#higashida

And after eating......

Anime: WWW.Working!!, Episode 7

Anime: WWW.Working!!, Episode 6

The Kitakyushu Eco-house is the model house beside the Environment Museum. 

EXTERIOR

    ^ image source: takachiho-shirasu.com

Balconies and lattice bamboo screens are just some of the house's design responses against sunlight. The balcony serves as an overhang. The lattice screens act as sun shading devices, blocking the sun during summer, while letting heat inside the house during the winter. 

The exterior and interior material of the house is called shirasu-kabe, of which the raw material is shirasu or the white pumiceous soil of southern Kyushu. (Shirasu-kabe is somewhat like lahars). It has eco-friendly and energy-saving properties~

Shirasu-kabe helps prevent global warming by reducing CO2 emissions in two ways.

(1)Lower CO2 emissions during manufacture The manufacturing process used to make Shirasu-kabe consumes little energy and produces low levels of CO2. Manufacturing conventional or diatomaceous earth plaster materials requires grinding or kiln-firing of the raw materials, but the raw material used to make Shirasu-kabe is originally a fine powder, so it doesn’t need grinding. Since Shirasu is a natural ceramic material created from magma sintered deep beneath the earth’s surface, it requires no kiln-firing. Only sun-drying is needed to turn it into a wall plaster material.

(2)Lower CO2 emissions during use Shirasu-kabe’s outstanding properties enable users to save power used for air-conditioners, helping reduce CO2emissions.

Shirasu-kabe’s outstanding humidity-conditioning properties help purify indoor air and keep indoor humidity at a comfortable level, reducing the power consumption needed for air-conditioners and air purifiers.

Cool Summers with Less Power Consumption

Lower humidity reduces the effective temperature (the temperature you feel). Since Shirasu-kabe helps regulate indoor humidity, it helps lower the effective temperature in summer. Air-conditioners can therefore be set a few degrees higher, reducing daily energy consumption and utility bills. And since Shirasu-kabe is also a highly effective thermal insulator, it can greatly help lower the energy consumption needed for heating and cooling throughout the year.

source: takachiho-shirasu.com

INTERIOR

Besides using all natural and environmentally friendly materials, the eco-house still has many other features up its sleeves.

a layout that can be easily changed in accordance with the changes of lifestyle or life stage

Shirasu-kabe

improved thermal conditions owing to breeze ‘paths’ 

utilization of sunlight

Located at the first floor was a wall where all the monitoring systems for the whole house were.

A cross section of the wall is displayed on the living room of the first floor. According to the diagram located on its side, it seems like there is an opening or vent there where hot air travels upward. During winter, heat outside do not penetrate through the walls, thus keeping the enclosed area warm, while during summers, the heat exits the wall. This must be the property of the Shirasu-kabe.

There were many more board diagrams spread around the house that explained its eco-friendly design. Unfortunately, these were in Japanese so I couldn't read what's written, but I did try understanding the illustrations. 

Breeze Paths

  ^ The illustration above shows cold air passing through the roof, but is then converted to hot air because of the sun's heat. 

This hot air is then sucked inside tubes throughout the house using fans or turbines.

Now, where does this hot air go? The hot air gets sucked inside the house and into a tunnel below the first floor finish line. Vents on the floor, like the one pictured below, allow the hot air to exit and flow through the first and second floor. 

And such is the hot air path.

Now, regarding cool air path, the house's location of windows, openings and such allows for cross ventilation.

 There are inlets and outlets. Some of the outlets are not only windows but also small openings on the seconf floor ceiling.

And that's that for the "breeze paths".

Sunlight

The walls of the house are unbelievably thick. Well, I guess, they should be considering the layers of shirasu-kabe and the air vents on the walls. Also contributing to the thickness of the walls are the different layers of sliding windows. 

Besides the fixed glass part of the window, there were these sliding components allowing different amounts of sunlight from getting through the house. I found it very amusing and useful considering the different seasons in a year. 

The layers of sliding window included one that's entirely wood, one that's made of bamboo lattice, and the last one made of shoji paper. Depending on which layer is used, the amount of sunlight entering the room is monitored. 

A typical Japanese house has an open corridor or an engawa.

Engawa (縁側 or 掾側?) refers to the typically wooden strip of flooring immediately before windows and storm shuttersinside traditional Japaneserooms

source: wikipedia.org 

The Kitayushu Eco-house is no different. However, instead of being exposed directly to the outside, the engawa's enclosed within glass walls and roof. Since these are operable, wind can still pass through. During the winter, the glass parts especially help in heating up the surroundings. 

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