With a modern design, energy-efficient, smart and automated, the EFdeN Signature solar house – designed and executed by EFdeN organization, was inaugurated on 25 July, in Bucharest, in the presence of Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis, Deputy Chief of Mission with the US Embassy in Bucharest David Schlaefer and representatives of the academic and private environment.

The EFdeN Signature house is developed by an interdisciplinary team consisting of 60 students from the Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest, the ‘Ion Mincu’ Architecture and Urban Planning University and three other universities, who designed and built a 100% electric and environmental friendly solar house, with a high degree of comfort, health and safety for the occupant.

The house is temporarily installed in the Baneasa Shopping City commercial complex, Bucharest and is open for the general public until the beginning of September, when it will be transported to Dubai. There, it will represent Romania at the most important international competition for solar-powered houses – Solar Decathlon Middle East 2018. In this competition there are 18 finalist teams from 13 countries, on 4 continents.

All those who are directly interested in solar housing, energy efficient technologies and solutions, solar energy production and environmental impact reduction can visit the house from July 31 to August 31, Monday to Friday, between 18:00 and 21:00, and on weekends, between 12:00 and 21:00.

Starting September 1, the house will be dismantled and transported by sea to Dubai to be reassembled in just 15 days by the student team on the site where the competition will take place. Designed to integrate both in the Dubai and the Romanian climate, the prototype provides a unique experience through the adaptation and personalization potential.

“We hope that in the Year of the Centenary we will return victors from Dubai and, moreover, happy and proud that we are Romanians,” the project’s general manager, Mihai Toader Pasti, said at the inauguration event.

Why EFdeN?

“EFdeN comes from the mathematical function f(n), because we design and construct according to nature. Over the past two years, an extraordinary young team has made some superhuman efforts to build the EFdeN Signature house. With this house, EFdeN will represent Romania at the most important international competition in the field – Solar Decathlon. This is the most difficult competition of its kind in the world, not everyone resists, it is an international Olympics of solar-powered houses,” Mihai Toader Pasti explained.

The house has a usable area of 75 square meters and includes a dining room, a living room, a bedroom, a bathroom and a kitchen, being built in principle for two people. The home generates more energy per year than it consumes, but there are months when it cannot ensure its energy consumption.

“From the point of view of cost optimization, it is better for the home to be connected to the network, so that it can use the network as a battery system. It is a 100% electric house, the energy being produced by means of photovoltaic panels, which are arranged on the roof of the house,” Mihai Toader Pasti mentioned.

The house is equipped with an automated system, which controls various smart functions, from temperature and humidity to light and door systems. The price of the house amounts to EUR 300,000.

“The initial investment is slightly higher than a conventional dwelling. The price of the prototype reaches EUR 300,000, the amount being also generated by the fact that it must be transported to Dubai and assembled in only 15 days. Approximately 90 companies have sponsored us with services, products and money, thus making the project possible,” the project manager mentioned.

The smallest housing in the EU

President Klaus Iohannis said innovation in the field of construction is of particular importance for Romania, in the context in which our country has the smallest housing in the European Union.

“Innovation in the field of construction is particularly important for Romania. Unfortunately, the housing stock we currently have has a very low standard compared to European standards, we have by far the smallest housing in the EU, and most are not energy efficient at all,” the head of state said at the launch of the EFdeN Signature solar house prototype.

Klaus Iohannis also mentioned he wanted an educational system with well-thought strategies, in the context in which it is currently outdated.

“We need an educated Romania, a Romania where the number of children who perform grows, while the development of the education system is based on well-thought strategies. What I described is my desire. What we have is an outdated system, with a lot of incoherent ideas that, ironically, often become legislative initiatives or ordinances,” the president noted.