water than needed a buffer tank will manage the surplus with a spillover into the public sewer system. 42000l per hour are recovered on average. The system automatically stops treating when the service water tank is full. With this system, the demand for irrigation and toilet flushing can be constantly supplied!
SOFT HEATING/COOLING
Water was already used as a thermal storage medium in ancient times, because water has one of the highest heat capacities at 4.2 J/(cm3K). Whether for cooling or heating, today’s technology (heat pumps) makes it easy to extract the required heat or cold. Based on climate research and calculations the conclusion to achieve maximum climatic comfort for HABITAT+ is:
4 months cooling period (summer)
5,4 months heating period (winter)
2,6 months neutral period (Barcelona’s climate needs neither heating nor cooling)
SPONGE ROOF
In case of a heavy rain event in Barcelona, the roof of HABITAT+ is acting like a sponge. 150mm of clay granules in the bottom of garden beds will store 80% of the heavy rainfall for 7 days before it is drained into the public system. With this strategy, the building prevents the public system from collapsing.
Green roof acting as a sponge
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HABITAT+ is a project of IAAC, Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia developed at Master in Advanced Ecological Buildings and Biocities in 2020 by:
Students: Bartek Najman & Christa Hörburger
Faculty: Jochen Schreer