Zola Enters the 2014 European Solar Decathlon

Intro to Solar Decathlon:

In 2002, Colleges and Universities around the United States, including the University of Colorado at Boulder, Texas A&M, and the University of Maryland (to name a few), assembled teams to compete in the first ever Solar Decathlon. For a Solar Decathlon, the premise is simple: to construct extremely energy efficient homes and power them with nothing other than solar power. This competition aimed to put on display new innovations in ecologically sound building practices and materials, all the while focusing on using the least amount of energy possible to address the ever-increasing demand for energy.

Once constructed, every aspect of the homes’ energy usage and efficiency is meticulously recorded and analyzed. While simple it is – easy it isn’t.

Until late 2007, the Solar Decathlon was a United States based competition. Now, however, the Solar Decathlon finds itself in Europe on even years, so this year (2014) design teams will find themselves competing in Versailles, France.

Techstyle Haus:

In partnership and cooperation with Brown University, the Rhode Island School of Design, and the University of Applied Science of Erfurt, Germany, Zola proudly fills the critical need for ultra-high performance windows in one of this year's most innovative Solar Decathlon entries; rightly named “The Techstyle Haus.”

The Techstyle Haus is being pursued with the highest of energy efficient building metrics in mind: the Passive House Standard (also known as Passivhaus) – a building method that demands a nearly airtight building envelope

The Techstyle Haus, however, makes significant and innovative design changes to what most people “know” typical Passive Houses to look like: unimaginatively boxy. Using high-performance textiles (hence the name “Techstyle House”), the design team has engineered the Techstyle House with graceful, organic curves made from cutting-edge and high-performance fabrics thereby shattering the stigma of architecturally boring.

Zola Goes Decathlon – An Example of Performance

Since The Techstyle Haus will be built to the Passive House Standard, high performance, triple pane windows are a must. Building such an impressive and demanding building envelope would be utterly pointless if such windows weren’t used.

Consider this brief example: If the build team were to build an ~R50 wall that was only ~50sq. ft. and designated 15% of the wall area (~7.5sq. ft) to a single window, and installed a typical R3 Energy Star window, the once impressive and high-performing wall now performs at roughly R15; an unacceptable and expensive loss in performance. However, should that Energy Star R3 window be replaced with a high-performance window (such as Zola’s Thermo+Clad window) with an R8.1 value, and utilizing the same dimensions, the wall assembly still performs commendably at roughly R45-R47; a much more acceptable, and still high-performing performance value.

Fitting the Techstyle Haus with remarkably high-performance, and visually impeccable windows plays a key role in helping the project succeed in its efforts for optimum energy efficiency, and overall revolutionary design.

Be sure to check back often for new updates and the progress of The Techstyle Haus as Brown University, the Rhode Island School of Design, the University of Applied Science of Erfurt, Germany, and Zola Windows take on the 2014 Solar Decathlon in Versailles, France.

(Computer rendition of The Techstyle Haus. Image courtesy of the Rhode Island School of Design.)

‍