Students of ČVUT built a solar house and are going to a competition in the USA with it

Prague - Students from the Czech Technical University in Prague have built an ecological solar house, inspired by a country cottage. From today, the public can visit the house in front of the Faculty of Architecture in Prague's Dejvice, after which the students will take it to a competition in the USA. Named AIR House, the project is fully energy self-sufficient, and its price is expected to be around three million crowns.
The house, measuring approximately 13 by 13 meters with a usable area of 55 square meters, is entirely made of wood and features a large terrace covered by a pergola. One side of the house leading to the terrace is entirely glazed, and the interior consists of one large living room with a kitchen, followed by a bathroom. The terrace also includes a small summer kitchen, with external access to a utility room and a small bike storage.
"The house is designed as a cottage for environmentally conscious people at the peak of their productive age, which can serve as a full-fledged permanent residence in retirement. It is inspired by the Czech tradition of cottage living," said the authors. The prototype's price has risen to 300,000 US dollars (approximately 5.9 million crowns); the students obtained funding from several grants, the university, and sponsors. The authors hope that some company might embrace the project in the future and produce it as part of regular production. The price would then reportedly be around three million.
The AIR House obtains all the energy needed for household use and to ensure an optimal indoor climate from solar radiation. The concept is based on the principle of a house within a house, with the exterior shell consisting of solid wooden panels and wood fiber thermal insulation. The second shell is a wooden pergola that mitigates thermal load, generates electrical energy through photovoltaic panels, and provides warm utility water through solar collectors.
The Faculty of Architecture took the project under its wing, but the competition team consists of students from the entire university. "Sustainable development in construction is an official trend on one hand, but surprisingly it is not carried by public opinion. At the Faculty of Architecture, we want students to realize that this is not a fad, but a necessary evolution," emphasized the faculty dean Zdeněk Zavřel.
The students worked on the project for nearly two years, securing funding and promotion besides the design. The actual construction began this June directly in the Dejvice campus of the Czech Technical University. It will remain here until the end of July, and in the last week of the month, the structure will be disassembled and sent to California for the Solar Decathlon competition. Twenty competition houses built by university teams from around the world will compete among themselves in October.
After the competition, the house will be sent to the newly established University Center for Energy Efficient Buildings in Kladno, where it will serve research purposes.