How a vision is becoming a reality
Cruising
into Maastricht last weekend on my tender, I was amazed to be confronted by a floating
home, apparently built to Passivhaus standards and claiming to be unique in the
world. I tied up alongside, took some photos and climbed on board. I was greeted
in turn with amazement: I was the first visitor to arrive by boat since they moored
up over a month ago.
Arriving by boat, I felt like a Viking on a raiding
mission. © Bluecloud
Now I know
something about boats and living on water, having spent most of my life so far
messing around on them. I also studied sustainability on rivers and my partner
is a German architect with a passion for renewable energy.
So it was
with great interest that I began my investigations into this new floating home.
As a boat owner and sailing fanatic I am convinced that anything that floats
must be boat-shaped. The difference lies in its ability to move on its own
steam, so to speak, so an aerodynamic design and some sort of engine are vital.
Add the need for weight, depth and height considerations and it becomes clear
that design from the water requires insights into living in a watery
environment.
The Autark
(autonomous) home sets high standards of design and comfort with all the latest
technologies to reduce energy and water consumption and supply itself entirely with
both. Solar PV and thermal solar systems on the roof provide both the heating and
electricity while river water is purified on board. Waste water is collected,
cleaned and returned to the river and all this is accommodated within 128m2
with a heating requirement of under 15 kWh per square metre per
year. This qualifies it for Passivhaus
certification. With a total weight of 130 tons and a draft of 1.4 metres, the
Autarkhome is quite substantial.
Regarding
the price, the architect has designed the Autarkhome to be available for around
250,000 euros, about the price of an average house in Britain. Of course that
is not the whole story: Moorings are needed and ideally new communities have to
be created with all the associated infrastructure. Currently Maastricht are
supporting the concept of the floating home as a low impact living solution,
but have no plans to provide any moorings for them. I just had to meet the
architect, Pieter Kromwijk.
Approaching things from the water offers a different
perspective. © Bluecloud
Pieter
Kromwijk is a local architect with a passion for low impact construction. I met
him in his offices in the centre of Maastricht. His enthusiasm for this project
was plain to see and I was keen to talk about my ideas about design from a
river perspective. The concept of an autonomous floating home would be
perfectly complimented by introducing electro-mobility on the river. The
floating home itself could be powered by an electric motor, or towed by one,
which was supplied by the huge bank of solar batteries on board. This would
mean adapting the hull design to make it slip through the water, possibly with
a catamaran-type hull, which would reduce drag and the draft (it’s depth in the
water). Other
design challenges include reducing the total weight and improving the ease of
construction in order to enable easier transport (river-based of course).
But the
greatest challenge here lies in providing an infrastructure that actively supports this
low-impact lifestyle. That's where a clear vision and an image campaign is
needed to promote the potential of living on the water. The Dutch are keen to
provide floating homes to passivhaus standards and there is a lot of interest
from the affluent, green-thinking Dutch, but so much more can be achieved if the
authorities were prepared to provide moorings and start thinking from a
waterways perspective.
Everything
from biomass fuel provision to rubbish collection can be achieved using
waterways instead of roads. When I saw the floating home in Maastricht last weekend
I was amazed that they weren't thinking about offering electric boat charging
stations for providing zero carbon transport. The potential here is enormous.
Boats offer great mobility - and they're fun! © Bluecloud
New life on the water
We need to
provide low-cost and low impact housing and I see great potential for floating
island communities here. Living on boats has made it clear to me how many
advantages this lifestyle offers and it should not be the exclusive if the
price is affordable. I can think of no better way to offer flexibility in housing
than to be able to move my home close to where the work, recreation, or education is located.
And that as part of a wider community that benefits from living together.
Electric boats are starting to catch on. This Linnsen electric boat has just come on the market. Photo courtesy of Linnsen Yachts, Maasbacht, NL
