Little pod offers life off the big grid
Dubbed the Rolling Stones capsule, the popular little brainchild of young Slovakian architects can power up on sun, wind and rain
It might look like a spaceship’s baby sister waving a pinwheel toy — but don’t be deceived.
The little Ecocapsule could be the next big thing in affordable, eco-friendly living. Tiny, but powerful, the unit with just 88 square feet of living space can go anywhere in the world without a traditional power source. The sun, rain and wind are all this catchy little silver bullet needs.
The Ecocapsule is the brainchild of three architects at Nice Architects in Bratislava, Slovakia — Tomas Zacek, 36, his brother Igor, 34, and Sona Pohlova, 31, working with designer Matej Pospisil, 31. In its first incarnation, the prototype design, dubbed the Rolling Stones capsule, was simply an ambitious entry in a U.S. competition sponsored by the Andes Sprout Society in 2009. Tomas Zacek explains, “They wanted a mobile house, almost like a hotel room that could operate off-grid.”
While the entry didn’t win the competition, the green design website, inhabitat.com, chose it as one of the contest’s most interesting picks. The public was also smitten but Zacek says the technology didn’t exist at the time for a truly independent house. Still, they believed in it and continued working on the design.
“In Europe, we’re very energy conscious and as architects we’re very committed to creating low-energy houses. The competition hadn’t asked that the unit be able to operate independently all year round but when we continued working on it in 2011-12, we thought it would be good if we could create that,” he says.
“As well, everything has improved since that time: the solar panels, the wind turbine, the battery — even the thermal insulation is much better now.”
Fast forward to this year, where the sleekly designed tiny perfect unit is primed to take on the eco-friendly world. Not only does it possess a battery that runs on solar and wind energy, it’s able to provide drinking water for its tenants. The energy created by the elements can also be stored in batteries for later use and even charge an electric car. The dual power system contains high efficiency solar cells (600-watt output) and a silent, retractable wind turbine (750watt output). Manual water pumps have been installed as a backup system in the event of a depleted battery. The only cost associated with running and maintaining the Ecocapsule is the cost of changing the water filters.
Zacek says it can survive off the grid for almost a year, depending on its geographic location. “The lifespan of the battery is about seven years, but you can also plug it into a normal network. If there’s no sun or wind, the battery still can provide enough power for five or six days.”
The unit’s spherical shape maximizes collection of rainwater and morning dew. Membrane water fil- ters purify the water. Zacek says, “It doesn’t rain everywhere so you might need to put a pump into a stream or river and pump water into the filters.”
The spherical shape of the Ecocapsule is also designed to minimize energy losses. (It operates best in climates between -15C to 45C degrees.) The body is constructed of high-capacity, insulated fiberglass shells overlaid on an aluminum frame- work. The walls are filled with highperformance thermal insulation which protects from harsh environments and the unit’s heating comes from in-floor heating.
The Ecocapsule is large enough for two people and features a minikitchen with two burners and a sink; a bed that can be pulled out as a double bed; a desk; as well as cabinets, racks and plenty of storage space. Furniture is constructed of lightweight honeycomb panels with a wood veneer finish. According to Zacek, who has spent the night in it, it’s very comfortable to sleep in. “It’s like sleeping in a caravan (trailer) or an RV.”
The bathroom has a composting toilet where bio-waste is collected, a sink and when the door closes it becomes the shower. “It gets wet, but dries out because it’s a plastic cabin and there’s ventilation,” Zacek says.
He notes that designing the toilet proved the biggest challenge. Initially they considered incinerating the waste, but that would use too much energy. “Basically, one flush uses all the Ecocapsule’s energy for one day. That’s why we have a waterless toilet that separates the waste.”
The Ecocapsule fits into a standard shipping container and can be shipped globally. It has four small legs so that it can be rolled or rotated on the ground. An additional undercarriage can also be added.
Right now, just 50 Ecocapsules are available for order at a cost of 88,000 euros. Zacek says the units are planned for mass production later this year, and expects the price will drop although he could not say by how much.