Energy Plus House
- Smart Home Program supported by the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development -
2011 marks the opening of the so-called "Energy Plus House" model building with electromobility to the public in Berlin. The construction is a prototype home of the future which will generate twice as much energy as it uses. The surplus energy generated will allow an electric vehicle to be refueled right on the futuristic home's doorstep. All of the external walls are covered with solar modules, the insulation is state-of-the-art, and all electrical household devices have been selected according to their efficiency levels. Visitors to the blueprint home of the future will be able to witness the integration of urban living and mobility at first hand.
The design, submitted by the Institute for Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design (ILEK) at the University of Stuttgart represents a major advance in sustainable construction: the Energy Plus House shows that it is now possible to build one-family houses which create more renewable energy than they consume. This is made possible through the successful integration of solar thermal energy and photovoltaics and the optimal alignment of the house for the best possible use of the sun's energy. Energy produced in this way serves first of all as energy for further consumption (e.g. for electromobility purposes), with surplus energy directly fed into the public power grid (effectively increasing the renewable energy share in the national power mix).