“Lumenhaus,” Virginia Tech’s entry in the 2009 U.S. Solar Decathlon in Washington DC and Champion of the inaugural 2010 Solar Decathlon Europe in Madrid, is a grid-tied solar house designed around a concept of Responsive Architecture.  It is a fully mobile prefabricated home, embracing a small footprint and using energy efficient and technologically advanced systems to achieve Net-Zero energy consumption.

Responsive Architecture, coupled with strict limits imposed for competition, gave rise to atypical design solutions for both the house’s spaces and its systems.  Moveable building components can be adjusted  in conjunction with systems configuration on an hourly, daily, or seasonal basis to maximize building energy performance and occupant comfort. 

Simultaneously, careful systems design allowed for meticulous yet simple control of the house to allow it to remain nimble enough to be easily overridden or customized. Every technical consideration was weighed against its contribution to overall spatial effect.