Design that uses natural light to generate energy
Two temporary structures erected last year, at a festival and major building event respectively, demonstrated how natural light could be used to generate renewable energy, inspired by or exploiting biomechanical methods
Sol Dome, Michigan
Obviously solar power as such is not new but Loop.pH has demonstrated a new approach to it, part of the London art and design studio's quest to explore renewable energy and its potential influence on the urban environment.
'We have a vision for an entirely new type of architecture that responds and adapts to its environment, similarly to a plant and its surrounding ecosystem,' says co-founder and creative director Rachel Wingfield. 'We dream of a living architecture that photosynthesises, moves and orientates in accordance to the sun.'
The SOL Dome was installed as part of the 2013 Fall In...Art and Sol Festival in Michigan. A lightweight structure weighing just 40kg, it measured 8m across and was 4m high. It was constructed from thousands of individually woven circles of a composite fibre of carbon and fibreglass called Archilace, developed by Loop.pH.
Solar cells were located at the base of the dome, storing energy during the day to power a circular matrix of solarpowered LED floodlights. The rotational breathing rhythm of the light was driven by an onsite CO2 sensor.
The geometry and construction of the dome is based on the chemical, molecular bonds between carbon atoms. 'When each fibre is bent into a circle it is like charging a battery, creating a taut energetic structure,' says Wingfield. 'It is an entirely new way of creating architectural spaces based on textiles.
'Large-scale solar energy supply will only be possible if we can find an inexpensive storage mechanism,' continues Wingfield. 'Transferring solar energy into chemical energy - chemical bonds - is one of the most promising approaches. The dome structure is an example of this type of stored energy.'
BIQ, Wilhelmsberg, Hamburg
Microalgae - tiny single-celled plants roughly the size of bacteria - are playing an increasing role in a range of environmental applications, one of the latest being as part of a bioreactor facade. The BIQ was the first building in the world to incorporate such a facade.
It formed part of The Building Exhibition within the Building Exhibition, part of IBA Hamburg, a year-long programme of exhibitions, events and conferences in the city and region featuring innovative constructions, materials, energy concepts and new architectural forms.
The sides of the 839 sq m building that face the sun have a second outer shell set into the facade itself, in which the microalgae are produced. Cultivated in the glass elements that make up the building's bio skin, the algae photosynthesise and grow using sunlight, in the process producing energy, controlling light and providing shade. A separate water circuit running through the facade supplies a continuous flow of liquid nutrients and carbon dioxide, enabling the house to supply its own energy. The greenness of the building, signifying the process in action, is part of the architectural concept.
The light not used by the algae is absorbed by the facade and generated as heat - this is then either used directly for hot water and heating, or conserved below ground using borehole heat exchangers (80m-deep holes filled with brine). This can create a cycle of solar thermal energy, geothermal energy, a condensing boiler, local heat, and the capture of biomass using the bio-reactor facade.
The algae are also harvested, fermented and used again to generate biogas (they apparently produce up to five times as much biomass per hectare as terrestrial plants and contain many oils that can be used for energy).
The project cost €3.4m (£2.8m).
More Algae Power
On the subject of microalgae, French biochemist Pierre Calleja, founder of French industrial biotechnology company Fermentag, hit the techie headlines with his work on a microalgae lamp that provides its own electricity and purifies the air of CO2.
In this case the microalgae act as solar cells, using photosynthesis to charge the lamp's battery, while simultaneously providing a high level of CO2 absorption. The reality check is that the tiny amounts of electricity generated means that a trillion cells photosynthesising for an hour produce the same amount of energy as stored in an AA battery.
But Calleja envisages using the technology to develop lamps for street lighting and for purifying the air on busy motorways (he estimates a tonne of CO2 per lamp per year). He has already introduced a lighting system for underground car parks, city streets and other urban landscapes. These bioluminaires take the form of tubes of water in which the pale green microalgae absorb light through the day, and emit it after dark.
iba-hamburg.de/en/themes-projects/the-building-exhibition-within-the-building-exhibition/smart-material-houses/biq/projekt/biq.html youtube.com/watch?v=wuWDex5mh5Y
