A totally green, smart home powered only by solar energy, able to successfully respond to the challenges that contemporary society requires in terms of designing and developing buildings and the new consumer needs, who are increasingly more attentive and sensitive to issues such as sustainability and Internet of Things.
This is ReStart4Smart, a project developed by La Sapienza University of Rome in collaboration with Whirlpool Corporation and other partners, competing at the Solar Decathlon Middle East 2018, in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, with the aim of designing and creating the best “Solar House” prototype. For the project, Whirlpool has offered its latest innovations in design and home automation. Indeed, the kitchen and laundry rooms in the house of the future is furnished with Whirlpool technologies and the suite of home appliances equipped with 6TH SENSE LIVE technology that redefines the way people interact with their household appliances, making it more simple, pleasant to use and energy efficient. The kitchen of the Solar House is also equipped with KitchenAid small appliances and accessories, which guarantee the highest quality and design.
“We are honored to be partner of La Sapienza’s team and support this important project that is fully in line with our purpose” – commented Karim Bruneo, Corporate Responsibility and Government Relations Manager of Whirlpool EMEA – “With the Solar Decathlon we continue to pursue our mission to promote and deliver technologies and innovations to our consumers as well as safe and sustainable housing solutions. We are proud to have joined the project and to contribute to the training of young talents in our country and internationally. “
The houses participating in the competition are fully functional from the day of the inauguration of the event, Wednesday November 14th, until November 29th, the day of the awards ceremony. The houses will be evaluated by an international jury based on 10 contests: architecture, engineering and construction, energy management, energy efficiency, comfort conditions, house functioning, sustainable transportation, sustainability, communication and innovation.
Today, consumers have reached an elevated level of awareness of home automation and sustainability and they are increasingly looking for smart, easy-to-use devices that can improve their living standards and facilitate a more sustainable lifestyle. Smart appliances allow for more freedom, which translates into immediate use and easy programming, as well as the opportunity to control the home.
Furthermore, Whirlpool’s presence reflects company’s sustainability strategies. In 2014, the company defined four global targets: energy and water intensity, elimination of landfill waste and transparency of materials; some of which were achieved earlier than expected. Thanks to projects and acquisition synergies, Whirlpool met, three years ahead of time, its goals to reduce energy and water consumption by 15%.
Solar Decathlon is an international biennial architecture, design, planning and engineering collegiate competition – launched by the US Department of Energy in 2002 – which aims to develop innovation and share knowledge and research in the field of renewable energies and sustainable architecture. The Solar Decathlon Middle East 2018 is at its first edition to be held in the Middle East.
“La Sapienza University of Rome, participating for the first time ever at Solar Decathlon, brings to Dubai a prototype highly innovative” – says Marco Casini, Faculty Advisor and Project Manager – “According to a revolutionary model of Architecture 4,0, the ReStart4Smart project includes the most advanced tools, materials and technologies and presents a house able to respond successfully to the several needs in terms of efficiency, comfort, safety and sustainability, called by the 21st century architecture. Among the most innovative elements there are the smart appliances by Whirlpool – main partner of La Sapienza team – which are connected to the cloud, feature very high energy performance and the possibility to get integrated to the whole home automation system and managed remotely via app.”
La Sapienza University of Rome, whose team is comprised of over 50 of the best university students, PhD students and Master students of the Departments of Architecture, Civil and Industrial Engineering, Political Sciences, Sociology and Communication, is the only Italian university competing in the event. The university teams taking part to the competition, coming from 15 countries worldwide, have been selected out of 60 applications by an international jury.