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smart luxury | PassivDom, the first totally autonomous house

Word is out of PassivDom, a passive and elegantly luxurious house designed and built in the Ukraine by Max Gerbut, a PhD of Engineering Sciences (physics of the solid state) and his start-up PassivDom.

PassivDom is the first totally autonomous house in the world that doesn’t need any fuel combustion even in Arctic climate conditions.

“The module uses only ecologically clean solar energy for all inhabitants’ needs: climate control (heating and cooling), water generation, air quality and oxygen control. The house itself produces electricity for all household appliances.

PassivDom is “designed to self-sustain in all climatic conditions with their own, off-the-grid power sources and self-learning systems networked to the internet of things.“

John Biggs, the East Coast Editor of TechCrunch.com calls it “pretty darn rad.”

Biggs reports,

““PassivDom is the world’s first mobile and transportable house with Passive House parameters,” said Gerbut. “Due to the use of advanced materials and unique developments by our engineers, PassivDom has the highest thermal performance among residential buildings. The walls of PassivDom are as warm as brick. Thermal characteristics are high enough to use 20 times less energy than an ordinary building. That’s why it is possible to realize full off-grid autonomy in a cold climate without complex and expensive engineering heating system.”

“The first model, the modulOne, includes solar panels that power the climate control system, a clean water system that takes moisture from the air and an air quality control system that includes carbon dioxide control. The frame is made of 3D-printed carbon fiber and fiberglass, and the entire house is recyclable.

See:

“PassivDom” (a US telephone number is included)

“PassivDom is a Zombie-proof ‘autonomous 3D-printed mobile house’” | John Biggs, TechCrunch.com, 10 March 2017

“Ukraine startup 3D prints fully autonomous home” | Blouin News, 17 March 2017

#luxury #urbanluxury #smartluxury #realestate #art #resilience #tech #design #materialsscience #climatechange

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cuisine + smart luxury | eight top plant-based proteins

See Liz Moody’s post of today for a great discussion of the top eight plant-based protein sources: the top five complete protein sources and the top three incomplete proteins.

How much protein do we actually need? What is a complete protein? What are we missing from the list?

See what Liz has to say and get some delicious recipes.

#luxury #urbanluxury #smartluxury #resilience

See: “Found: The Top 8 Plant-Based Protein Sources (No Powders Allowed!)” | Liz Moody, mindbodygreen, 14 March 2017

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wi-fi free, custom, tiny-home-building start-up raises $15 million

Boston- and Brookly-based custom-built tiny-home building start-up Getaway  closed a $15 million funding round on February 21.

Getaway was founded in 2015 by Jon Staff (Harvard BA, MBA) and Pete Davis (Harvard BA, JD) at Harvard University’s Innovation Lab.

The custom-built tiny homes are each between 160 and 200 square feet. They are positioned in wooded, natural landscapes and rented out by the night to those who wish to experience the restorative benefits of nature. The benefit of no wi-fi is provided.

L Catterton, a firm that has invested in start-ups such as Pure Barre, Snap Kitchen, and Bliss, invested in Getaway. L Catterton is a partnership of Catterton, a leading consumer-focused private equity firm, LVMH, a family-run group and global leader in luxury and high-quality products, and Groupe Arnault, the family holding company of Bernard Arnault.

Unlike many Silicon Valley start-ups, Getaway has “real costs, real buildings, and physical buildings that exist in the world.”

#luxury #urbanluxury #smartluxury #realestate #resilience #tech #nature

See:

“L Catterton provides $15 mln to Getaway” | Iris Dorbian, The PE Hub Network, 23 February 2017

“Tiny homes, big dreams: Getaway raises $15 million, and has big city ambitions” | Ali Montag, CNBC, 4 March 2017