Energy Efficient PreFab: Huf House

From the Inhabitat blog, this is a great prefab system now being represented out of Cleveland, OH. I’m interested to see what the prices per square foot are, but the system really allows some beautiful spaces.

German company HUF HAUS is offering gorgeous green houses to the masses by bringing Bauhaus style to factory-made green homes. The company’s signature post-and-beam construction allows for big open spaces, and they serve them up with solar panels and even an optional geothermal heating system.

Read the rest of From Bauhaus to HUF HAUS: Energy Efficient Prefab Homes

Green Building – Coolidge, AZ

Here is an update on an exciting project in Coolidge, Arizona. Coolidge is a town of about 12,000 people 50 miles south of Phoenix. I’m working with a landowner there to develop about 60 acres into about 48 new 1 AC home sites. The houses will take on the rural character of the area, but will have a considerable amount of environmental systems included. Passive cooling strategies, orientations directed by solar panel applications, sensibly building smaller, use of easily maintained and long lasting materials, and clear connections to outdoor areas are all the main design goals.

There will likely be 3 plan options, and the initial sales price targets are in the $249,000 to $299,000 range. Here are some of the initial studies that were generated for the latest meeting with the City Officials.

Updated project rendering – MOSS

Here is the progress of the design for the Museum of Science and Sustainability. We are anticipating a dome-shaped shell with a green roof. The shape will be staggered to allow for a relatively easy installation of the prefab green roof palette containers, and will provide for a very interesting interior. There is also a desire to use strategies like water-reclamation, which we are currently showing in the very center of the plan, and there will be a significant use of solar panels throughout the site.  The board is focusing on land in Pinal County, and is starting fundraising efforts for the next phases of work. The main structure is anticipated at around 20,000 sf, and there are plans for mini-outboard structures of various construction methods that are intended to serve as independent “labs” that will study and monitor each method of construction.

For more information – see the MOSS website (http://www.themoss.org/).

A Place to Sleep

This organization is focused on trying to solve the housing problem in a way that is certainly more sustainable, but sure to incite.  By using shipping containers that are left in ports (it is cheaper to build new ones than to ship them back), they are re purposing the containers to create simple, affordable solutions.

Their website link: http://aplacetosleep.org/index.html

Their current woes: http://www.ecohomemagazine.com/green-builders/proposal-to-turn-shipping-containers-into-homes-draws-negative-reaction-from-fort-worth-texas-council.aspx

Of course they are running into issues that will ultimately effect how they will present and build their efficient solutions. It seems that there is currently a gap between what the public (or even more importantly City Council) views as acceptable and what the group can currently deliver.  It will be interesting to see if  design can move the needle on this stalemate.

GCC – Initial design strategies

Here are some progress images of the beginnings of the design for the cycle / brew pub project in Strawberry. We are working today on making some changes after our conversation with the Owners, but I thought these might be interesting to post, and we can watch the design progress over the next month.

Option 3-1

Option 3 - 2

Option 3 - 3

Option 3 - site

Alternative Energy Center – Rendering

Here is the rendering that we just finished for the Alternative Energy Center in San Jose, CA.

This is a really exciting project, and we are anxious to start the next phase after a fund raising period that will hopefully be a short one thanks to images like this one.

Alternative Energy Center – San Jose, CA

RESET, through the 1% program at Public Architecture in San Francisco, has started design on a new 50,000 sf facility for Going EverGreen. The building program contains many classrooms and offices, large labs on the second floor (each devoted to a specific area of study), and a small general administration area. Current design features include a green roof, very large solar arrays, significant inclusion of sustainable building materials, and a courtyard type layout that reduces the need for internalized circulation and promotes engaging the exterior environment as a normal, everyday requirement of using the building.

From their materials: “The mission of the Alternate Energy Center is to promote the use of renewable energy by providing access to information on renewable energy to communities, businesses, and educational institutions, by spearheading the development and transfer of renewable energy technologies, and by creating interacting networks of educators and their students, alternative energy businesses, government, and community leaders.”

We are very pleased to be involved in this project.

Sustainability Myths

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=top-10-myths-about-sustainability

Here is a link to an excellent article from Scientific American. It is a great read and reminds me that to properly solve a problem (any problem), it needs first to be properly framed.

My favorites are:

Myth #2: “Sustainability is all about the environment.”

Myth #6: “Sustainability means lowering our standard of living.”

and Myth #8: “New technology is always the answer.”