What is Starck's philosophy? He told Rise, "With P.A.T.H., I wanted to provide the community with the best product in terms of quality, technology, and durability. We decided with Riko to work with wood because we think it is one of the most respectful of the environment's existing raw materials, as it produces no emissions. Also, building your own house can be extremely risky: we know when it starts, but not necessarily when it ends or how much it will cost. With P.A.T.H. and thanks to the industrial production of prefabricated components, in 6 months and for a defined budget, anyone can access a home."

P.A.T.H. - Ways to Sustainable Design

Katarina Kumelj is the project manager for P.A.T.H. by Starck with Riko and is responsible for making this sustainable housing option more widely available to the North American market. "When developing P.A.T.H. by Starck with Riko," she explains, "we focused on the following key issues: inventing an intelligent and timeless design which would provide maximum comfort of living for its users; selecting high-quality and sustainable construction materials; the use of efficient production and building processes; and finally, the integration of renewable energy sources and turn-key solutions that would result in an energy-efficient and comfortable day-to-day life."

The decision to build P.A.T.H. as a prefab was a conscious decision. "Construction has been placing an increasing burden on the social and natural environment for too long, through the growing issues of resource and energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and waste generation, among other issues," Kumelj says.

In the face of these challenges, Philippe Starck and Riko shared the same desire. They recognized the same responsibility in taking on an active role to develop a unique living solution. The designers sought to incorporate advanced sustainable construction in the home, including high-quality and environmentally friendly construction materials. For P.A.T.H., that means wood: a natural, renewable, and recyclable material with an extremely clean and energy-saving lifecycle.

"We have chosen wood as P.A.T.H.'s main building material, as wood is the only natural, renewable, and recyclable building material that has an extremely clean and energy-saving lifecycle," Kumelj says. "Thanks to the ability of a tree to trap large amounts of CO2 and store it in the form of wood (one tree can hold from 10 to 25 tons of carbon in its lifetime), wood has a very low carbon footprint compared to other materials.

Innovative Technologies in P.A.T.H. Prefabricated Homes

Every P.A.T.H. model utilizes renewable energy sources for heating, cooling, and ventilation. P.A.T.H. homes come renewable-energy ready to install solar panels, heat pumps, wind turbines, rainwater collector systems, and other essential elements of sustainable design. "By combining the right equipment to best suit the client's energy efficiency requirements," Kumelj says, "Riko's experts can help each client to choose the right package to ensure proper energy conservation and responsible resource use." The goal is to transform the P.A.T.H. home into a zero-energy or even positive-energy home.

While solar panels are still more common than wind turbines as a source of residential renewable energy, Philippe Starck developed in 2008 the "Revolutionair," a line of micro wind turbines in collaboration with Italian company PRAMAC. These micro wind turbines are highly efficient in domestic applications and especially suitable for urban area installations. They operate independently of wind direction and are incredibly silent in every wind speed condition.

The Speetbox by Starck is another customizable and environmentally friendly heating option Starck developed and is routinely incorporated in P.A.T.H. homes. This airtight wood stove achieves an impressive 79% energy efficiency and is fitted with a steel hearth offering rated power of 5.5 kW. The stove can also include a box filled with stones that acts as a thermal mass to accumulate heat during the heating phase, which is diffused over 24 hours once the stove has been turned off.

P.A.T.H. Home Options

In a P.A.T.H. prefab with a wood shell, Kumelj says, "the main load-bearing structure is made of FSC certified wood-frame exterior, and the interior walls are filled with cellulose thermal insulation." The home incorporates floor-to-ceiling glass windows and doors. The exterior wall panels can be clad in different materials, including rendered, laminated panels, composite cement, or ceramic, making the exterior of P.A.T.H. diverse and dynamic. "The all-wood shell is suitable for those who would like to increase the energy efficiency and insulation properties of their shell even further, as the thickness of the frame and…the insulation can be adapted to fit the most stringent low-energy or even Passive house standards," Kumelj says.

Selz and his family were intrigued by the all-glass and mixed-shell options. “When you walk in the house, you are quickly seduced by this vision of continuity and synthesis between the interior habitat and the external environment,” he says. “Finally, our choice was for a mixed P.A.T.H. home shell for the elegance and balance of glass and wood. The P.A.T.H. home is more than an architectural adventure, unique in its design and efficient in its undeniable technological characteristics,” enthuses Selz. “It is a mindset, a lifestyle, with a strong sense of belonging to a greater and timeless environment infused with a positive idea of living together.”