Farnsworth House Welcomes International Solar Decathlon Competition Winner, LUMENHAUS

April 1, 2011 – October 23, 2011

Tickets: Free with your paid admission to visit the Farnsworth House or with any size donation if visiting
only LUMENHAUS

Purchase your 2011 Farnsworth House Tickets Today!

This Spring the Farnsworth House will host a special exhibition featuring Virginia Tech’s LUMENHAUS – the International Solar Decathlon Competition winner. Inspired by the Farnsworth House, LUMENHAUS is an innovative house integrating architecture and technology to make a well designed, energy independent, mobile structure.

The name LUMENHAUS comes from the combination of Lumen – “the power of light,” and Haus – a reference to the BauHaus architectural movement.

Inspired by the Farnsworth House, the north and south walls are all glass maximizing the owner’s exposure to bright, natural daylight. Additionally, there is a similar center core which houses a shower and bathroom and helps link each of the internal spaces.

The house epitomizes a “whole building design” construction approach, in which the home’s components and systems have been designed to work together to maximize user comfort with environmental protection. Technology plays a key role in the functionality of the house and is utilized in a way that makes the owner’s life simpler, more energy efficient and less expensive.

The home is equipped with an easy to use iPad or iPhone interface that gives you control of all systems in the house including the eclipsis system, music, lighting, and draperies. It also provides access to weather station data, power production, and most importantly, power consumption.

For more information about LUMENHAUS visit www.solar.arch.vt.edu/index2.html

Photos top to bottom: 1,2 by Jim Stroup; 3,4 courtesy of Virginia Tech. Click a LUMENHAUS image for a full size photo.