Business France, the national agency supporting the international development of the French economy along with the French Embassy in the United Arab Emirates are proudly supporting Baitykool, a solar house prototype project, in its bid to win the best concept and building of an ecological dwelling based only on solar energy, at the Solar Decathlon Middle East 2018.
Developed in collaboration with students from Amity University (Dubai), Bordeaux University (France), Arts et Métiers School ENSAM (France), Architecture and Landscape, School of Bordeaux ENSAPBx (France), An Najah National University (Palestine) , the project Baitykool is a multi-family housing unit for extremely hot climates, adaptable in different shapes (co-living, co-working) in a densely populated urban area and with a bioclimatic architecture.
Baitykool competes among 21 university teams selected at this international student concourse and aims this year to play a leading role in this competition against teams from all over the world. This innovative project carries loud and clear France’s commitment to fighting climate change .
The Solar Decathlon Competition created in the United States in 2002 combines architecture, engineering and technological innovation for green building development. The main objective of this concourse is to design the prototype of an ecological dwelling while respecting several criteria and rules defined by the organization. Teams compete on 10 requirements, namely: Innovation, Engineering and construction, Sustainability, Architecture, House functioning, Energy management, Sustainable transportation, Communication, Comfort conditions, Vegetation and Hardscaping.
The 2018 edition of the Solar Decathlon has the distinction of being held in Dubai, a region where the climate is extreme with very hot temperatures and high humidity. Baitykool ambitions are fully aligned with the commitments of the One Planet Summit held in New York last week. This project also echoes the “Make our planet great again” initiative launched by French President Macron last year, which is an appeal to researchers, teachers, entrepreneurs, associations, NGOs, students and civil society as a whole to come together to help devise climate change solutions.
Philippe Lagière, project manager of Baitykool commented: “We are so excited to be shortlisted for the Solar Decathlon Middle East 2018 awards and even more excited to show our project in Dubai during the Solar Decathlon Middle East competition in November!”
Baitykool is a complete energy solution system involving the foundations of renewable energy, water usage and storage considerations. The prototype adapts itself to the humidity of air, the cold night sky radiations, solar radiations, while capturing the essential energy. Baitykool’s solution takes into consideration the whole environment of the site and the ecology into the heart of the dwelling, resulting in natural lighting, soil to generate food production and water recycling. The prototype being built in the UAE on the Amity University campus has been developed to solve the problem of the heat of Dubai by offering the best possible comfort to people throughout the day and throughout the seasons.
“We have been working on Baitykool as a collaborative multi-nation team since 2016, and although we faced some challenges, we have successfully created a new way to experience residential life with our prototype. Baitykool, in terms of concept and execution, organizes living spaces efficiently with the use of solar technology. Our house is therefore protected during the day from the sun by a movable energy supplier, which in turn also manages the coolness of the home at night. It is a fresh new approach to smart and responsible living while being sustainable and contributing towards efforts made to maintain climate change,” added Lagière.
The teams from the several countries will gather during the decathlon in November to assemble the final prototype on the ground. Since the beginning, six educational institutions have been part of the project, operating under an official consortium agreement, namely:
– Amity University (UAE)
– Bordeaux University and I2M public laboratory for coordination (France)
– ENSAPBx Architecture and Landscapes School of Bordeaux (France)
– Arts et Métiers ParisTech (France)
– Nobatek/INEF4 (France)
– An-Najah University (Palestine)
This project has also been realized and activated by several public organizations with support in terms of funding, internships or with the provision of technical know-how:
French Ministry of Culture and Communication
New-Aquitaine region and its competitiveness clusters CREAHd and Xylofutur
ADEME – Agency for the Environment and Energy Management
Arkinova organization
ADERA, structure for financial management
In addition, around 40 companies coming from all sectors are involved in the project:
UAE based companies : Barrisol, ChamEvents, EDF Middle East, Enova by Veolia, Franke, Fin Mat, Legendre-Bin-Soulaiman, Legrand, Lewis, Lucibel, Schneider Electric, Aikah Electric
International industrials partners : Swegon, Wurth, Firestone, Steico,
French-based partners : Air France-KLM, Atlantic, Bouygues-Construction, Piveteau
In New-Aquitaine region: Arkiturria, Base, Canoe, CILC, Coveris, Cube-Ingenierie, Durand-Beton and Etchart Construction, Epiphyte33, EPDM-Aquitaine, Flovea, EpsilonComposites, GRAITEC, JPEnerform, MauriceHome, Nieto, Ouateco, STILES, TellusCeram, Textilaine, Thebault-groupe.