Net Zero Energy House
NET ZERO ENERGY HOUSE
Lifethings
LOCATION
South Korea
CATEGORY
Houses
ARCHITECTS
Lifethings
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
Hangil Engineering
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Joosung MEC
AREA
230.0 m²
PHOTOGRAPHS
Kyungsub Shin
YEAR
2012
CONTRACTOR
Chaeheon Construction, Yim Hyun Chul
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
The Kujo, Park Byung-soon
Text description provided by architect.
Beginning of this project dates back to a personal experience encountered by the client, Dr. Jung Soik, a cultural curator and architectural educator.
Dr. Jung was studying in Milan, Italy, when she witnessed a local truck-drivers’ union strike against the rocketing oil price.
Three days into the strike, Dr. Jung found herself unable to find fresh groceries in the city.
This experience brought her attention to the vulnerability of various systems our everyday lives rely on.
She began to imagine herself one day building a self-sufficient community. Sosoljip is Dr. Jung’s first step towards her dream.
Dr. Jung commissioned Lifethingsto build her net zero energy house. Yang Soo-in is an architect and public artist practicing in Korea and in the United States.
Yang visited the fishing and farming village, four hours south of Seoul, more than 40 times and kept a daily construction blog during the project.
The client and the architect wanted Sosoljip to be based on common sense in its design, construction, and budget.
This 230 square meter house, which includes photovoltaic panels, solar heat collection tubes, wood burning boiler, four kitchens and four bathrooms was completed with 284,000 USD.
Keeping the construction cost reasonable was very important for the project not because of budget limitations per se, but because Dr. Jung and Yang wanted the project to be a proof that it is possible to construct an environmentally conscious house including renewable energy production with a modest budget.
The client and her parents live in this house, which consists of three flexible spaces: the client’s space, her parents’ space, and Bed and Breakfast space.
The main mass includes the parents’ living room, bedroom, kitchen and dining space. The client’s space is independent, yet connected to the main mass through a porch. It is a large studio with private living space on the mezzanine level.
The studio serves a dual purpose as a library and a classroom for architecture workshops she runs.
Bed and Breakfast functions as a buffer for the family’s sudden move from Seoul, where the family have lived all their lives, to Namhae, a remote countryside village.
