Interesting Homes Around the Blogs Yesterday

Several of my favorite blogs posted interesting homes yesterday.

On the ever-cool BLDGBLOG Geoff Manaugh points out the compact Single Hauz from front architects. They remind him of the billboards outside his LA home. You can put them practically anywhere, even in the middle of a lake, which is what Manaugh says he'd go for. Personally, I've always wanted to live in a meadow.






Jetson Green brings us a sleek Cape Cod beach house by Independence Energy Homes. At 7,000 square feet it's probably not quite in my price range. I also usually frown on very large homes, but this one uses geothermal heating and photovoltaics to meet all its energy needs. It also has an air exchange system and low or no VOC materials for good indoor air quality, a permeable driveway, water conserving fixtures, and is built from "rapidly renewable materials." Very nice. Still, give me a 2,000 square foot, $200,000 home with all these features. Now that would be an accomplishment.






Finally, on the LamiDesign blog, Greg La Vardera shows off a final pic of the completed Vermont Plat House. You can follow the entire process of building this house, from start to finish, on Greg's blog. I think it turned out really well.





Image credits - architects sites

Great List of Ten Things from Good Human

Here's a nice list of ten things you can do to make your home more eco-friendly, from the Good Human.

1. Use only low-VOC interior paints and wood sealants.
2. Go with spray foam insulation
3. Radiant heat
4. Make sure your windows and doors are sealed.
5. Use compact fluorescent lightbulbs
6. Buy Energy Star Appliances
7. Use reclaimed wood as much as possible
8. Open up those windows to improve indoor air quality
9. Build with finished concrete
10. Install Low flow plumbing fixtures and water filters

Great list! Do just a couple of these and you're on your way to a healthier and more efficient home. Do them all and you're my hero!

Interesting Concepts From Danish Architect Soren Korsgaard

Everyone, everywhere, is working on prefab. New ideas are popping up like dandelions on the first pretty spring day. I was just browsing YouTube (inspired by this post on Equity Green) and hit on this concept:





Interesting. It's from Danish architect Soren Korsgaard. I checked his website, and the house is actually a vacation cabin. It has an interesting sliding doors strategy that allows the occupants to reconfigure the house for different views, privacy, shelter from changing winds, etc. Kinda neat.





I also saw this other cool house concept on his site, the "Standard House." It's anything but, though it would be great if it were, and everyone really lived in something like it. Check it out:







The house is designed to be built fast, to take advantage of passive heating and cooling principles, and will incorporate "root zone water purification." It's decidedly modern, and I like the simple solar shell concept.

It actually reminds me very much of a solar house some family friends lived in back in the 1980's when I was growing up. The design was very similar to this. On a cold but sunny winter day they'd have to open the windows to let out extra heat, yet in the summer all the thermal mass kept the house nice and cool.

Korsgaard's other works are interesting as well. I like this industrial-inspired multifamily concept, curiously called "commune housing" (made me think communist bloc, not communal living).





Cool stuff, I think Korsgaard is one to watch.

Image credits - Soren Korsgaard site

Eureka $mart House Energy Efficiency Challenge

I love science fiction, and naturally enjoy the Sci-Fi Channel from time to time. Of course, the new Battlestar Galactica is one of my very favorite shows. Now I have another reason to enjoy the Sci-Fi Channel - their $mart House Energy Efficiency Challenge. It's part of Sci-Fi's Visions for Tomorrow program, which promotes a positive vision of the future enabled by empowered individuals. The challenge highlights energy saving tips and technology by giving one lucky winner a $25,000 home energy makeover, including:

• Overall energy audit to identify energy problems and document what might be undertaken to make the home more energy-efficient by CMC Energy Services


• Whirlpool ENERGY STAR-labeled kitchen and laundry appliances


• Computer and energy-efficient electronics and wiring of the home by Consumer Electronics Association and their member companies


• Energy-efficient compact fluorescent lighting by OSRAM Sylvania


• Sealing of all air leaks by The Dow Chemical Company


• Appropriate insulation for the winner's particular climate


• Programmable thermostat


• Low-flow shower head


• Faucet aerators


• Ventilating fan, and much more

Sounds good. Enter here.

Via Climate Progress

Make a Plan - Yahoo! Green Interactive Site

I was looking at the Yahoo! Green site. It has a really nice interactive "green house" that guides you to sustainable living tips, room by room. You can also calculate your impact, then use the site's tool to help you "make a plan" for reducing the impact of your own home. You can submit your plan, along with your zip code, and then the site sums up the total of all users' commitments to green up their homes, and how much CO2 is being saved as a result.

I think it's pretty neat. This weekend I'll be making my plan and submitting it. Check it out and give it a try.

Go Underground with Architect Malcolm Wells

When I was in middle school my science teacher, Mr. O'Leary, showed the class a film about an underground house (this was back in the '80s, with the really bad projectors and everything). The movie was all about how underground houses are not cold, dark, or wet. Rather, they can be very inviting and very energy efficient. In retrospect, Mr. O'Leary was a pretty cool guy, and I think now he showed us that film because he wanted to live in an underground house. Can't blame him.

In college I came across the work of architect Malcolm Wells. If you want to learn about underground houses, run - do not walk, to your nearest library and find one of his books. Wells has been a genuine pioneer and his work in underground or earth sheltered building, and passive solar design has inspired so many people for many years. He's done a ton of great books, full of his brilliant designs and illustrations. I used to keep checking this one out of the Purdue library, over and over. My name must have been on the book card twenty times by the time I graduated (yeah, back then they didn't just scan the ISBN number into the computer, you signed a little card in a pocket in the book's back cover, for you youngsters who've never heard of such a crazy thing).




Wells has done several notable homes, most famous of which is probably this one on Cape Cod. Lovely, isn't it? Wells is a beautiful artist. His books are filled with his wonderful sketches. Very inspiring.




I like his vision. Change from the sad old spec house (like the one I live in right now) to something natural, beautiful, and efficient.




Wells is really one of the greats. As far as natural housing goes, don't miss out on his work. Check out his website, and go find some of his books. You'll really like them, and you'll learn a lot.

Image credits - Malcolm Wells' site

Green in the UK - ZEDFactory Ltd.

The UK is one country that's really, really caught the bug when it comes to green building. The nation appears poised to take a real leadership role, and there's a lot of great stuff happening there. It tends to be a little groovier, and usually a whole lot greener, than what's coming out of the USA. Not that we don't have great stuff here - we do - but I like what I see the Brits doing.

Here's a great example of the UK's finest: ZEDfactory Ltd. ZED stands for Zero (fossil) Energy Development. The firm does everything from urban design and master planning to multi-family residences to individual homes to eco-refurb to landscaping. Everything is low energy / low impact.

In the HomeZED, timberframe construction is combined with high thermal mass and heavy insulation. Passive strategies compliment the construction methods for simple, natural heating and cooling. The home has ample daylighting, and produces more than its own energy needs via renewable energy sources and sells the excess back to the grid. Prototypes are already being built. I think a HomeZED would be well suited to our climate here in southeast Michigan , and I could definitely see myself living in one.






Here are two other examples of ZED's great green homes:

The stunning, earth sheltered "Bath Springs" house (I'd move in here in a heartbeat).




The RuralZED Carbon Neutral Kit Home - a timberframe kit house with "fully integrated renewable micro-generation technology." These houses are highly flexible and can be built by the DIY types, or by developers who choose to combine them into multi-family units.






Shouldn't every neighborhood look more like that? I really like what ZED is doing. Their homes look very practical. I think this is what the future of green design really looks like - affordable and realistic, yet not sacrificing in sustainability. Something that is adaptable to differing development scenarios. I hope to see more work like theirs here in the United States.

Image credits - ZEDfactory Ltd. site

Flat Roofs are "Flat Out Better"

The flat roof is a defacto modern standard. Curiously, it's often hotly debated whether a flat roof is better than a pitched roof, or if it is an inferior design. Personally, I like them. So I was very happy to read this post, Flat Out Better, on the great blog From the Ground Up. If you haven't been following it, From the Ground Up chronicles the design and construction of a modern home in Minnesota - a nice one. And it has a flat roof, as many modern homes do.




Here's an excerpt from the post, explaining why flat roofs are a great way to go:

"What you never seem to hear about flat roofs are all the great benefits they have over pitched roofs. Flat roofs are generally better insulated than pitched roofs which leads to reduced heating and cooling needs. Although they generally cost more to install they usually last much longer before needing to be replaced and can reduce your heating and cooling needs. Many flat roofs can be designed and engineered to incorporate green areas that reduce the over-all Carbon foot print of the home, as well as utilizing the space for functional or entertaining purposes. And if that doesn’t convince you than maybe this will — most insurance companies offer a discount on your rates if you have a flat roofs as they are less likely to suffer from wind or hail damage and often times more resistant to fire."

Very interesting. There's a lot more to the post, so click on over and check out the whole story. If you're designing your modern home and wanted a flat roof, but were afraid of doing it because you'd heard a lot of negative things about them, this article helps explain what to watch out for, and why flat roofs are a good option.

Image credit - From the Ground Up site

Sycamore Ceiling Fan - Inspired by Nature

It's always been wise to study and duplicate nature, and the recent push by designers to do so is wonderful. Results are often quite amazing. Case in point, look at this elegant ceiling fan from Australia. Modeled on the wing-like shape of a seed pod from a Sycamore tree, the Sycamore Ceiling Fan can create the same airflow as conventional flat-winged fans but at much lower speeds. The result is lower energy consumption, far less noise, and great modern looks. Nice.




Personally, I dislike air conditioning for a lot of reasons. A nice fan or two, in combination with good insulation and shading, proper siting of the house, and cross-ventilating windows, ought to do the trick in many parts of the country for most of the time. This nature-inspired fan would be a nice part of that simple cooling strategy.

Via Your Abode .... Environmentality

Image credit - Sycamore Ceiling Fan site