Sustainable houseboats
This last month, I have been working on a new project which consists in designing sustainable living houses on the water. For this I have been searching information about houseboats and more specifically houseboats which are respectful to the environment.
Before starting this project, I didn't understand the benefits of building a sustainable houseboat. Why would we be interested in building this kind of houses instead of building a common house on the land? (which seems easier and also less expensive). But later, after a lesson with my professors and also listening to a speech of an expert in this field, I have understood that in countries such as The Netherlands, developing these kind of houses could be really useful.
In cities/countries were the surface of water is highly important, building houses on the water could be a good solution to satisfact the demand of houses without increasing the height of the buildings. Moreover, these houses can be moved to other locations or why not, they can change their orientation during the year to be more comfortable and efficient.
In this entry I want to show you some examples of "sustainable" houseboats which I saw last week in Amsterdam.
The first one is located in NDSM area in Amsterdam.
The geWoonboot house was built in 2007 by the DeltaWonen housing corporation, as a prototype of a self-sufficient floating home. As I have said before, in The Netherlands the water reaches the most part of country and with a view to climate change, the housedoat is a beautiful example of the possibilities in sustainable living .
This houseboat was a part of an exhibition in 2008 and currently an inspiring meeting place for all kinds of organisations and companies.
It has a floating garden which collects the rainwater to be used to flush the toilet. The rainwater is filtered by the moss sedum bed on the roof. The sewage is transported to a helophyte system and floating bamboo and reed garden at the back of the boat. Once purified, the water is pumped back into the boat.
Moreover, solar panels provide the boat with electricity and a heat exchanger takes warmth from the surface water of the river IJ.
And here you have more houseboats with green roofs which are located on the water of some canals of Amsterdam.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. And if you have time come back to read my next ones where I'll talk about the project my collegues and I have been working: "Islands on the water".
