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ArchitecturAl Brief report

ethic, humAn SuStAinABility And Architecture: the eKÓ houSe

Our main concern and motivation are to integrate our vision of a new social ethic into architectural design research, concerning the Brazilian housing issue. We envision the potential for human sustainability within a world that has been undergoing a huge paradigmatic shift regarding social relations through the rise of the global network society. Our technology based society has expanded its power of wealth creation to the point where it has started to become its own barrier. Every new enterprise, in our case concerning Brazilian housing, must now involve an additional reflective loop about its potential ecological consequences.

Buildings are responsible for pollution and energy consumption not only during their fabrication and construction but also during their lifecycle. In this sense, ethic and human sustainability are conceptually connected with our ability to find more intelligent and light-footed ways to harness and use the finite resources of our natural environment. Our approach emphasizes that there is no contradiction between technological development and ecological sustainability. Innovation is a necessary precondition for development of our ability to address the ongoing ecological challenge, especially concerning innovation in housing.

Human sustainability is directly connected with our ability for continuous learning and knowledge development. Therefore, the production of academic and scientific knowledge is critical because it provides the underpinnings for the development of human wisdom. Architecture might play an important role in integrating the knowledge produced in different fields of study: engineering, construction and automation processes; renewable energy technologies; information and communication technologies; carbon emission reduction; social anthropology and local communities’ cultures. This integral approach for architecture may drive us towards more positive and sustainable actions, rebuilding the intangible sense of identity and belonging and generating the ability to bring deeper changes in society as a whole over time.

The team researched native Brazilian cultures in order to reconstruct positive social relations between local communities and the natural environment. This seeks to recognize how these relations were established in early times in Brazil and, at the same time, to explore ways to integrate these human values to the contemporary technological development, through beauty and reasoning, towards a more sustainable society.

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in the south façade seek to establish a dual relationship between the dwellers and nature, and the dwelling’s life cycle over time, integrating human and nature.

The Ekó House was developed in search of a paradigmatic change towards the future of housing construction in Brazil. The main goal of this first prototype is to have visitors or guests in the house aware of new sustainable technologies and their potential contribution, add some of these technologies in their next home, lead the construction market in this direction, and most importantly, understand the need to change their habits.

The Ekó House proposal seeks to integrate cultural characteristics, inherited from our indigenous ancestry, to scientific and technological knowledge. We revisit primitive living relationships and strategies, exploring passive comfort systems based on renewable energy, which are abundant within the diversity of Brazilian ecosystems. At the same time we search high-performance and advanced technological systems that can enhance the use of these natural resources, in order to integrate the actual needs of the contemporary informational and global society.

Team Brazil has been developing the concept of an integral house, integrating all constituent parts to the natural environment and the local culture. The Ekó house was designed to quietly sit at special places of the beautiful Brazilian landscape, by the edge of natural preservation areas, such as a beach called Praia Grande, next to the historical village of Paraty. While we have sought the relationship between architecture and landscape from our first steps, the new integral approach for the Ekó House brought the interweaving of building and landscape in the prolongation of the veranda´s lines and the composition of bamboo and glass panels that help to define the house skin. Likewise, the changing shapes and orientations of the horizontal solar blinds

The automation system informs users about the impact of their decisions on energy consumption as well as the impact on natural resources provoking a reflection on how our daily habits impact the environment.

eKÓ deSignEkó design takes its inspiration from the native Tupi-Guaranis, bringing out a Brazilian way of living that portrays the cultural miscegenation and adaptability of its people to the adversities in different Brazilian climates and social economic conditions, living in harmony with all nature cycles. The word Ekó in Tupi-Guarani means “living” or “way of living”. The Tupi- Guarani culture stresses the importance of the Sun as the main regulator of life on Earth. The design of the ekó house uses this as an inspiration to bring the cycles of nature and human beings together.Team Brasil has approached architectural design as a research tool to explore the formal advantages of blending local and traditional solutions with high performance technologies, using a combination of these elements to express an architectural language rooted in Brazilian culture and natural resources. Traditional building elements, such as bamboo and wood, are associated with an aluminum envelope and photovoltaic panels to provide shading and solar energy.The architectural concept consists in the complementarity between an insulated core with a minimized area and a living space with a maximized area. The reduction of the size of the inner housing core without compromising the comfort of residents and the quality of its space is essential to build more sustainable homes. The house skin opens up to the beauty of Brazilian natural environment through high performance walls, windows and doors that give the feeling of being in direct contact with nature and, at the same time, provides a cozy sense of home and shelter. The Ekó house aims to act as a living being, which extend the human body to live in harmony with the environment.

eKÓ living cycleS

The Ekó House is organized around the idea of natural cycles of human life integrated with natural landscape. The sun movement is central as it is the very core of energy supply. The coherent combination of elements of advanced technology with traditional techniques generates a new aesthetic pattern aligned with Brazilian culture, and also enables the use of local

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materials. The selected technologies allow a high degree of thermal control of the house, reducing energy costs. When combined with local materials and traditional building techniques, it will also provide a strong degree of cultural identification as well as a reduction in energy used for materials production and transportation.

• verandas and comfort balance

The use of verandas in Brazilian houses has historically appeared as a transitional social space and a filter to climate conditions, especially sun heat. The ekó design aims to reinterpret this traditional space using a new architectural pattern based on moving blinds and panels that adapt to ideal sunlight and lighting conditions, as well as privacy setting. The veranda serves as a buffer that protects the internal spaces from undesired radiation. These mobile elements help to improve the comfort and efficiency of one of the more traditional social spaces of Brazilian houses.

They change throughout the day and year to adapt to different uses and climate. This element encapsulates the dynamics of traditional Brazilian home, based on the duality between privacy and social life. When closed, they create a more intimate and shaded ambiance. When open, they integrate inner and outer space, creating a more public and social environment, allowing the sunlight and warmth to come in. The dynamic house resembles a living being that adapts to the dweller’s mood, cycles of nature and local climate.

The materials and dimensions of the inner core ensure the systems efficiency - with well defined boundaries - while the flexible and adaptable bioclimatic skin sustains the photovoltaic panels and filters sunlight. This skin configures the veranda’s space, and its apparent aluminum structure can be lined with local materials.

• internal space fluidity

The use of internal space is defined by a central transitional area for people to move around the house. Three modular spaces for cooking, hygiene, and resting are defined in line to the central corridor. This connection area brings flexibility to the project, adapting to different times of day and activities performed by residents.

The interior enclosure also enhances the Brazilian way of life, which often uses the cultural space of the kitchen as a place of family gathering. We seek to reinterpret this family Brazilian tradition which has been lost in our days due to the limitations of size and layout found in some modern dwellings. The Brazilian design of the furniture gives a strong identity to the interior, portraying the cultural diversity of the country.

Through the development of a furniture fixation system that allows for a better use of internal space, the residents can perform their daily activities comfortably with a smaller footprint. At the same time, they can develop a sense of belonging, feeling the space as their home and the house as part of the environment.

• engineering elegance

The Ekó House design embraces a notion of elegance in architecture and engineering relying on a modular ordering principles. It aims to achieve a reduction of visual complexity while preserving an underlying organizational multiplicity. The need to articulate complexity is central to the Ekó design as it incorporates and integrates a significant number of high performance systems in a small space. They not only provides a technical response to specific needs, but they are totally connected to the overall house concept. This connection is the very reason for a simple and elegant integration of architecture and engineering.

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engineering and construction Brief report

structuraL design - The structure was thought to meet different concepts of sustainability, having as premise: the use of materials that reduce thermal bridges, the use of renewable materials that provide carbon sequestration (CO2), use of design solutions that extend the life of the structure without requiring the use of preservatives and biocides, use of technologies that reduce material consumption while maintaining performance and structural stability of the whole; possibility of structural rearrangements according to the needs of expansion and / or modification of the design of the house.

Given these assumptions we have opted to use of a structural system consisting of solid lumber wood components (beams, columns, beams and amounts) and processed wood (bracing panels), within the concept of lattice structure. The structural modules are independent, which facilitates transport and assembly. It consists of a base module that contains the program of the elementary building (kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and mechanical room) and other modules that can be added to the basic module, according to the need of expanding, adding other functions and other rooms.

constructiVe design - To assemble the house, the use of small or medium size equipment is being planned, so we opted to reduce operations at the work site and design structural panels (vertical and horizontal) with the incorporation of: thermal insulation, plumbing and electrical, coatings and frames . Figure 1 illustrates a vertical panel with its components.

The incorporation of insulation, coating frames, windows and doors in the panels ensures better control of the details and reduces misplacement of components during manufacturing of the panel and assembly. This required a review of the mounting details of all components of the panels (steel joints, pieces of solid wood, bracing panels). As many of these pieces are complex and there are many interferences between components that must be adjusted, reviewing the project was made possible with the necessary degree of precision due to the use of the selected manufacturing and digital prototyping software.

The wood structure panels of Ekó House use basically 4 kinds of metal connections. The majority of them are steel equal angles (DIN EN-10056-1) of two different lengths, both commercially available in the country. Nevertheless, the team had to design multifunctional connections to fulfill special needs. A metal piece that connects one panel to another (wall panel with wall panel and wall panel with floor and ceiling panels) with small changes can be used to lift the wall panels. In addition to that, a unique hot-rolled structural steel piece, named “LigLong”, that connects lumber pieces on the floor and roof panels, joins one panel (floor and roof panels with floor and roof panels) to the other through a channel that guides the assembly process. Furthermore, the use of lifting eye bolt can also hoist those panels. Therefore, these two special steel pieces have a critical importance to the house assembly process, as they are used both to lift and connect all structural panels.

Another example of products specially tailored to Ekó House is external and internal finishing. Since most of them are transported already installed on the wall panels, they need to be resistant to unexpected assembly movements. The team has also incorporated part of the thermal insulation with this external finishing improving the system efficiency. Another finishing piece placed on top of wall panels’ junction avoids thermal bridges. Another example of such process is the development of a metallic frame as structure support to finishing panels, such as cement boards and glass.

The team applied the same reasoning, of using off the shelf components in unusual ways adapted to the Brazilian context and construction methods with the use of industrial processes. In that way, tools commonly used in Brazil furniture industry, like CNC router machine, were employed to produce some of the wood structure pieces. Other simple industrial strategies, not often implemented in the Brazilian building industry, were used as well. An example for that is the careful addressing of each structural piece, organization of pieces for mounting and the use of assembly devices to ensure quality, precision and quickness.

One week is the approximate time required to assemble the Ekó House 21 wall panels. This process mixes development of components, with strategies and equipment employed by some national industrial segments, such as furniture and car.

acoustic report - The Ekó House adopts different strategies to offer acoustic comfort to its dwellers. The Mechanical

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Room located outside the insulated core moves away all the noisy equipment from its dwellers. The bathroom located between the bedroom and the kitchen act as a buffer.

Structural panels have glass wool insulation incorporated in its structure. However, to acquire air tightness between panels is difficult and may create weak point in the acoustic insulation of the house. To solve this problem, the panels of exterior finishing are positioned in order to prevent theses weak point (the exterior finishing panels are composed of cement board and aerogel insulation). This system, together with the structural elements of wood, creates a discontinuity of mediums, the spring-mass principle, that assure a good acoustic insulation connected to fully tight openings made of PVC components and double glazing.

The most appropriate façade to be assessed during the event is the south. More than half of the area of this façade is composed by the four large glass panels. In that way, the acoustic insulation for this façade is intimately related to the performance of the windows. According to the measurements available by the manufacturer, the Rw of the window is 35dB.

pLuMBing sYsteM design - The plumbing system design was made based on the same concept of the Ekó House. The system allows us to use water at all the necessary points through a distribution system that combines ease implementation, maintenance and transportation.

The plug and play system that is still unusual in constructions in Brazil, reduces the installation time and allows the items to be reused. All the hydraulic system is situated in the wall that separates the kitchen and bathroom, which will be shipped with all pipes installed. Each point of use is connected to a manifold with individual register, allowing the maintenance of a point without compromising the functioning of others. These distributors are outside the house, easily accessible through a maintenance footer between the house and the deck, facilitating any verification and repair.

The potable water tank is located below the worktop of the north facade, conjunction with the washer and dryer machine. This location gives it easy access to supply and distribution of water for the house.

Waste water -Water is a fundamental issue at the Ekó House design. Therefore the Brazilian Team have sought to reduce water consumption, segregate, treat and reuse waste water at source and collect and reuse the rainwater.

The decentralized sanitation is an important instrument for the preservation of water resources in quantity and quality. Ekó House has a differentiated system for the treatment of their effluents. Feces and urine are arranged and treated in a segregated toilet that does not require water. This traditional composting technology is being perfected by many companies, especially in Europe, indicating a possibility of spreading their use in the future. These new technologies accelerate the composting process to avoid odors, contribute to reducing water consumption and allow the reuse of waste water in agriculture and gardens, closing nutrient cycles in nature.

The remaining waste water (shower, sink and washing machine, kitchen sink and dishwasher) will be treated by a natural system with hybrid filters and planted with macrophytes (wetlands) that enable, at the end of the process, a high quality water for non-potable uses, that will be used in gardening. The effluent enters into the tanks of wetlands after the removal of oils, greases, coarse solids, fibers and other solid particles. Free from these elements the effluent flows into the accumulation tank and is pumped first to a vertical flow wetland.

The system of wetlands is a simple and natural system that has both functional and compositional presence, with emphasis on the side of the house, with a staggered format representing the steps of the system. The SDE rules requires a separation between grey and black water, not allowing the treatment to be done jointly. In Brazil it would be possible to connect the grease trap to the others gray water tanks for treatment, as the grease trap already does the pretreatment necessary. rainwater Harvesting- The rainwater captured on the roof can only be used for irrigation during competition. With the implementation of the house in Brazil, this water could be reused in other uses that do not require potable water. Rainwater

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is collected through gutters located on the south facade, and are filtered in the downpipe (see PL - 221, PL - 223). This filtration removes impurities that are in the roof, such as leaves and other solid wastes. Entering the rainwater tank, the water passes through a brake of water, which serves to reduce the input speed, so that they do not suspend the waste that may be present in the tank bottom.eLectricaL sYsteM design - The Éko House’s electrical system has been applied to the optimal safety concepts and the house’s energy efficiency has been always taken into account aiming the minimal energy consumption of the house-hold appliances, engines and systems. The electricity generated by the photovoltaic system is cautiously handled avoiding power losses in cables, electrical equipment’s and accessories.

The modularity of the house needs easy electrical installation to facilitate transportation and the team work on the competition. The electrical installation has been thought to optimize the house’s module integration during the assembly phase. Therefore, we have used isolated flexible cable with 0.6/750 V voltage insulation. These cables are very easily integrated in the drywall and on the ceiling and are manufactured with wire end connectors.

House energy metering - Energy measurements is a relevant issue for a zero energy building due to its capacity to monitor energy consumption. When integrated with an automation system to inform instantaneous energy consumption of the house-house appliances, lighting and electrical components, it can change user behavior providing more economical ways to use electricity.

To perform energy measurements of the house we have used a general load meter to monitor the total house consumption. Moreover power meters PM9C installed in independent electrical circuits will inform precisely the hourly appliance energy consumption (See diagram EL-501). These power meters provided by Schneider Electric can measure instantaneous values of voltage, current, power (W, Var, VA) and kWh with time counter, with a Modbus RS 485 communication port.

pHotoVoLtaic sYsteM design General description

During the planning process, the energy generation concept of the building was investigated with several simulation tools. The simulations were focused according to the locations São Paulo and Madrid. Demand side management were studied to provide information about the house appliances consumption and to reduce electricity demand. Energy demand of the house was simulated by average consumption data from Brazilian households. However, these calculations began with estimations and high uncertainties but they have improved continuously insofar as new project definitions are being taken into account. Therefore, all appliances and motors were designed to the maximum energetic efficiency as well the lighting system that uses LED lamps with very low energy consumption.

The photovoltaic modules are integrated in accordance with the architectural concepts and its integration allows several parameters ordering its correct operation. Incidence solar irradiation simulation was investigated to improve the photovoltaic energy generation. The roof angle is adjustable and we have selected the highest angle that could fit into the solar envelope. The roof angle is close to the best module orientation, giving special preference to the best seasonal solar irradiation that maximizes the photovoltaic production compensating the production of periods of lower production.

Considering the limitation of 10kW inverter, we have installed an 11.04kWp photovoltaic system on the roof. The inverter maximum capacity is around 5% higher than the PV system installed power on the standard test conditions guaranteeing an optimal PV panels-inverter relationship. The modules face south with a 180º azimuth at a 15º tilt. Inclination is controlled through five different slopes (10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 degrees), which allows Ekó House to function with the most efficient slope in most of the country. The power production capability of Éko House is provided with 48 photovoltaic panels model SPR 230 WHT provided by SunPower Corporation (Figure 2). The modules are made with 72 next generation SunPower all-back contact monocrystalline solar cells providing highest efficiency and performance for residential use. Table 1 shows SunPower’s high efficiency advantage and its power production up to 50% comparing with conventional panels. The panel’s innovation

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reduces voltage-temperature coefficient and its exceptional performance provides high energy delivery per peak power.

The photovoltaic system is divided in two subsystems of 24 modules, being 3 strings in parallel of 8 modules by subsystem. Each subsystem is connected with one inverter SMA SMC 5000A converting the DC current from photovoltaic generation to AC current to rightly operate the house equipment and systems. The inverter model SMC 5000A is protected with galvanic isolation and a technology with active temperature management. The house data acquisition system can be connected with the inverter by way of RS485 or Bluetooth network. The electrical data, dimensions and operating temperature range of the converters is shown in Table 3.soLar tHerMaL design - The demand for hot water needed for daily baths, lavatory, kitchen and dishwasher is supplied through four sets of evacuated tube (U-pipes). The evacuated tube system has higher efficiency than the flat panels, allowing us to heat up water at a higher temperature. The system rests on the structure of Photovoltaic System with inclination of 15 degrees and possibility of maintenance through the same spacing as the Photovoltaic System. This system works taking heated water in a closed-loop from the solar collectors to a coil in the thermal tank, heating the water inside it for use. This tank has two internal coils, one to receive the water from the evacuated pipes and the other one to heat the underfloor water with the heat load of the water that is already hot internally. This proposal aims to use the excess of energy for the conditioning of the internal space, thus being a passive solution. The thermal tank also has an auxiliary means of a thermodynamic cycle, in which a heat pump removes heat from the atmosphere via the gas R-22 (most sensitive to heat) and transfers it to its interior, resulting in energy savings. It is located in the mechanical room, together with other equipment from the house. The connection of cold and hot water occurs at the bottom of the house, separated from the electric power connection and control which is situated in the upper part, ensuring safety and ease of maintenance without risks.

HoMe inforMation and autoMation sYsteM - Ekó House has several power meters that can independently monitor circuits such lighting, oven, general use outlets, etc. Thus, the users can see exactly how their behaviour influences energy use, and then, they can change their habits. Also, the Home Automation System itself can control some loads, such as turning off the standby power in audio/video devices if nobody is home or turning on the washing machine if there is a favorable condition for power use.

Many sensors and conditions can be related for climate control efficiency. All openings are monitored - if the HVAC system is on and someone opens a door or a window for more than a certain period of time, the HAS asks the user to close it. If not, the HVAC system is turned off automatically after some more time. Also, if there is no presence detection for a certain period of time, the HVAC is turned off too. Blinds will automatically attenuate the heating from the sun when needed.

Each internal lighting circuit has two operation modes - manual and automatic. On manual operation, lights automatically turn off after a period of time without presence detection. On automatic operation, lights will turn on due to presence detection, some of them (seven) will dim at the set point, and all these internal lighting circuits will turn off after a period of time of no presence detection.

Ekó House has two kinds of weather data - local and from internet. Local weather data is provided by a weather station that provides information about brightness, wind speed, temperature and rain condition. Data from internet is collected by Ekó House through a Brazilian open source software Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition system (SCADABR), which can access any weather source over the internet. Both data are combined to proceed with optimized strategies. For instance, if there is a high probability of rain when there is a need for irrigation, the house will save energy and water, letting this happen naturally.

Recent research points that many users just doesn’t know what they have to do to save energy, like the need of simply keep all openings closed during HVAC operation. Thus, the HAS can help the user to make the best practices along Ekó House operation, remembering also about maintenance tasks (like change water and air filters). Dweller education is critical in Ekó House design. Any efficient building performance can be thwarted by inefficient use by dwellers. So the education of the dwellers is a priority.

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ENERGY EFFICIENCY bRIEF REpoRt

Energy efficiency is applied in Ekó House through different and concurrent strategies. Three main strategies are applied: Design (bioclimatic and otherwise), systems efficiency and, finally, user efficiency.The building envelope design can reduce or increase the energy consumption of the building systems, particularly, the energy consumption of the HVAC system. By design the building envelope to best take advantage of climatic conditions, HVAC peak load can be reduced, as well as average energy consumption.The majority of hours of thermal discomfort in Madrid are caused by cold. Keeping the building’s indoor heated must be the main concern. As such, the building envelope is thermally insulated to enclose internal heat gains. This strategy takes advantage of normal operation of energy consumption systems and equipments to reduce heating energy required from the HVAC system. The insulation is further increased by wrapping the envelope with a unidirectional vapor barrier. This vapor barrier reduces losses through envelope through water vapor (It also protects the wood structure from dampness).However, Madrid’s summer is warm. A well insulated building risks overheating during hot spells. To address such risk Ekó house features an overhang in the southern façade and a brise soleil for the western and eastern façades. The southern overhang is tailored to Madrid’s latitude. The overhang shades the glazed area in the summer (reducing HVAC cooling load) while allowing the sun to shine on the glazed area in the winter (reducing the HVAC heating load). The overhang and brise soleil also a play complementary architectural role extending the house to the exterior, integrating energy efficiency measures

Figure 1. Shading of the house, according to the need of the façade

and architecture in one single design.The HVAC heating load is further reduced by the use of double glazed with argon air chamber and lowE coating in the windows. The double glazing with the argon air chamber increases the thermal resistance of the windows. This feature helps to keep the house heated. The lowE coating on the external glass pane (on the surface facing the air chamber) increases solar gains, further reduces the HVAC heat load in cold days.Design also helps energy efficiency in other aspects. For instances, the solar collectors and the boiler are aligned with the bathroom. This placement reduces the distance between the water heating system and its point of use. This reduces energy losses increasing the hot water heating system efficiency.The implementation of energy efficiency is complemented by the search for efficient energy consuming systems. On one hand this means choosing the most energy efficient systems possible for each task. Efficient HVAC, 100% Led lighting, and low energy consumption domestic equipments are examples of this implementation. But system efficiency goes beyond choosing low consumption energy equipments.Additionally some systems are in place to reduce energy consumption. Motorized blinds are installed on the southern façade. They respond to climatic conditions shading or uncovering the glaze to help keeping indoor temperature within the dead band. Semi passive climatization systems offer options lower energy consumption to the use of air conditioning.

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- Air flow rate: corresponding to approximately 3 air renovations per hour;Based on these criteria, an air distribution system was designed with a fan/pulverizer that is controlled in order to maintain the indoor air relative humidity no higher than 75%. In order to control this condition, a relative humidity sensor is installed in the two main rooms (bedroom and kitchen) providing the feedback signal to turn on/off the water pump that supplies the water with the proper pressure for the pulverizer.Therefore, during the operation of this system, the fan will run continuously while the pump/pulverizer will operate intermittently, based on the indoor air conditions. The intake duct of the fan will be placed underneath the house floor, in order to provide a lower dry bulb air temperature for the system, which will increase the efficiency of such system. Another relative humidity sensor will be placed outside the house in order to evaluate the outdoor air conditions. This will prevent taking higher relative humidity air flow in the system, which could deteriorate the indoor thermal comfort conditions.

2. pAssIvE hEAtING sYstEMA passive heating system was designed and it will provide heat for the main areas of the house (bedroom and kitchen). Based on the thermal simulation of the house for the local temperature conditions at the period of the year when the competition will take place, it was evaluated that a radiator of the 110 W for each room would provide proper thermal comfort conditions for each area. Therefore, one radiator will be installed in each area and they will be connected to the solar heating system. The control of the heating system will be done by the occupants by opening the water valves of each radiator.

3. AppRoAChEs FoR ENERGY EFFICIENCYCentral to the operation and coordination of all the systems is the home automation system (HAS). The Ekó House HAS integrates all systems in the home. Thus, several logics can be implemented at any moment regarding any system in the house, due to the HAS flexibility. Among others, the main approaches for energy efficiency are:

1. Electricity monitoring and control: Ekó House has several power meters that can independently monitor circuits such lighting, oven, general use outlets, etc. Thus, the users can see exactly how their behaviour influences energy use, and then, they can change their habits. Also, the HAS itself can control some loads, such as turning off the standby power in audio/video devices if nobody is home or turning on the washing machine if there is a favorable condition for power use.

Those passive systems strategies are described below:1. EvApoRAtIvE CooLING sYstEMFor a passive cooling strategy, an evaporative cooling system was designed using a combination of mechanical ventilation and water pulverization.The design criteria for this system are:- Outdoor air dry bulb temperature: 27 to 29°C;- Outdoor air humidity ratio: 4 to 6 g water vapor/kg dry air;

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2. Internal climate control: Many sensors and conditions can be related for climate control efficiency. All openings are monitored - if the HVAC system is on and someone opens a door or a window for more than a certain period of time, the HAS asks the user to close it. If not, the HVAC system is turned off automatically after some more time. Also, if there is no presence detection for a certain period of time, the HVAC is turned off too. Blinds will automatically attenuate the heating from the sun when needed.

3. Lighting control: each internal lighting circuit has two operation modes - manual and automatic. On manual operation, lights automatically turn off after a period of time without presence detection. On automatic operation, lights will turn on due to presence detection, some of them (seven) will dim at the set point, and all these internal lighting circuits will turn off after a period of time of no presence detection.

4. Weather data integration: Ekó House has two kinds of weather data - local and from internet. Local weather data is provided by a weather station that provides information about brightness, wind speed, temperature and rain condition. Data from internet is collected by Ekó House through a brazilian open source software Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition system (SCADABR), which can access any weather source over the internet. Both data are combined to proceed with optimized strategies. For instance, if there is a high probability of rain when there is a need for irrigation, the house will save energy and water, letting this happen naturally.

5. Dweller education: Recent research points that many users just doesn’t know what they have to do to save energy, like the need of simply keep all openings closed during HVAC operation. Thus, the HAS can help the user to make the best practices along Ekó House operation, remembering also about maintenance tasks (like change water and air filters).

Dweller education is critical in Ekó House design. As equipments get progressively more efficient the impact of the dwellers in the energy consumption of building increases. Any efficient building performance can be thwarted by inefficient use by dwellers. So the education of the dwellers is a priority.

Figure 2 Example of Ekó House brightness measurement tests. Data collected by SCADA software.

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SUSTAINABILITY BRIEF REPORT

1. INTROdUcTION: SUSTAINABILITY cONcEPT APPLIEd

Team Brasil has envisaged Ekó House as a Brazilian approach towards an integral house: A house that could bring about human prosperity without harming nature. We believe that the country should demonstrate an example for sustainable economic growth and that Ekó House could present in a small scale, a relevant contribution for it. It is imperative for such a project in Brazil to consider sustainability in broader terms, including social, economic and cultural aspects. Following these principles, Ekó Houses are temporary homes or lodges that support keeping remote – not attended by electric grid – communities in their places. They should act as educational devices, affording a sustainable living experience for the guests. The costs of the temporary house will be shared by a greater number of individuals, and the house education benefits will be greater than if it would be designed for private owners. In addition to have a close contact with the wild natural environment, the guests will be aware of the impact of each activity they perform and decide how to change their habits in order to reduce their impact. They will be exposed to new technologies and sustainable systems taking a more conscious decision in their new homes or even in their daily activities.

2. BIOcLImATIc STRATEgIES: PASSIvE dESIgN STRATEgIES

Ekó House’s design has incorporated several strategies from traditional Brazilian homes, which are associated with state-of-the-art technologies and some simple solutions that are not familiar to most Brazilians. We have considered different climatic conditions, however considering Madrid climatic conditions for the competition period we have focused on cooling systems for dry hot days and heating systems for cold nights.

- Sun orientation

Ekó House has a longer east-west axis, with larger glass panels on the south (north hemisphere) to allow winter heating and direct sun control during the hot seasons. Windows on the south façade provide good natural lighting distribution and are protected from the cold winds. The glass eastern and western doors open to verandas that provide thermal buffers spaces, protected by dynamic bamboo shading devices. The bedroom benefits from the eastern morning sun. These bamboo devices open to bring more light in the darker winter days or to

increase the semi-public space. During the summer they afford different levels of light control to reduce glaring. The solar orientation and the position and size of openings provide adequate natural light for most of the year eliminating the use of artificial light throughout the day. The internal curtains allow residents to have better control over the lighting levels that enter the house during the day. These strategies allowed a high degree of daylight autonomy, greater than 60%. Natural light autonomy diminish with the venetian blinds closed, but even in this situation, natural light provides illumination levels that meet the dwellers needs for the different spaces and can also be used to illuminate the house for most of the year.

- Passive cooling systems

The Brazilian team has designed an evaporative cooling system using a combination of mechanical ventilation and water pulverization as a passive cooling strategy. An air distribution system with a fan/pulverizer controlled in order to maintains the indoor air relative humidity not higher than 75%. The intake duct of the fan will be placed underneath the house floor, in order to provide a lower dry bulb air temperature for the system, which will increase the efficiency of such system. Besides this system, the position of the openings in opposite facades promotes natural cross-ventilation inside the house, improving comfort conditions with no energy consumption.

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3. WATER

Fresh and potable water is a precious natural resource. To guarantee a rational consumption of this resource, Team Brasil proposes integrated solutions. The water consumption will be managed and informed by the automation system, thus dwellers will be able to avoid waste. The decentralized is an important instrument for the water resources’ preservation, in both quantity and quality. Black and gray water are stored and treated separately. Our house uses a composting toilet that doesn’t requires water.

- Passive heating system

The south facade has a great potential to direct solar gains, also the openings on east and west facades can contribute for direct solar gains, warming inside the house on cold days. Nevertheless there is a risk of overheating and to avoid that solar gains are controlled by both static and dynamic shading. Besides the strategy for solar gains, a passive heating system was designed and it will provide heat for the main areas of the house. One radiator will be installed in each area connected to the solar heating system. The occupants control the heating system opening the water valves of each radiator.

This toilet has a technology that accelerates the composting process to avoid odors and contribute to reduce fresh-water consumption. The wastewater from shower, sink and washing machine, kitchen sink and dishwasher will be treated by a natural system planted with hybrid filters macrophytes. After this process the water can return to the environment without harming nature. Due to European regulations, the rejects from the kitchen sink and dishwasher during the competition will not be treated at the planted tanks. Besides these systems, Ekó House collects rain water at the roof and store in specific tanks, than it can be used to water plants and other uses that do not require potable water.

4. SOLId WASTE

-Assessment Plan

The design process of Ekó House envisaged to minimize solid waste generation during the life cycle of the building, through the strategic use of resources, pre-fabrication processes and the assembly and disassembly method, which generates little waste.

By digitally building the Ekó House with parametric softwares, we could optimize the use of resources, for example, defining the measures of aluminum pieces according to their production measures in industry, significantly reducing the residue generated during manufacturing.

Computer Numeric Control Machines (CNC) prepared the prefabrication of wooden structural components. Through the of these equipments in conjunction with digital prototyping, it is possible to reduce the waste of material, both for the accuracy of machine operations as for optimization of material consumption through parametric design.

Ekó House consists on ready-to-use components (structural panels with embodied installations and finishings) that can be assembled and disassembled quickly. This characteristic enables the assembly and disassembly process to generate little waste, as fixings are through quick coupling devices and/or screws. Given the educational characteristic of Ekó House, Team Brasil has plans to expose the house in several places in the country. The house components are transported on structures (Racks) stored in very compact space, minimizing the use of packages each time the house is transported.

The project is composed of interchangeable components and easily separable from the whole, so maintenance is easier,

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contributing to prolonging the life of the building and at the time of disassembly, materials and components can be easily separated, which facilitates reuse or its proper disposal. The Ekó House project is of great importance for the country, since it breaks paradigms and proposes a more rational and efficient construction and a new solution to the waste management in building sites.

-management of domestic Waste

Domestic waste, when well managed, can reduce significantly the volume of rejects to be discarded. However, housing projects shall provide adequate space for waste storage. Ekó House provides dry waste storage compartments, separated by type of waste. The project provides a space for the composting organic waste, proposing an integrated solution to the design of the external area. Nevertheless, this system will not be used during the competition.

5. mATERIALS

-Wood

The Ekó House project uses approximately 5,4 cubic meters of Brazilian native hardwood, a renewable material, which is the main structural material of the house. The growth of trees retains CO2 present in the atmosphere, the growth of 1 TON of dry wood consumes more than 1.7 TON of CO2, incorporates 0,48kg of carbon and releases 1,22 TON of oxygen to the atmosphere (Brazilian Council for Sustainable Construction - CBCS, 2009).

The structural wood is named Cumaru, wich is highly resistant to fungi and termites. To improve its natural resistance, a waterproof water-based solvent was used on the exposed surfaces of the structure. The fact that is not necessary to use chemical preservatives in the wood due to its natural resistance to biological attack, facilitates its reuse, recycling and allows it to be discarded as low toxicity waste. The internal floor is made ok of Brazilian native Garapeira wood. This colorful wood is very resistant to decay fungi and has a great durability for this use.

-Forest Origin document

It is important to stress that both structural and floor native woods have a Forest Origin Document (Documento de Origem Florestal - DOF). This documentation uses computerized systems to control the flow of wood, and ensures that the wood used in Eko House has a legal origin.

-deck Wood

The wood used on the external deck is a thermal modificated wood, the thermoteak. Thermal modification of wood is a chemical-free process that results in a permanent change in material, improving durability and giving technically useful properties. This treatment increases the resistance of wood against attack of fungi and also their mechanical properties such as compressive strength. Due to the chemical-free treatment, the deck wood can easily be reused or discarded as non toxic waste.

-Aluminum

Being a corrosion resistant material, aluminum has great durability when exposed to weather, facilitating systems conservation in buildings and reducing the cost of maintenance. This material has an infinite possibility of recycling and, due to its properties, as a high market value. Recycling allows the used aluminum to be reincorporated into the production chain, thus there is a reduction of environment impact, energy saving and reduction in investments for the production of primary aluminum

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Ekó House uses approximately 2000kg of aluminum, applied in many solutions for outer space as the deck structure frames, verandas (which supports the bamboos panels), roof tiles, mechanical room structure and the Support Structure for the photovoltaic panels. These systems are exposed to the weather and the use of aluminum ensures greater durability to them, and also facilitate the installation of these systems due to the lightweight property of this material.

6. SOLAR FAcILITIES

According to simulations, the Ekó House energy balance demonstrates that the energy generated is sufficient to meet consumer demand throughout the year. These data consider the operation of the house in Madrid.

7. EqUIPmENT

Ekó House’s appliances has the National Program for Energy Conservation Label (PROCEL), which aims to guide the consumer, indicating levels of energy efficiency of products . Using PROCEL class A appliances we ensure efficiency in energy consumption for Eko House, in addition to promoting awareness about the importance and benefits of investing in efficient appliances.

An Ekó House peculiarity is the use of washing line (varal) as an alternative for drying clothes. In Brazil this system is widespread and for most Brazilian families is the only resource to dry clothes. Along the year, throughout the Brazilian territory has good insolation conditions, so it’s easy to take advantage of this resource for drying clothes with no energy consumption.

Artificial lighting is designed to complement natural lighting, which according to simulations presents efficient throughout the year. To further optimization the system, artificial lighting internal and external uses LED, which guarantees savings in energy consumption, lower maintenance and longer lifetime of the system.

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industrialization and market viability brief reportMARKET VIABILITY OF THE PRODUCT

Team Brasil has joined researchers from different areas working collaboratively towards a temporary home design, to be placed near remote and fragile natural environments. A relevant education purpose has driven most of the house features and team decisions. Although starting in a small scale, the solar efficient lodge should be able to impact a significant number of users, professionals and legislators.The proposal not only considers technical aspects of house prefabrication, transportation and assembly, but also integrates the projectwithin an economic, social and cultural scenario for a more sustainable country growth.

The high costs of such a house will be shared by a partnership of actors that do not work often together – the public sector, NGOs and the private sector – in areas with potential for sustainable tourism in Brazil. This system requires organizational skills and ability to develop an integrated approach to key issues. The enterprise will be located next to secluded communities with similar characteristics, such as absence of electricity grid connection and other infrastructures, young and working population emigration, loss of cultural habits, and natural environments particularly attractive to tourists. Analogous conditions are common to several communities, particularly along the Brazilian coast. Many of them have already suffered severe consequences from tourist industry, which change the economic balance, degrade the environment and originate social conflicts. Our proposal is aligned to few initiatives of community tourism that aim to benefit local dwellers and visitors’ experience.

TARGET SOCIAL GROUP

The target group is divided in two distinct individuals. The first group will be the tourists who will temporarily occupy the house and will be described below. The local groups, who will manage the tourist business but will not be the final house’s users, will be described with the Geographical Location. A survey conducted by the Brazilian Ministry of Tourism with a sampleof 2,322 interviews of Brazilian tourists 18 years-old or over, social class A, B, C and D, illustrated that 45.1% of current tourism customers and 38.9% of potential customers tend to stay in hotels, followed by 22.2% of current customers and 28.4% of potential customers who usually stay in lodges. Concerning activities, beach is the place Brazilians most like to visit on trips, mentioned by 45.1% of current customers and 47.4% of potential customers.

In the last ten years the average income of Brazilians went from R$6,800.00/ year in 2000 to R$17,500.00/year at the end of 2010, according to projections of the Central Bank and the Department of the Treasury, representing a net gain of about 30% within a decade. During part of that period (2003 to 2008), the income of the 10% poorest population rose 8% per year, while the income of the richest 10% of the population rose 1.5% per year. The tendency is that this rhythm should be maintained inthe next years. In the past years the portion of the population belonging to the class C has grown, reaching 50.5% of the total in 2009. This change represents a contingent of about 29 million people who were added to this group between 2003 and 2009. The combination of increased population and income means that the class C already represents the segment with the greatest purchasing power in the country. The increase in purchasing power of previously excluded segments quickly becomes effective consumption. Thus, considering this economic growth, Team Brazil envisages a large number of prospective consumers that can bring about opportunities to generate local jobs and adopt alternatives to reduce the environmental and cultural heritage impact. Our target group is constituted by individuals from the A, B and part of C classes, who are aware of sustainable issues and we may assume that this group has a predominance of college educated guests.

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TARGET GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION

Although we have designed the Ekó House for different Brazilian ecosystems, we chose to study one particular region in order to evaluate its potential. This region actually embeds characteristics common to most Ekó House target places: lack of infrastructure; not connected to the electrical grid; fragile ecosystem; natural attractiveness for tourism; threatened local community. The case study site for Ekó House is located in a beautiful beach near a historical city on the coast between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Paraty was an important port for shipping gold to Portugal, founded in 1667. The city was listed as national cultural heritage because of its architectural ensemble that still marks the presence of the colonial period. It is an important destination for both Brazilian and overseas tourists. Besides the rich cultural value, Paraty is known for its beautiful beaches and environmental preservation areas, which comprise over 80% of the municipal area.This caiçara community is descendant of fishermen families, with little contact with the city, used to traditional agriculture to complement their meals and provide basic components for medicines, construction and small artifacts. They also run a restaurant and use their boat for the tourists’ transportation. Another relevant debate is that they are not connected to the city electrical grid. The electrical company plans to connect the community in 5 years. However, many NGOs disapprove this connection due to the environmental impact. In order to maintain the caiçaras in their place, one should provide sustainable economic alternatives for their living, avoiding the neighbor community experience, currently overwhelmed by the tourist demand. Through the Ekó House beach lodge, the Team Brasil aims to preserve the caiçaras’s traditional activities such as fishing, planting, making handcrafts and cooking. The tourists would learn more about the local culture and activities. The existing restaurant would be based on local traditional food and will sell community handicrafts. In addition to that, the lodge will guarantee clean energy to the community based on the Ekó Houses power surplus.

ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY STUDY

The Brazilian market has great potential to promote sustainable development in small tourist towns that lack basic infrastructure. According to the latest estimates from Getúlio Vargas Foundation and Ministry of Tourism, in August 2011 more than half of families with income level above R$ 9,600 (54.4% of the population) expressed their intention to travel in the next six months, the second largest percentage was found among those with income range between R$ 4,801 to R$ 9,600 (38.4%).

Considering we are planning to spread education towards more sustainable ways of living, we aim to host a broad group of people in the solar lodge. The accommodation price of the Ekó House lodge would be too high or the payback would be too long if we do not provide possibilities to share the price with other actors. There are financing options through the National Bank of Social and Economic Development where part of the expenses is assumed by the bank in order to generate social development. A partnership already initiated with the local authorities and Team Brasil facilitates this type of line of credit

The solar system, on the other side, can be totally supported by the electrical company through existing regulations. The electrical company contract specifies an obligation to deliver energy to this community.However, they may spend a compulsory charge in consumers’ bill for research and development in such initiative. Therefore, they are able to give away the entire photovoltaic energy distribution systems and, at the end, they will spend a lot less than laying a traditional grid through the park, which is under strict preservation laws. In addition to that, the municipality is

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especially interested in our project, inviting our group to participate in the reformulation of the environmental regulations for Paraty, because the lodge can be considered a paradigm for many other communities along the coast and surrounded by the national park. With the support of the electrical company for the photovoltaic and energy systems and tax exemption from the municipality and state, the final daily rate goes down to between €130 and €160. A modest 2 bedroom house is usually rented in the neighbor community for €450 the night. As part of the long term agreement between government, private companies and NGOs the beach lodge will be able to reach more people and improve the local community.The Praia Grande initial implementation considers the construction of 10 units. In case it is successful another 10 unit maximum could be assembled in the complex. The experience can be replicated along the Brazilian coast, following this first initiative

INDUSTRIALIZATION DEGREE

Traditional construction methods and materials, based mostly in concrete and bricks, have characterized Brazilian building industry. Pre-fabrication is an exception and any initiative in this directions is not an easy task, particularly through the use of materials such as wood and aluminum. To overcome these difficulties the Brazilian team has had to ally the use of commercially available components, with others developed by the team. Windows, deck and metal tiles roof systems, aluminum profiles, structural timber pieces, cement boards, wood floor, most of ceiling modules, some of the structural metal pieces, among others, are off the shelf components, easily available on national market. However, due to some characteristics of Brazilian building industry, and some particularities of the prototype, the team has developed several components.The wood structure panels of Ekó House use basically 4 kinds of metal connections. The majority of them are steel equal angles (DIN EN-10056-1) of two different lengths, both commercially available in the country. Nevertheless, the team had to design multifunctional connections to fulfill special needs. A metal piece that connects one panel to another (wall panel with wall panel and wall panel with floor and ceiling panels) with small changes can be used to lift the wall panels. In addition to that, a unique hot-rolled structural steel piece, named “LigLong”, that connects lumber pieces on the floor and roof panels, joins one panel (floor and roof panels with floor and roof panels) to the other through a channel that guides the assembly process. Furthermore, the use of lifting eye bolt can also hoist those panels. Therefore, these two special steel pieces have a critical importance to the house assembly process, as they are used both to lift and connect all structural panels. Another example of products specially tailored to Ekó House is external and internal finishing. Since most of them are transported already installed on the wall panels, they need to be resistant to unexpected assembly movements. The team has also incorporated part of the thermal insulation with this external finishing improving the system efficiency. Another finishing piece placed on top of wall panels’ junction avoids thermal bridges. Another example of such process is the development of a metallic frame as structure support to finishing panels, such as cement boards and glass. Both the cement boards and the glass panels are glued on the metallic frame to stiffening the set, allowing room for other uses. The team has placed thermal insulation on the external finishing panels, while electric and logic cables and plumbing are located internally. The structure support pieces are fixed in the structure wall panels to receive the already assembled metallic frame, screwing later one into the other so they do not fall during transportation. Inside the house the structure support has some slots that allow the dweller to easily hook cabinets, shelves or paintings without difficulties. This is a significant improvement, when compared to market available products. Both the metallic frame and structure support are develop through industrial processes of cutting, folding and welding sheet metal, including the use of computer numerical control (CNC) machines when precision was essential, all of them known and available by companies throughout the country. The team applied the same reasoning, of using off the shelf components in unusual ways adapted to the Brazilian context and construction methods with the use of industrial processes. In that way, tools commonly used in Brazil furniture industry, like CNC router machine, were employed to produce some of the wood structure pieces. Other simple industrial strategies, not often implemented in the Brazilian building industry, were used as well. An example for that is the careful addressing of each structural piece, organization of pieces for mounting and the use of assembly devices to ensure quality, precision and quickness.

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Image 7 - Cement boards already glued on the metallic frame; gluing process and structure

support for the finishing panels

Image 1 - CNC Router cuting a structural wood piece

Image 2 - Wall panel assembly devices and wall panel assembly devices detail

Image 3 - Addressing and organization of wood pieces assembly

One week is the approximate time required to assemble the Ekó House 21 wall panels. This process mixes component development of components, with strategies and equipment’s employed by some national industrial segments, such as furniture and car. This experience has given us confidence that the national industry scenario, supported by products’ research and development, has the conditions to embrace this kind of prefabricated building production. Furthermore, with the adaptation to different climate conditions and the Brazilian regional context provides room for cost reduction.The cautiously detailed drawings have presented noteworthy advantages for local industrialization in Brazil. We plan to decentralize production to use local labor and materials. Thus, the Ekó House will have different finishing adapted to each location tradition. In addition o that, the use of local wood avoids long distance transportation, diminishing material changes due to temperature and humidity supporting also local industry. Such construction drawings can be precisely followed by any constructor within the country.

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CommuniCation and soCial awareness brief report

introduCtion

The name Ekó House connects “Ekó” - a native indian word that means way of living and also relates to ecology - to House. It raises the message that we could reach a more ecological and sustainable dwelling through changes in our way of living. Team Brasil communication effort addresses informative initiatives that motivate our public targets to search for more sustainable homes. Education is a central issue and is applied in many aspects throughout the project, from the communication actions to the way Ekó House will be inhabited, always spreading our main message: a way of living in harmony with the environment.

analysis of the situation

We have some special opportunities in our country at this moment that influence our communications project. We face a moment of significant economic growth where most of the population has the means of improving living standards. One of the most important plans for the national government is a major housing plan to reduce the huge deficit in the sector. Most cities throughout the country have significant areas of informal housing and affordable housing is a critical focus of governmental initiatives. This national housing plan has an additional objective to provide new jobs to improve the economy. However, this plan focus on traditional construction methods that are labour demanding and time-consuming. There is an urgent need for modernization in this sector, but few initiatives to change the situation. Modernization is needed to adequate the construction industry to the new reality of wages and type of labor people are willing to do, to achieve a construction method that uses resources more wisely, to make buildings that use less energy, and to try to diminish the housing deficit. But the most important part of it is to initiate the discussion on sustainable growth.

According to researches, 87% of the Brazilian population accesses the web at least weekly and 38% do it on a daily basis, giving us a large group to reach through that mean. One of the factors that increases our reach is the extensive use of social networks, that also have a multiplier factor due to the fact that people can share the things published on them. Our challenge in this media is to hold people’s attention, once architecture is not usually a subject of common interest in Brazil. To achieve that, we worked on attractive ways of giving information, always attaching pictures, images and videos. To check the efficiency of this strategies, we have measured often our actions through statistics of access, investing effort on those that gave more return.

definition of the CommuniCation objeCtives

Team Brasil’s main message is spreading “A way of living in harmony with the environment”, and our communication effort addresses informative initiatives that motivate our public targets to search for more sustainable homes. Education is a central issue and is applied in many respects throughout the project, from the communication actions to the way Ekó House will be inhabited.

Following this principle, the main public targets are concentrated in the Brazilian construction field - current and particularly future professionals - and individuals in general who are propelled to include sustainable actions in their daily lives. We believe this groups concentrate those who have better possibilities to speed up changes in Brazil towards more sustainable housing, and can spread this knowledge further. The focus in these groups does not exclude the broader general public, children or youth, but clarify our objective targets and the delineation of our actions.

The website is our main communication tool due to its low cost, full control by the team in addition to easy and direct contact to sponsors, team members and public in general. Team Brasil redesigned the website in order to integrate the blog and to provide room for a comprehensive description of the project and of the Solar Decathlon Europe. Based on this, the goals of our communication plan focus on impacting people, highlighting the importance of carrying on a more sustainable lifestyle, technologies and construction methods, strengthening the connection between home and natural environment. We believe that a house can be a supporter of men’s lives in harmony with nature instead of a barrier to it, and that men can live in

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• Target audience and message overview 1: college students

Starting with our friends and classmates, then their friends and so on, many people come in contact with the Team and the project. Social media and blog are very important for the dissemination among undergraduate students. We informed this public about new technologies, other sustainable projects being developed, new releases in the area, news about the team and also multiplying the experience acquired in such a program. The result expected is that we will have, in a close future, professionals with more knowledge and awareness about sustainability and that will take into consideration all the aspects of it while designing.

• Target audience and message overview 2: professionals and companies of the construction sector

This is the audience that can have an immediate action, and is the one that needs to be convinced not only of the importance and necessity of a change, but also of its advantages (including financial ones). For this audience, the message focuses on technical material, presenting options available that are more sustainable and their advantages.

• Target audience and message overview 3: families with a previous interest in more sustainable homes

The design of the Ekó House focus on temporary homes for individuals who visit wild places, while having an experience of future possibilities of sustainable dwelling. So the message should be able to reach this public as well.

• Target audience and message overview 4: public in general

Due to its large number, it is important to motivate the change in lifestyle in this group, because even a small change, if widespread, can have a great impact. To reach them we made use of the website, social media and traditional media. The idea of this message is to prepare material easy to understand in easy-to-implement systems and technologies. The initial approach is to get people engaged and aware of the importance of their actions, followed by examples of changes that can be made in each home.

• Target audience and message overview 5: children

For children, we held presentations in schools and are preparing a special visit to the house in the Villa Solar, presenting the Solar Decathlon, the project and the sustainability concept in it. For this public the content will be prepared in a simpler way and focusing on planting a seed of concern for the environment. The result expected is to have citizens, in a further future, that understand the need for a sustainable life style and adopt it.

harmony with nature instead of harming it, and we hope we can show that to our public through educational actions, where we want to increase people’s awareness, encouraging actions to achieve a more sustainable lifestyle.

identifiCation of the target groups

To achieve this, our main target audiences are: students, children, professionals and the general public. For each one of these audiences the message is different since they have different knowledge levels and interests.

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message establishment

The main message Team Brasil wants to spread is the need and importance of carrying out a more sustainable lifestyle, presenting ways this can be done. Our goal is to spread information about sustainable technologies, encouraging people to apply them.

aCtions desCription

previous to the competition

Due to the extensive use of the internet by Brazilians, we used the website as our primary communication vehicle. Online we reach a significant number of people at low cost, and can always update and add information. Additionally, we kept a blog as part of our website where bilingual blog posts increased the audience for our message, and the visits to the website. We have also had a “series” on the blog, featuring different themes such as energy savings in the house, waste management and solar energy. The website also holds information about the team and members as well as about the Solar Decathlon Europe, it’s history, link to the website and links to the other participating teams’ websites. In Facebook we share information about new posts in our blog, news about the team, links related to sustainability and other things. We also use this space to publish pictures of the team, showing the “behind the scenes” of the project. On Twitter the same kind of information and approach is used.

Also focusing on the educational side of our communication strategies, we also brought the SDE to the classrooms, we gave lectures about the project, the team, the Solar Decathlon and sustainability in general to kids and college students. To get their attention we developed some appropriate material, concerning language, content and design. The coordinators used the examples and concepts in their classes, and we had decathletes give special lectures in other classes and universities.

To reach a larger scope of the General Public, we had the publication of articles in magazines, newspapers and television channels, informing about the project and arousing interest. We believed there would be interest due to the singularity of this event and the importance of representing Brazil in such an important competition, and we were right.

On May 4th we had an event in our construction site inviting partners, sponsors, and prospective sponsors. The event was a success, and after it the number of websites and news agencies that interviewed the team and published articles increased rapidly. On our last check, the Ekó House appeared in over 160 different websites.

All these actions resulted in a Communication Plan that is innovative for having used the latest technologies, has a broad reach and was almost free of cost (US$ 100 for website domain and template and US$ 100 estimated for posters and leaflets for the construction site event - made at the University’s printing office for free).

during the competition

The actions that have been planned for the period of the competition are a bit more general, joining some target groups that require similar information. Thus, we will have professionals and students of related areas in the group for the technical tour. Kids will have their own tour. Teenagers, young adults, students of non-related areas and the general public will go into the open tours. The technical tour will present more technical data, as well as more details on the house manufacturing, materials and so on. The kids’ tour will be done in a more appropriate language and content, also having some educational games for them.As representative of Brazil, during the competition Team Brasil also wants to show what Brazil is all about, showing the attributes of our country, sharing our culture and our happiness of living. To do so, we are planning on cultural activities to be carried on in the villa solar. These activities will happen in different moments of the day, and will help to entertain the public waiting in line, as well as show a bit of the use of our verandas as a social place.

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* Untill Aug 10th

date (2012)

event

April 4th, 2012

Lectures for children - A full day of lectures about the SDE, the Ekó House and sustainability at the Autonomia school. The lecture was given to 4 different classes, with kids from 12 to 14 years old.

May 4th, 2012

Construction Site Event - We received our sponsors and partners and also prospective sponsors. There was a presentation of the project and a tour on the construction site of the house. It was a success!

May 28th, 2012 ASU visit and lecture - A group of students from ASU (Arizona

State University) on a Study abroad trip came to see the Ekó House construction site. They also had a lecture given by the team about the SDE, the Ekó House and all its features. It was an interesting experience of exchange.

June 4th, 2012

Lecture at Unicid University - Team Brasil held a lecture at Unicid, Universidade da Cidade de São Paulo. The lecture was open to several classes, having a broad public. It presented the SDE, and the Ekó House.

June 21st, 2012

Lecture at FAU-USP - Team Brasil gave a lecture in a class of FAU-USP (College of Architecture and Urbanism of USP). The team presented the SDE, the Ekó House, and talked about the project detailing.

June 20th-22nd, 2012

Rio +20 - It’s the major conference of the year. The main sponsor of Team Brasil, Eletrobrás, had a stand and showed a video of the team during the conference.

June 13th-30th, 2012

House visitation - Team Brasil held guided tours to the Ekó House construction site for students from the College of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of São Paulo.

events held previous to the Competition

Website Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug* Total

Visits 555 430 471 272 334 300 561 1259 3608 1463 1014 729 10966

Unique visitors 332 239 233 144 175 173 332 791 2672 992 730 553 6783

Page Views 2196 1588 1515 885 1224 1512 1674 4536 14625 4982 3164 2648 40549

Average Time of Visit

04:10 04:00 03:11 02:52 04:02 05:19 03:19 03:45 04:54 03:51 03:01 03:22 04:04

Media Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug

Twitter followers 38 135 186 168 178 170 174 182 189 199 208 210 214

Facebook fans 99 116 133 140 145 203 219 231 364 613 694 749 794

Facebook friends - 526+ 620 651 659 694 712 796 828 868 903 920 939

Blog Total views 691 974 1129* 1296* 1345* * * * * * * * *

Video views (Spanish)

27 29 36 42 43 46 47 48 49 59 60 61 61

Video views (Portuguese)

783 897 1156 1365 1427 1607 1658 1878 2004 3576 5694 6026 6329

Video views (House structure)

45 73 86 104 217 303 480 1060 1351 1550

Video views (House assembly)

601 1043 1155 1333

*Redirected to the new website

social medias e videos - number achieved in the corresponding month

website - numbers for each month and total for the period

traCking table of the CommuniCation aCtions