This is what it's all about.
Did you know that buildings are one of the biggest emitters of CO2, accounting for 40% of total CO2 emissions? Global warming, the loss of biodiversity and the scarcity of resources show how important a change towards sustainable building and living is.
The ZHAW Wädenswil’s Ecotechnology Research Group and the Synergy Village Association aim to make climate-neutral, sustainable and sufficient living a tangible experience. The climate- and resource-efficient sufficiency house, or short «KREIS House», is a research project that links science and society. New solutions are tested and developed together with the visitors to create a living environment that helps to protect our climate and the environment.
This project is special because ...
Can you imagine sleeping, washing, cooking and even growing your own vegetables on 40m2? In the KREIS House in Feldbach ZH visitors can stay overnight in the house for a few days and experience and test climate-neutral, ecological and sufficient living for themselves. The KREIS House will be built on the property of Synergy Village, surrounded by idyllic gardens, artistic and historical buildings and two minutes from Lake Zurich. A unique opportunity for visitors to enjoy a relaxing time-out and at the same time learn about sustainable living and make a contribution to science.
For the latter, visitors take part in a scientific survey during their stay. The goal is to learn more about the acceptance of sustainable building and to identify potential obstacles. Based on this, improvement measures can be developed to promote the spread of sustainable living and building.
For those who cannot stay overnight in the house themselves, there is the possibility to participate in one of the regularly offered guided tours. Through didactic activities the awareness for sustainable living is promoted. A unique feature is that not only theoretical concepts are taught, but also how sustainability can be implemented in everyday life by each individual.
The findings from the project are disseminated through lecture series, media presence and scientific publications. In addition, construction consulting services are offered to realize the implementation of one’s own KREIS House.
This is what we need backing for.
The support is needed to finance the material and construction costs for the KREIS House. The KREIS House is designed with innovative applications from sustainable building and ensures that emissions to air, soil and water are minimized and resource cycles are closed as far as possible. The modular house can be built and dismantled anywhere and is transportable. At the end of its life, it can be dismantled into its individual parts. These can then be reused and recycled. The house consists of a residential unit with an attached winter garden and additional boxes to illustrate the various technologies used. Only ecological and healthy building materials are used. Climate-neutral living means building energy-efficiently and promoting the use of renewable energies. In the KREIS House the attached winter garden is living space, vegetable producer and power producer at the same time: semi-transparent solar modules produce solar electricity for the house. The built-in dry separation toilet saves water and enables the recovery of nutrients from the faeces. Urine and faeces are processed into fertilizer using special methods. To close the cycle, the fertilizer can be used in the winter garden or on the roof for plant cultivation. Lightly polluted wastewater from kitchen and bathroom is treated and reused in the building. The KREIS House is planned with a reduced living space. This allows the visitors to experience for themselves how great things can be achieved in a small space.
