The results of the Solar Decathlon Europe Engineering Award were just announced, and the winner is… Team Mexico's tiny, space-saving CASA home! Mexican students developed this tiny solar-powered home to fit into the interstitial spaces and empty lots in Mexico City. The design of CASA addresses the issues regarding contemporary urban living in Zona Metripolitana del Valle de Mexico (ZMVM) and its engineering win places it in the top 10 homes in this year's competition to develop the world's most efficient solar-powered home.
Some of the major issues the project addresses are overcrowding, water shortage, pollution, insecurity, limited mobility, and energy deficits within the ZMVM. Team Mexico created a prototype as an enclosure that works as a collection of flexible spaces that overlap functions and spaces. These units are flexible and can be adapted to different urbanistic and topographic conditions of the city. The team built a competitive version of the house for the renowned competition taking place in Versailles, France.
CASA’s system aims to offer a “toolbox”, which can allow the user to apply each component of the system according to their specific needs. The toolbox includes a lightweight modular structural system, hyper-insulated roofing, outer skin cover, with integrated photovoltaic panels, rainwater collection and edible vegetation, passive hydraulic and water heating system and furniture modules.
Instead of developing finished housing units, the team decided to create a more flexible solution in the form of a smart building system. CASA was designed to bridge residual spaces inside the city, such as empty lots, interstitial spaces within the infrastructure, in-between parti-walls and retrofitting existing buildings as an extension in rooftops or terraces. The project aims to densify built environments, diminish the cost of land and reduce the distance between people and their activities.