Case Study

Energy and waste

build our houses. Most of the houses are build with expensive building material,

energy and creation of construction waste.

Approximately 35% of all the waste created on the planet is formed by construction waste.

Approximately 40% of the energy we use is used in buildings.

Open Source House The Context

Context Balance

The Aimand sustainable housing to improve the overall quality of life in urban areas.

•Supplying a platform that shares drawings and con-struction information in an open source way;

•Actively involve enthusiastic young people;

•Inspire people, corporations and construction compa-nies worldwide to contribute to the OShouse concept and develop sustainable housing.

Target group

Open Source House focuses on the lower middle class in developing countries. This is a deliberate choice in order to move away from donor-dependen-cy.

Contrary to the common perception, it is not only the poorest of the poor who are in desperate need of adequate housing. Rising property prices are one of the main challenges, forcing even teachers and nurses to live in informal settlements as they cannot

their way 2008).

As a group of architects and development experts we observe that although there are worrying phenom-ena, there are also possibilities of other ways of ad-dressing urban challenges. The challenge is to generate choice…

The exchange of knowledge between designers

-able designs of high quality, freely available?

Quality of the environment

today, especially so in developing countries.

UN: ‘ A billion people, about a sixth of the world’s population, already live in slumsand the percentage is rapidly increasing’

‘The combined forces of population growth and urbanization are creating a planet ofslums, where the urban population will have doubled by 2030, according to a reportreleased by the United Nations today.’ The Independent 27 June 2007

lack of money or housing shortage.

The challenge is to generate choice…

waste social mobility

open source attitude

growing population

slums around the world cheap alternative, no choice

open source

growing consumption sustainable design

more waste counteract personalize/diversity

growing informity

less quality young designers energy

slums thriving communities

Local economyThe design will have to be embedded in the local culture and econ-omy. Improve employment, and know-how and prevent transpor-tation.

Design according to Cradle-to-cradleThe future disassembly and material-use should be an integral part of the design. All organic and technical materials should be able to be separated completely. Natural resources used should be renew-able.

ClimateMake optimum use of location and climate conditions. Minimize energy consumption.

SizeAll OS-houses have to be designed on the local measurement sys-tem. Elements have to be transportable and exchangeable with other local OS-houses.

StructureSeparate the load-bearing structure from the demountable build-ing skin.

ConnectionsAll connections between components and the structure and com-ponents have to be dry and demountable. This makes disassembly easy and clean.

Building servicesand provide a sustainable way of living. The building services are smart, safe, upgradeable and adapted to the local ecology. They can function independent from the structure and skin.

Exchange All designs and ideas will be published and shared on www.os-house.org for other people to use, improve and get inspired. The designs, drawings and presentations are made in a clear, reproduc-ible manner.

8 Principlesall OS-houses should be designed according to

How to reach this?

Open Source House .

Sharing global knowledge for local solutions

Developmentin practice

8 OS house principles

The website os-house.org hosts an Open Source platform, where smart designs are freely available and where creativity is never lost.

design, which are freely accessible for everyone. People from all over the world can use the designs and improve or adapt them to their local con-ditions.

what could an OS-house look like?

house upgrade

2nd house

Open Source House is a revolutionary new idea, which introduces sustain-able, modular housing through Open Source design in developing coun-

houses. Moreover designers follow 8 principles, which stimulates sustain-ability. For example: make use of local materials, smart climate use, cradle-to-cradle design and sustainable energy supplies.

Open Source House starts with a Design Competition. The best designs will be awarded and realized in a pilot project in Ghana. The competition will

published on the online Open Source House platform as the starting point of a growing body of knowledge. This platform is freely accessible so that people worldwide can use the ideas, adapt, improve and share them again on the platform.

The location of the pilot project is Ghana. To create a serious design as-signment a thorough research is initiated to comprehend the situation in Ghana. At the same time further research is done on the concept itself. The pilot will test both social perceptions as well as technical and economic feasibility.

To generate creative input for the competition several workshops are orga-nized in Ghana as well as the Netherlands. These ideas as well as existing solutions are posted on the platform. So people joining the competition can build on these ideas and be inspired by them, according to the Open Source mindset.

Possibilities are being explored to implement the OS-house at a larger scale with a wide diversity of designs. After the pilot Enviu will facilitate local entrepreneurs to produce and sell the Open Source houses in their local context.

community

Open Source House Case Study

How big should a standard house be?For any modular building to be successful it has to be designed on a grid system.

In architecture there is long history of modular and prefabricated building. The casestudy design aims to take the best ideas of the past and use them to make a 21st century open source house.The French engineer Jean Prouvé. In his studies in the 1950’s he experi-mented a lot with modular building and housing for the third world. One of his best designs is the Maison Tropicale from 1949.

In Maison Tropicale Prouvé addresses several design issues which are to be dealt with in tropical conditions. The roof and the box protect the user against the rain and at the same time ventilate naturally. The veranda creates outside space which is pro-tected against the sun and, together with the roof, protects the box

house, without the necessity of extra construction.

StructureThe design of the structure should make it possible to build the struc-

beams which are bolted together connected with steel plates. The beam supporting the roof is made out of two parts and connected in the middle. This creates a three-hinge frame in which the beams are relatively short and can be transported more easily.The design of the frames is such that a second frame can be added on top

Foundation

-lation of building services is much easier The house is separated from the ground level and thereby protected from animals, dirt, water, etc. By add-ing a ventilation roster the house can be ventilated with cooler air which

Façade:

with Terry Farrell. His work is inspired by the work of Jean Prouvé and is renowned of his modular façade design.

The igus factory in Cologne is a good example of a modular façade, multi-

to detach separate components and replace them. This simple idea is the inspiration for the façade in this case study, the ease to change and build.

Floor / roof panels:The materials used in this design are supposed to follow the cradle 2 cradle philosophy, materials which are always able to be reused, without quality loss and rest-products.

-nection’ and because of the shifting of seem direction it insulates. These types of components are easily producible by local factories with local materials.

maison tropicale 1949

Herman Miller assembly plantBath 1976

oil barrel (foundation)cradle 2 cradle Holz100 c2c pannels

connections igus factory, Cologne 2000

connection outside cornerigus factory, Cologne 2000

connections overviewigus factory, Cologne 2000

maison tropicale 1949

R128 by Werner Sobek 2003Yacht House by Richard Horden 1984Experiments for Housing by Jean Prouvé 1950’s

crad

le 2

cra

dle

gr

ims

ha

wje

an p

rou

vém

od

ul

ar

Design References

section

rainwater storage

ventilation

sun boiler

ZN

detail

Local EconomyThe use of materials which are locally accessible, not expensive and easy pro-cessed because of the low-tech detailing.

Design according to Cradle-to-cradle

used again it is possible to recycle or doesn’t damage the environment.The steel used for the connections is reusable and recyclable. The untreated wood in the structure is reusable, recyclable and a natural material which can do no harm to the environment.

houses.The panels are completely reusable for other os-houses.

ClimateThe design is completely naturally ventilated and can, based on the context, be treated for local conditions: with insulation and ventilation. Rainwater is stored and heated on south pitched roof.

SizeThe design is completely modular, based on a system which is easy to use in

-

Structure

skin and roof. The skin has a separate zone in the measurement system, com-

ConnectionsBy using only bolts to construct the structure as well as the other compo-nents, it is possible to demount the building completely. And build it again

of the building.

Building servicesBy centralizing the services to a central point of the house there is less space needed for service infrastructure. Furthermore the space between the roof

ground is useable to place equipment to store water. All the panels are able

ExchangeThe design will be published on the website os-house.org and fully open to develop other solutions combined with this design.

Open Source House Case Study

possibilities

roof skin structure foundation

et

ce

te

ra

et

ce

te

ra

et

ce

te

ra

et

ce

te

raThe Principles in practice

Design by Bo Kristiaan Janssen, Vincent van Sabben and Vincent van der Meulen

os-house.org os-house.org os-house.org os-house.org

International Design CompetitionOpen Source House

www.os-house.orgThe Open Source House is an initiative of Enviu and Vincent van der Meulen

The Design Competition starts 15th of January, 2010 and is open for team or in-dividual participation.

The challenge is to design a sustainable house in an expandable way. The mod-ular construction should be suitable for

future owners.

1. Sign Up for the competition. 2. Discover the OS House platform while becoming an active member

3. Start Design Competition January 15th, 2010

4. Deadline for submission May 17th, 2010

5. Award event and start Pilot

6. All designs will be published on the Open Source House platform

Joining in is your chance to establish your name as an architect and to witness your design being built and sold to its new res-idents through our pilot in Ghana.

this still is your opportunity of becoming part of an online community of interna-tional architects that are excited about sharing solutions -able housing.

For more info visit www.os-house.org