If you’ve been looking to rent or buy a home in the past few years, you’ve probably noticed that there is a severe housing shortage in the United States and around the world. Millions of people need homes, but there are few around. Many creative and affordable solutions have been proposed, from inflatable homes to 3D printed homes to “foldable” homes to homes that are delivered in kits to be assembled like furniture.
Now another idea is joining the fight, and it offers the added benefit of playing a role in the renewable energy transition. It is a small house made from the nacelle of a discarded wind turbine.
The house, unveiled as part of Dutch Design Week last month, is a collaboration between Swedish power company Vattenfall and Dutch architecture firm Superuse Studios. Wind turbines typically have a lifespan of 20 years, and Vattenfall is exploring new ways to recycle turbine components. With the first generation of massive turbines now reaching the end of their lives, thousands of nacelles (not to mention blades, towers and generators) will find new purposes.
The blades, tower, and generator are the parts of a wind turbine that most people are familiar with, but the nacelle is less familiar. A huge rectangular box sits atop the turbine tower and houses the gearbox, shaft, generator and brakes. This is where the heart of the turbine beats, converting the rotation of the blades into electricity.
Although it’s big enough to be a small house, this particular nacelle is on the small side (as far as nacelles go). It is 10 feet tall, 13 feet wide, and 33 feet long. The home’s interior space is approximately 387 square feet, about the size of a small studio apartment or hotel room. The nacelle comes from one of Vattenfall’s V80 turbines, which were installed at an Austrian wind farm in 2005 and have a production capacity of 2 megawatts. Turbine technology has come a long way since then. The world’s largest power plant is approaching 15 megawatts of production capacity.
Although larger nacelles are available, Superuse Studios intentionally chose a small nacelle for the prototype. They figured that if they could make a livable home in this small space, they could make it livable in a larger space and add more features. It is better to start small and grow than to start big and then scale back.
Although the house is small, the designers ensured that it complies fully with Dutch building codes and is suitable for habitation. It consists of a kitchen with sink and stove, a bathroom with shower, a dining area and a combined living/bedroom area. As you would expect from a house made from recycled wind turbine parts, it is also climate friendly. Electricity comes in part from rooftop solar panels, and there are bi-directional chargers for electric vehicles. This means you can charge your car with electricity from your home. or (You can use the power from your car battery at home). There is an electric heat pump for temperature control and a solar heater for hot water.
Solar panels and wind turbines don’t last forever and use a variety of raw and processed materials. What to do with concrete, copper, steel, silicon, glass or aluminum when your panels or turbines can no longer produce power? Finding intentional ways to reuse or recycle these materials will be a critical element in successfully transitioning away from fossil fuels.
“We are looking for innovative ways to reuse materials from used turbines as completely as possible,” Thomas Hjort, Innovation Director at Vattenfall, said in a press release. “So try to create something new with as few modifications as possible. This saves raw materials and energy consumption and in this way ensures that these materials remain useful for many years beyond their first working life.”
For now, the nacelle tiny house is just a proof of concept. There are no plans to start producing more in the near future, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility after all. Imagine a community of houses arranged in rows or circles. There are public spaces or parks in between. Larger nacelles allow one- and two-bedroom homes to be designed, expanding the possibilities for occupants and giving purpose to more decommissioned turbines.
“At least 10,000 nacelles of this generation are spread around the world,” said Jos de Krieger, partner at Superuse Studios. “Most of them haven’t been dismantled yet. This provides perspective and challenges for owners and disposers. “If complex structures like a house are possible, many simple solutions are feasible and scalable.”
If you have more than 10,000 nacelles available, that means you can use more than 30,000 blades. What innovative uses can designers and engineers find?
Image source: Waterfall
