Assembling sustainable ideas: The construction process of the proposal SMLsystem at the Solar Decathlon Europe 2012

• The housing configuration is proposed as a system.
• SMLsystem focuses on the ease of manufacturing of its components.
• It becomes a freestanding, energy, sustainable and efficient end wall.
• The timber structure simplifies the machining operations and avoids thermal problems.
• Its design by components allows connection by “plug and play” processes.

The innovation of the construction process in SMLsystem lies in an evolution of the way of thinking the sustainable architecture. The key is that SMLsystem proposal is not constructed but is assembled. This way, it is designed with prefabricated and industrialized elements which allow themselves to connect as in a plug and play process in order to reduce the risks and save time and costs consequently. About that, the study and design of the junction has been another interesting issue to solve the assembly of the modules, focusing on factors like the isolation and the rainwater always present. In addition this proposal shows a new way in the use of wood as a structural material, as a building enclosure and as a dynamic system of solar protection, all of them as a result of the combination of various premises inherent to the concept of the project like the respect for the environment, recycling or sustainability and, of course, with an absolute integration with the architectural design. This way, the complete development of SMLsystem has had the capacity of defining a global project which reflects the primal ideas: design, sustainability, modularity, flexibility and prefabrication.