Im Daley Platz: Ist dies nicht ein Passivhaus? Ja, dies ist dasHaus.

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It's all about imagining a house that's so energy efficient, it generates all the power it needs, keeping it off the grid.  The official opening is 4:00 p.m today, Monday, September 24th,  but dasHaus Chicago has been set up in Daley Plaza since Friday, where it will remain until Sunday, September 30th.  It's a gleaming white construction built around two shipping containers, with everything fitting into a far larger shipping container for transport. It takes three days to put together and four days to take apart. 

dasHaus is the German American Chamber of Commerce's way of showcasing that country's advanced sustainable building technology.  There are photovoltaics on the roof and on the facade in louvered panels, charging an array of lead batteries.  Energy is captured as air is exchanged with the outside.  The lighting is LED, the appliances high-efficiency, the windows triple-pane.

Cutaways of different types of highly insulated wall construction are on display.

 

One of the shipping containers demonstrates the tightly-sealed and insulated energy-efficient environment, ingenuously designed, but more than slightly claustrophobic. 

In addition to regular tours of dasHaus at Daley Plaza, there are a number of other events, including a lecture by Passive House Institute US Executive Director Katrin Klingenberg at the Goethe Center, Monday at noon, and on Thursday the 27th, a dasHaus Chicago Conference and Networking Lunch, with half a dozen expert presents, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.

Also on Thursday, there's Dubin Family Young Architect Tristan Sterk at AIA Chicago, and Les Albums des Jeunes Architects et Paysagistes at the Alliance Française de Chicago, while on Friday, there's a performance of June Finfer's musical, The White City, at Glessner House, and on Wednesday Jon Miller of Hedrich Blessing lectures at Crown Hall, IIT.

We may be in the last week of the month, but there are still over a dozen great items to check out on September Calendar of Chicago Architectural Events.