Belgium’s first greenhouse home was inaugurated on Wednesday in Rekkem, Western Flanders, by the Flemish environmental association Bond Beter Leefmilieu.
A greenhouse home is a wooden house built inside a glass greenhouse. The one inaugurated in Rekkem was built by architect Koen Vandewalle of the Kaseco Bureau and is the first of its kind in Belgium.
The building is off the grid - linked to no utility network. The water comes from the rain that falls on the greenhouse. Solar panels installed on the greenhouse provide electricity and heating is usually unnecessary since the double covering – greenhouse and roof – creates a micro-climate inside the home. Moreover, everything is built with ecological and recyclable material.