Re-imagining high-performance homes running entirely on renewable energy and being completely self-efficient protecting their occupiers for decades.

Background

Kionnali Living Systems is a startup based in Aberdeenshire created by co-founders Avriel Skolnick and Corrin Fox whose backgrounds in science and engineering and experience in construction and manufacturing has enabled them to design and build Lightform, a prototype home utilising regenerative and resilient building technologies and integrated systems.
LightForm is a modular off-site manufactured home, featuring a unique home climate control system which generates all the heat a house needs, using renewable inputs, distributed recovery and local storage. Inputs include solar thermal collectors, air source heat pump powered by local renewables, and a clean burning biomass back up.

The Journey

Kionnali Living Systems is working to reimagine and build systems that take care of basic needs, from shelter, to energy, to food and water, locally and regeneratively and combine those systems into a modular home that deploys anywhere in minutes and provides everything needed to live, sustainably, on or off grid.

Kionnali was keen to collaborate on several areas including system architecture, materials study and thermal analysis. Initially referred by Business Gateway, the first collaboration instigated by Interface involved a PhD student with the National Environmental Research Council (NERC) and the University of Edinburgh who looked at how a structure with low compaction, no permanent foundation, combined with the introduction of carbon rich compost and clean water, would affect the microbiome of soil and found that Kionnali’s adaptable foundation and lightweight construction could significantly reduce impact from housing on compaction and soil biodiversity.

Taking cognisance of Scotland’s long-term climate change targets and the Scottish Government’s vision that by 2045 homes and buildings will be warmer, greener, and more efficient with renewable energy playing a significant part, Kionnoli wanted to test their Net-zero Energy System concept for the development of self-sustained, net-zero energy buildings suitable for rural and farming communities.
Gillian Hambley, Business Engagement Executive at Interface connected Kionnali with Professor Alireza Maheri of the Centre of Energy Transition at Aberdeen University to perform a feasibility to verify the Kionnali Net-zero Energy System concept and also evaluate the performance of Kionnali’s innovative technologies (low cost thermal storage system and biomass backup generator) in the context of a net-zero energy system integrated with renewable components (wind, PV, solar thermal) and storage systems.
Funded by an SFC Innovation Voucher the feasibility conducted by Professor Alireza Maheri found that the Kionnali system can be 100% self-sustaining in any climate, with an 80% reduction in lifetime system cost and negative carbon emissions.

Through the project the company were able to confirm assumptions and develop new design spaces with multifactor optimisation. With the help of a SMART Scotland Grant which funded two full-time positions, the project led on to the development of a full-scale demonstration model.

Interface have continued to support Kionnali connecting them into the Advanced Materials Research Lab at the University of Strathclyde to develop a unique high efficiency, light weight, insulated, modular building panel.

The Benefits

Company

• Development of a modular home that deploys anywhere in minutes and can provide everything to sustain life, on or off grid.
• It is designed to adapt to weather patterns, lifestyle changes, and protect its inhabitants during and after a disaster.
• University expertise has helped prove and accelerate Kionnali’s concept and make their ambition to develop and build systems that take care of basic needs, from shelter, to energy, to food and water, and build sustainable, regenerative communities one step closer.
• Third party feasibility input provided crucial validation data points to propel further growth, from hiring to fundraising and sales.

Academic

• Provided the opportunity to continue research into distributed hybrid renewable energy systems and their impact on a just energy transition.

The Next Steps

• Kionnali are ambitious and are aiming to reimagine the systems that sustain humanity and improve people’s lives with tangible, concrete solutions.
• They plan to grow their team to 15-20 creative doers. In 2025 they are launching three product lines of building technologies based on the interface funded R&D: FireFly for small spaces, LightForm for residential systems, and LifeBlocks for organizations and disaster relief.      
• Over the next 5-8 years the plan is to scale up to full production of the world’s most accessible, sustainable, smart living systems and expand to North America and Europe.
• Active discussions are ongoing with SRUC looking at an “organic waste management system” as an alternative to standard waste toilets that are easy to use, clean and produce sterilised soil. Kionnali will manufacture the composter but would like to collaborate with an academic partner to fully understand the quality of soil and water output from the system, considering soil composition, microbial makeup, and presence of chemicals. They plan to access the advanced innovation voucher to power this work.      
• Kionnali’s R&D journey continues at full speed and Interface have continued supporting with further funding applications and opportunities.