Independent in the city
CANOPEA: The Solar Decathlon Europe 2012 winning project
Brussels, 23 June 2014 | Published in Energy, EconomyWith the countdown to the Solar Decathlon Europe 2014 coming to an end, let us turn back time two years ago in Madrid to the previous SDE organisation to meet the winners of the competition...
There the French team Rhone-Alpes had submitted the winning design. What is the “Canopea” concept that allows to maintain the feeling of independence in an increasingly dense environment as well as a connection to nature when living in an urban context?
The Team Rhone-Alpes proposed a group of small buildings, called "Home-towers", which is part of a neighbourhood. This ecosystem, inspired by the canopy - upper floor of the forest capturing 95% of solar energy and 30% of rainfall -has four characteristics that echo the challenges of the Rhônalpin environment and more broadly to the metropolis:
- Individual comfort recreated in a group: each building, composed of up to 10 floors for a controlled density, is presented as an interweaving of individual spaces, which corresponds to an upstairs apartment.
- A window on the nature: each apartment, with a 360° view allows people to feel closer to the environment.
- Pooling of resources and services for environmental protection: each building will produce solar energy through integrated photovoltaic panels on its roof, and will have its ground floor and the top floor hosting services common. All buildings of the collective will pool these resources for greater autonomy.
- An integrated collective urban space: a connection to local transport network will be established to integrate the ecosystem in the existing urban area.
Do you want to get to know to the team and learn more about their project? Then you may follow the presentation “Being a Solar Decathlon Winner: The experience of the SDE2012 winner “Canopea ‐ Rhône Alpes project” ‐ what happened afterwards?” that will take place on 3 July 2014 from 15:30 to 16:00 at the chapiteau “Agorà”.
