Design
The design of the ICON Solar House is rooted in the familiar shape of an American family home. The gabled roof is a traditional form that has long been associated with the concept of home. We believe that merging new technology with familiar imagery is a vital symbolic step in the transition from traditional building methods to an energy efficient future.
The gabled shape provides challenges in optimization for solar collection. It limits the surface area for collectors, and it restricts the angles at which we can mount the panels. By adjusting the geometry, we have created a gabled form with enough surface area and appropriate angles for solar collection.
The ICON Solar House combines unfamiliar technology with the popularly accepted imagery, in order to create a new tradition. We hope that this adjusted gable form will become a new icon of solar and sustainable homes.
ICON Team Goals
- Market Transformation
- To plant a seed that will further encourage widespread acceptance of solar-integrated, sustainable housing by 2015.
- Innovative Sustainability
- To create a prototype that demonstrates innovative thinking about sustainability.
- Regionalism
- To create a prototype that demonstrates regionally-appropriate approaches to sustainable design.
- Learning
- To provide opportunities for hands-on, interdisciplinary learning to participants and visitors.