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Ecocapsule - Simak's Dream Of A Prefab House
The Ecocapsule is the creation of Slovakian firm Nice Architects, and let me tell you, it's your off-the-grid dream come true.
(Ecocapsule diagram)
The 14.5-foot, 1.7-ton pod can serve as a research station, disaster-relief shelter, or remote Airbnb almost anywhere. The second-generation version—which is expected to debut this fall and go on sale in 2016 — includes sleeping quarters for two, a kitchenette, a shower, climate control, and even electrical outlets. Plus, it comes equipped with a custom-designed H20-free toilet that incinerates your waste out of existence.A 750-watt wind turbine and 600-watt solar array collect energy. Assuming outside temperatures stay between -13° and 104°F, the capsule can consistently produce all its own power.
Rainwater runs down the capsule and through a ceramic filter into a 145-gallon reservoir beneath the floorboards. When full, it can supply two people for three weeks. Electric pumps circulate water through a membrane filter to trap dirt and bacteria en route to the sink and shower; manual foot pumps stand in when energy is low.
I'm fascinated by the idea of a self-sufficient house, which I first read about in Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End.
I since discovered an earlier, and more detailed, literary exploration of this idea in Clifford Simak's 1952 story Ring Around the Sun:
"The houses are prefabricated units," said Crawford, "and they sell at the flat rate of five hundred dollars a room — set up. You can trade in your old home on them at a fantastic trade-in value and the credit terms are liberal — much more liberal, I might add, than any sane financing institution would ever countenance. They are heated and air conditioned by a solar plant that tops anything — you hear me, _anything_ — that we have today. There are many other features, but that gives you a rough idea...."When you buy one of them, you don't need to tie up to an electric outlet...."
(Read more about solar-powered, prefab houses)
(Ecocapsule under the stars - where it belongs!)
From Ecocapsule via Popular Science.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 9/4/2015)
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