International Review of Applied Sciences and Engineering
Volume/Issue:
Volume 8: Issue 2
A sustainable design for an off-grid passive container house
Authors:
W. Bowley University of Victoria, Canada

Search for other papers by W. Bowley in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
and
P. Mukhopadhyaya University of Victoria, Canada

Search for other papers by P. Mukhopadhyaya in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
Pages:
145–152
Online Publication Date:
Dec 2017
Publication Date:
01 Dec 2017
Article Category:
Research Article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1556/1848.2017.8.2.7
Keywords:
passive house ; off-grid ; sustainability ; shipping container ; energy efficient
Open access

Buildings are the largest consumers of energy, accounting for nearly 40% of all energy used. Therefore, an effective method of reducing energy consumption is to create and design more efficient buildings. In this paper details of a sustainable and green building design for a small residential home are presented. This design is unique in that it is built to Passive house standards, and using shipping containers. The structure will use four 20 ft. (6.1 m) high and one 40 ft. (12.2 m) high cube containers, with the four 20 ft. (6.1 m) making up the main floor and the 40 ft. (12.2 m) forming the second floor. The size is a modest 820 sq. ft. (76.2 m2) designed for a family with one or two children.

The goal for the building is to be as self-sufficient as possible which makes it ideally suited to an ‘off-grid’ rural setting. However, it can be adapted to be ‘on-grid’ as well. Solar energy will provide all the electricity needs through a photovoltaic battery system, and warm water with a solar water heater. The site will be water neutral by utilising rainwater harvesting and on site waste water treatment. The results from energy modelling, using HOT2000, are presented, as well as an in-depth analysis on different insulation types and strategies. Finally, a cost estimate exercise is conducted and results compared to other passive houses and traditional code compliance buildings.

  • [1]

    United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) – SBCI, unep.org, 2016. [Online]. Available: http://www.unep.org/sbci/AboutSBCI/Background.asp. [Accessed: 19. Dec. 2016].

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • [2]

    What is a Passive House?, passipedia.org, 2016. [Online]. Available: https://passipedia.org/basics/what_is_a_passive_ house. [Accessed: 19. Dec. 2016].

  • [3]

    Weathering steel, en.wikipedia.org, 2016. [Online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weathering_steel. [Accessed: 19. Dec. 2016].

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • [4]

    Photovoltaic and solar resource maps. Natural Resources Canada, nrcan.gc.ca, 2016. [Online]. Available: http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/18366. [Accessed: 19. Dec. 2016].

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • [5]

    Weaver, A. and Wiebe, E. (2016), School-based weather station network – rain totals by month. victoriaweather.ca, [Online]. Available: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/raintotals_by_month.php?id=181&year=2016. [Accessed: 19. Dec. 2016].

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • [6]

    Water Consumption Calculator. csgnetwork.com, 2016. [Online]. Available: http://www.csgnetwork.com/waterusagecalc. html. Accessed: 19. Dec. 2016].

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • [7]

    Onsite Sewage System Management – Province of British Columbia. www2.gov.bc.ca, 2016. [Online]. Available: http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/waste-management/sewage/onsite-sewage-systems/onsite-sewage-system-management. [Accessed: 19. Dec. 2016].

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • [8]

    Septic Systems | Urban Contractors. Urbancontractors.ca, 2016. [Online]. Available: http://urbancontractors.ca/services/ general-excavating/septic-systems/. [Accessed: 19. Dec. 2016].

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • [9]

    Musgrave D. (2016, Oct. 29), personal communication via e-mail.

  • [10]

    Bernhardt, M. (2016, Nov. 17), Passive house costing information. Personal communication via e-mail.

  • Collapse
  • Expand
Cover International Review of Applied Sciences and Engineering
International Review of Applied Sciences and Engineering
Print ISSN:
2062-0810
Online ISSN:
2063-4269

Senior editors

Editor-in-Chief: Ákos, Lakatos, University of Debrecen, Hungary

Founder, former Editor-in-Chief (2011-2020): Ferenc Kalmár, University of Debrecen, Hungary

Founding Editor: György Csomós, University of Debrecen, Hungary

Associate Editor: Derek Clements Croome, University of Reading, UK

Associate Editor: Dezső Beke, University of Debrecen, Hungary

Editorial Board

  • Mohammad Nazir AHMAD, Institute of Visual Informatics, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia

    Murat BAKIROV, Center for Materials and Lifetime Management Ltd., Moscow, Russia

    Nicolae BALC, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Umberto BERARDI, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada

    Ildikó BODNÁR, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

    Sándor BODZÁS, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

    Fatih Mehmet BOTSALI, Selçuk University, Konya, Turkey

    Samuel BRUNNER, Empa Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Dübendorf, Switzerland

    István BUDAI, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

    Constantin BUNGAU, University of Oradea, Oradea, Romania

    Shanshan CAI, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

    Michele De CARLI, University of Padua, Padua, Italy

    Robert CERNY, Czech Technical University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

    Erdem CUCE, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Rize, Turkey

    György CSOMÓS, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

    Tamás CSOKNYAI, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary

    Anna FORMICA, IASI National Research Council, Rome, Italy

    Alexandru GACSADI, University of Oradea, Oradea, Romania

    Eugen Ioan GERGELY, University of Oradea, Oradea, Romania

    Janez GRUM, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Géza HUSI, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

    Ghaleb A. HUSSEINI, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

    Nikolay IVANOV, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Antal JÁRAI, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary

    Gudni JÓHANNESSON, The National Energy Authority of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland

    László KAJTÁR, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary

    Ferenc KALMÁR, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

    Tünde KALMÁR, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

    Milos KALOUSEK, Brno University of Technology, Brno, Czech Republik

    Jan KOCI, Czech Technical University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

    Vaclav KOCI, Czech Technical University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

    Imre KOCSIS, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

    Imre KOVÁCS, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

    Angela Daniela LA ROSA, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

    Éva LOVRA, Univeqrsity of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

    Elena LUCCHI, Eurac Research, Institute for Renewable Energy, Bolzano, Italy

    Tamás MANKOVITS, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

    Igor MEDVED, Slovak Technical University in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia

    Ligia MOGA, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Marco MOLINARI, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden

    Henrieta MORAVCIKOVA, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia

    Phalguni MUKHOPHADYAYA, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada

    Balázs NAGY, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary

    Husam S. NAJM, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, USA

    Jozsef NYERS, Subotica Tech College of Applied Sciences, Subotica, Serbia

    Bjarne W. OLESEN, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark

    Stefan ONIGA, North University of Baia Mare, Baia Mare, Romania

    Joaquim Norberto PIRES, Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    László POKORÁDI, Óbuda University, Budapest, Hungary

    Roman RABENSEIFER, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovak Republik

    Mohammad H. A. SALAH, Hashemite University, Zarqua, Jordan

    Dietrich SCHMIDT, Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy and Energy System Technology IWES, Kassel, Germany

    Lorand SZABÓ, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Csaba SZÁSZ, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Ioan SZÁVA, Transylvania University of Brasov, Brasov, Romania

    Péter SZEMES, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

    Edit SZŰCS, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

    Radu TARCA, University of Oradea, Oradea, Romania

    Zsolt TIBA, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

    László TÓTH, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

    László TÖRÖK, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

    Anton TRNIK, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Nitra, Slovakia

    Ibrahim UZMAY, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey

    Andrea VALLATI, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy

    Tibor VESSELÉNYI, University of Oradea, Oradea, Romania

    Nalinaksh S. VYAS, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India

    Deborah WHITE, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia

International Review of Applied Sciences and Engineering
Address of the institute: Faculty of Engineering, University of Debrecen
H-4028 Debrecen, Ótemető u. 2-4. Hungary
Email: irase@eng.unideb.hu

Indexing and Abstracting Services:

  • DOAJ
  • ERIH PLUS
  • Google Scholar
  • ProQuest
  • SCOPUS
  • Ulrich's Periodicals Directory

 

2023  
Scimago  
Scimago
H-index		 11
Scimago
Journal Rank		 0.249
Scimago Quartile Score Architecture (Q2)
Engineering (miscellaneous) (Q3)
Environmental Engineering (Q3)
Information Systems (Q4)
Management Science and Operations Research (Q4)
Materials Science (miscellaneous) (Q3)
Scopus  
Scopus
Cite Score		 2.3
Scopus
CIte Score Rank		 Architecture (Q1)
General Engineering (Q2)
Materials Science (miscellaneous) (Q3)
Environmental Engineering (Q3)
Management Science and Operations Research (Q3)
Information Systems (Q3)		  
Scopus
SNIP		 0.751


International Review of Applied Sciences and Engineering
Publication Model Gold Open Access
Online only
Submission Fee none
Article Processing Charge 1100 EUR/article
Regional discounts on country of the funding agency World Bank Lower-middle-income economies: 50%
World Bank Low-income economies: 100%
Further Discounts Limited number of full waivers available. Editorial Board / Advisory Board members: 50%
Corresponding authors, affiliated to an EISZ member institution subscribing to the journal package of Akadémiai Kiadó: 100%
Subscription Information Gold Open Access

International Review of Applied Sciences and Engineering
Language English
Size A4
Year of
Foundation		 2010
Volumes
per Year		 1
Issues
per Year		 3
Founder Debreceni Egyetem
Founder's
Address		 H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary Egyetem tér 1
Publisher Akadémiai Kiadó
Publisher's
Address		 H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
Responsible
Publisher		 Chief Executive Officer, Akadémiai Kiadó
ISSN 2062-0810 (Print)
ISSN 2063-4269 (Online)

Monthly Content Usage

Abstract Views Full Text Views PDF Downloads
Aug 2024 0 39 33
Sep 2024 0 30 36
Oct 2024 0 49 36
Nov 2024 0 44 43
Dec 2024 0 17 159
Jan 2025 0 40 32
Feb 2025 0 0 0